Prompt Cast
Disney's Acquisition of BAM Tech: A Game-Changer for Long-Form Video Customer Relationships
TLDR Disney's acquisition of BAM Tech has the potential to revolutionize the way content is delivered to consumers, allowing for a direct customer relationship and potentially replacing the traditional cable bundle. With partnerships with major sports leagues and streaming services, BAM Tech is positioned for success in the future of online streaming.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
This episode of the podcast is about Major League Baseball's spin-out of BAMTech and Disney's minority investment into the company.
05:53
BAMTech, which originated from Major League Baseball's advanced media division, initially struggled with outsourcing website building and streaming audio of games, but eventually built a strong tech team and innovative streaming capabilities.
11:44
BAMTech turned its failures around by partnering with Ticketmaster to sell tickets on team websites, and then successfully launched MLB.TV in 2003, allowing subscribers to stream every out-of-market game online.
17:12
BAMTech expands beyond baseball by becoming the technology provider for ESPN's internet streaming, partnering with WWE and the PGA Tour, and doing a major partnership with HBO.
23:23
BAMTech expands beyond baseball by becoming the technology provider for ESPN's internet streaming, partnering with WWE and the PGA Tour, and doing a major partnership with HBO, which led to the NHL contracting with BAM to power all of their streaming and taking an equity stake in BAM in return.
29:31
BAMTech, the technology provider for ESPN's internet streaming, partners with Disney to create a separate company called BAM Tech and work on a direct-to-consumer ESPN subscription service.
35:13
BAMTech expands beyond the US and partners with Discovery Communications to stream the Olympic games in Europe, as well as securing a $50 million per year deal with Riot Games to stream all official League of Legends competitions through 2023.
41:12
BAMTech has the potential to disrupt the entire business model of Disney by allowing their content to have a direct relationship with customers, shortening value chains and diminishing the value of middlemen like cable companies.
47:12
BAMTech has been considering a spin-off since 2005, but it wasn't until now that they found the right partner and made it a big enough business on its own to make it happen, with Disney being a perfect fit as an investor.
52:57
Disney is a perfect partner for BAMTech because they are willing to let Major League Baseball retain a minority ownership stake in the future, allowing them to participate in the economic benefits without having to control it.
58:53
Disney's BAM Tech is potentially a replacement for the cable bundle, allowing them to put all their live content directly through BAM Tech and potentially build a direct-to-consumer offering, but there is a question of whether this could lead to a rebundling that would be negative for consumers.
01:04:41
Disney's acquisition of BAM Tech is seen as an incredible purchase with enormous potential for building the future of long-form video customer relationships on the internet and allowing Disney to push all of their other content through a direct customer relationship for the first time in company history.
01:10:32
Disney's acquisition of BAM Tech is expected to result in more equity compensation and a more innovative culture, positioning the company for success.
01:16:34
Coaches should go for it on fourth down more often than they do, and there is a bot that analyzes every NFL game and every decision on fourth down to support this.
Categories:
Technology
Business
