Disney Discloses ESPN Profit Is Down 8% So Far This Year

(Image credit: Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Breaking out ESPN’s financial results for the first time, The Walt Disney Co. said that the sports-programming titan had operating income of $1.89 billion for the first nine months of the company’s fiscal year, down 8% from the same period a year ago.

The disclosure, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is the result of a reorganization at Disney that sets up the company’s sports business as a separate division.

ESPN revenues were up 3% to $12.6 billion for the first nine months of the fiscal year

ESPN has been squeezed by higher costs for sports rights and flat revenue as cord-cutting erodes its cable TV subscriber base.

In the U.S., ESPN's operating income is down 4% to $1.9 billion. Revenues are up 2% to $11.4 billion.

So far this year, Disney’s new sports group, which includes ESPN and Star India, has generated affiliate-fee revenue of $10.8 billion, advertising revenue of $4.4 billion and subscriber-fee revenue of $1.1 billion.

Disney is reportedly engaged in talks to sell Star in India.

NOTE: An earlier version of this story mistakenly included losses at Star in ESPN's operating income and revenue results.

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.