It’s been no secret that ESPN and parent company Disney have been under growing stress.

The causes have been clear: layoffs, industry-wide cord-cutting, carriage battles, and a potential sale of all the company’s linear properties. But now, the public — and potential ESPN equity partners — can put a number on how much pressure the sports media giant is facing.

Disney said its sport division’s operating profit — deriving from ESPN itself and Star India — fell 20% to $1.48 billion in the first nine months of fiscal 2023 from $1.85 billion in the comparable period last year. Revenue fell by 1.3% in the same period to $13.2 billion.

However, ESPN specifically generated $11.49 billion for the first nine months of fiscal 2023 and $1.89 billion of operating income — figures that still show some relative health amid a fractured media landscape. 

The disclosures to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission mark the first time Disney has broken out its sports results in this fashion. They precede a corporate reorganization and new financial reporting structure that will take effect with the company’s fiscal fourth quarter of 2023. 

Wall Street analysts said that structure will provide potential equity partners a clearer picture on the state of the business, particularly as ESPN moves toward developing a full, direct-to-consumer version of the network. 

Already, the possible suitors include several top pro leagues including the NFL, Amazon, and Verizon. 

“The new reporting structure should help frame a more concrete debate around Disney’s strategic options and its valuation framework,” wrote Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar in an investor note. 

A separate research note from Bloomberg Intelligence’s Geetha Ranganathan said Disney’s sports business could now be worth as much as $22 billion.

Disney is due to report its next set of quarterly earnings on Nov. 8.

Amid skyrocketing NFL franchise valuations and rising operating costs, team owners are getting a little extra breathing room on the financial side of things — but not quite as much as some wanted.

At this week’s NFL fall meetings in New York, the league decided to allow existing owners an additional $100 million of debt. 

The ceiling now increases from $600 million to $700 million, but there was some discussion of raising that figure ever higher. The NFL owners’ finance committee had reportedly been exploring allowing up to $1 billion of debt. 

“I thought it should be closer to $1 billion,” Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said after the decision was made. “We’re always granting special waivers anyway — I’d rather see a higher debt limit in general.”

Still, the new $700 million figure is quite staggering when compared to recent years. In 2015, the debt limit was only raised from $200 million to $250 million.

Also under consideration was increasing incoming owners’ debt caps from $1.1 billion to as much as $1.6 billion. However, any new potential owners will simply see the same $100 million increase and will be allowed to carry $1.2 billion. Josh Harris’ group used $1 billion in debt to facilitate the recent $6.05 billion purchase of the Washington Commanders. 

Many anticipate that the Seattle Seahawks could be the next NFL franchise to be sold in the coming years — and with a recent valuation of $5 billion, any bidders may have to make full use of the new debt limits.

A major city typically hosts the Olympics every other year — as with Beijing in 2022 and Paris in 2024. Sometimes, multiple cities partner for the occasion, which will be the case for the 2026 Winter Games in Italian cities Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

But never has an entire country hosted the Olympic Games. Switzerland is proposing to do just that in either 2030 or 2034, targeting a Winter Games across multiple cities.

The Swiss Olympic Committee just released a feasibility study touting the country’s ability to host the Games — and the benefits of doing so. The Winter Games could generate nearly $1.7 billion in revenue, the SOC said.

Officials said the opening ceremony would take place in Lausanne, the closing ceremony in Bern, and the competition itself over 12 venues in four regions. St. Moritz co-hosted the Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948, but Switzerland hasn’t hosted any portion of the Games since.

By the time the International Olympic Committee concludes a slate of executive board meetings in Paris on Dec. 1, a Swiss bid could be given the greenlight to move forward. 

Other potential bidders for the 2030 Winter Olympics currently include a Swedish bid from Stockholm-Åre and a French bid involving two regions. Salt Lake City, which once considered the 2030 Games, is now targeting hosting in 2034.