Report: Apple May Have Interest In Acquiring ESPN

Given the massive effect Lionel Messi had on Apple's broadcasting service, CEO Tim Cook is finally getting to realize how much revenue live sports bring to the company, according to a posting at marca.com

The folks at Front Office Sports are predicting that the only viable way to expend their dominance in this arena is by buying one of the top dogs in live sports broadcasting. ESPN has been widely considered as the top sports network in the world and they were purchased by Disney back in 1996. Since then, ESPN has grown to be the broadcasting rights owner of leagues such as the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, UFC, the PGA Tour, tennis Grand Slams, Formula 1, and a multitude of college sports in America.

A company that has existed for 44 years and has expanded to Europe and Latin America, and had rights to some of the world's biggest tournaments. When the purchase was made, Walt Disney Company bought Capital Cities/ABC for an estimated $19 billion. Back then, this holding company had 80% of ESPN and made Disney the effective majority steak owner. Every time a sports broadcasting company has been sold to a new owner, it almost always comes alongside a massive portfolio. However, Apple's best chance to become the leader in sports broadcasting is to make Disney an offer only for their sports channels.

According to Fortune, the prediction is that considering inflation and ESPN's current value, Apple should offer between $50 and $60 billion for the network. If we go to a regular inflation calculator, Disney paid $38 billion for the company. If they were offered $50 billion, they would still make a massive profit from it.