Inside ESPN's big quarter and what it means; College football's viewership trajectory; CFP leaders meet in Dallas and USATF extends its CEO
This is your Morning Buzzcast for Thursday, November 9th. Good morning, I'm Abe Madkour.
A very good day at ESPN on Wednesday as Disney reported its fourth quarter earnings. And the numbers show that ESPN has a lot of swagger and is still a very strong business. Remember, we are getting our first look into ESPN's Finances as Disney now breaks out the sports division's numbers. And here were the keys from the fourth quarter, ESPN's operating income up 16% from a year ago to $987 million. Operating income, up 16%. Overall revenue grew 1% year-over-year to nearly $3.9 billion. That's overall revenue for the quarter. And this comes as revenue at Disney's other linear networks was down nearly 10%, but ESPN showed gains in both operating income and revenue, a very positive sign and a great result.
The second big takeaway, ESPN Plus? Profitable in the quarter, generating $33 million in EBITDA. That really, really surprised me. You see all the other streaming entities suffering hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. For example, Disney Plus and Hulu lost 420 million in the quarter. But ESPN Plus, which now has 26 million subscribers, profitable in Disney's fourth quarter.
I watched Bob Iger on CNBC yesterday, and he couldn't have been more upbeat on ESPN. Saying the network is on a great trajectory and the ratings are some of the strongest in years, bottom line, he said he felt great about ESPN's business. Overall, Disney's earnings exceeded expectations and Disney's stock surged 4% in after hours trading. Meanwhile, Bob Iger, he said he wasn't done cutting expenses as he's looking to cut another $2 billion in costs. That is in addition to the 5.5 billion in cuts that have already been announced. But overall, a very positive day at Disney and ESPN.
Basketball Phenom Caitlin Clark makes her college basketball regular season debut tonight right here in my hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina at the Spectrum Center, the number 3 Iowa Hawkeyes and the number 8 Virginia Tech Hokies meet in the inaugural Ally Tipoff at Spectrum Center. Here's a couple of elements that are important. First, it's a brand new event. The Charlotte Sports Foundation and executive director Danny Morrison brought up this idea, thought about this idea, moved quickly and were able to secure these two very strong programs in a short matter of time. And then to get Ally to further increase its investment in women's sports by becoming title sponsor of the event was another great quick achievement. So this has all the makings of a great tipoff event to the start of the women's hoop season. The game will be seen on ESPN too. And of course, everyone is excited to see really two of the most dynamic players in the college game with Caitlin Clark and the Hokies' Elizabeth Kitley. She's a two time ACC player of the year.
Ticket sales are reportedly very strong for the event. They set the seating bowl at about 17,000 and primary ticket prices run $40 to $150. It should set a new single game attendance record for a women's college basketball game in North Carolina. I anticipate that building buzzing tonight. Again, Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes and Virginia Tech Hokies in the inaugural Ally Tipoff in Charlotte tonight.
Yesterday we previewed it on the Buzzcast, but President Joe Biden on Wednesday met with former college athletes for about 40 minutes at the White House in a round table discussion about issues surrounding the treatment and the benefits college sports programs provide to their athletes. One of the meeting participants told USA Today that there were no promises of action or federal legislation, but that the overall session included a number of White House staffers, and this participant believed that the Biden administration is interested in being involved in the conversation about issues surrounding college sports. What that means going forward? Not clear, but the Biden administration meeting with former college athletes to hear issues in college sports on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the College Football Playoff Management Committee meets in Dallas today on Thursday. And Yahoo reported the meetings will focus largely on four topics. One, the search for a new executive director, the expanded CFP format, revenue sharing, and a new TV deal. So these are all very interesting components. They're big decisions they need to make. I've actually been told a decision is close to announcing a successor to executive Director Bill Hancock to lead the CFP going forward. We'll have more from these meetings tomorrow on the Buzzcast.
Let's stay with college sports. One of my must follows on Twitter, or X, is Fox Sports President of Insights and Analytics, Mike Mulvihill. He knows his ratings. He knows viewer trends. He knows viewer behavior of sports better than most, better than anyone. He pointed out that total viewing of college football is now up 15% over last year across all networks. He believes it's a virtual certainty that this will be the most watched college football regular season ever, because college football already is 15% ahead of a 2022 season that just missed being the most watched ever. And so, all signs show the interest in college football at an all time high. And you see why there are so much energy and investment around college sports right now, and especially college football. Fans are watching. Fans are engaged. So a big year for college football on television.
We talk about more and more leagues continuing to make improvements and try to grab a bigger share of the public's attention. And here is the latest, the NBA has discussed with its general managers the possibility of extending its draft format to two days. That's according to The Athletic, a report on Wednesday. The concept could be implemented as soon as next year. Now, I am sure the NBA sees the NFL draft spread out over three days with three days of national attention, national media, and they feel they could get a bigger share of the public's time and attention if they extended their draft out. And that would mean, of course, more television, more media coverage, more fan engagement. In addition, NBA teams reportedly want more time to make selections in both the first and second rounds. So more to come, but again, the NBA Draft could be extended to two days in the future.
And let's end around people. USA Track & Field has given CEO Max Siegel a five-year contract extension. That would take him through 2028 in leading USA Track & Field. He has been CEO since 2012. With this extension, the board of directors see a budget that has grown to a record $40 million a year, and the national governing body has signed 19 new partners during his leadership. Now, while terms of his contract were not released, data released in 2021 showed that Max Siegel was the highest paid leader of a national governing body with a reported compensation of more than $3.8 million. Now USA Track & Field giving Siegel a five-year contract extension through 2028.
And that is your Morning Buzzcast for Thursday, November 9th. I'm Abe Madkour. Thanks for listening to the Buzzcast. Stay healthy, be good to each other. I'll speak to you tomorrow.