According to reports, Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery are looking at who could lead their new sports streaming platform and Pete Distad is a top candidate. A former Apple executive who left the company last year, Distad also has experience as a marketing and distribution executive for Hulu.

At Apple, Distad was responsible for deals with both Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball. The company was a frontrunner to land the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket before backing out, clearing the way for Google and YouTube.

In early February it was announced ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery had reached an understanding on principal terms to form a new Joint Venture to build an innovative new platform to house a compelling streaming sports service.

The platform would bring together the companies’ portfolios of sports networks, certain direct-to-consumer sports services and sports rights – including content from all the major professional sports leagues and college sports. The formation of the pay service is subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements amongst the parties. The offering, scheduled to launch in the fall of 2024, would be made available directly to consumers via a new app. Subscribers would also have the ability to bundle the product, including with Disney+, Hulu and/or Max.

Penn Entertainment has announced ESPN BET will launch in New York in 2024. The company has secured access to the New York sports betting market through a $25 million transaction with Wynn Resorts. This amount matches what Wynn paid the state of New York to operate there.

In 2001, Wynn Interactive (a subsidiary of Wynn Resorts) was awarded a mobile sports betting license for New York, however, Penn was not. Since that time, CNBC reports at least $35.7 billion has been wagered in New York. The state of New York has had the highest betting handle of any state all but one month since launching two years ago.

Speculation at the time of the licenses being awarded was that Penn lost out on a license due to its partnership with Barstool Sports and the controversies surrounding its founder Dave Portnoy. Last year, Penn sold Barstool back to Portnoy. Then, Penn made a $1.5 billion deal over 10 years to license the ESPN brand and launched ESPN BET in November.

“This is an important development that will bring ESPN BET to the largest regulated online sports wagering market in North America,” said Jay Snowden, PENN Entertainment CEO and President, in a press release. “Together with ESPN, we’re building a brand that is synonymous with sports betting, and operating in the New York market is key as we grow ESPN BET across the U.S.”

According to information from Sportsbettingdime.com, FanDuel is the leader in the state of New York with 40.7% of the state’s total handle running through their platform. In comparison, WynnBET accounted for just 0.5% of the state’s total online sports betting handle.

New York gaming regulators will still need to sign off on the license transfer from Wynn to Penn.

Harker Bos Group’s latest whitepaper, “State of Media 2024,” shows sports podcasting is leading the way when it comes to how frequently listeners tune in. The study, which explores the dynamic landscape of media consumption in 2024, involved over 500 individuals age 18 and above.

The question was asked, “How often do you listen to the following podcast genres?” Sports finished at the top of the list with 39% saying they listened to sports podcasts frequently (defined as 3-5 days per week). News/politics was next at 37% while true crime, comedy, self-help, pop culture, science/tech and society/culture all finished over 30%.

The study notes that 43% of podcast listeners prefer audio-only formats, while 35% show interest in a hybrid audio-video experience. 34% said they listen to entire podcast episodes, while another 30% say they consume most of the content. According to the findings, 48% of podcast listeners believe the ideal length of a podcast should be 30-60 minutes, while 29% chose between 15-29 minutes.

Overall, the study showed 65% of media consumers listen to radio weekly, with most tuning in for 30 minutes to 1 hour, predominantly in the morning. Additionally, 51% of radio audiences listen to news/talk and 38% tune into sports.

84% of those who participated in the study said they use social media with Facebook coming in the top spot as far as frequency. 68% said they use Facebook 3-5 days per week. YouTube was next at 56% followed by Instagram at 40%.

A whopping 27% of respondents said they use social media from 4-8 hours per day. Another 14% said the answer was more than 8 hours.