ChiefsPlanet - Football Elway wants to be part of Denver's new ownership team

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Originally Posted by Rain Man (Post 16085411)

Ah, interesting. I'd forgotten about the Disney thing.

I would kind of view a hockey team as being within Disney's mission, though. They're essentially in the entertainment business, and for a company that has theme parks, movie production, and streaming, I wouldn't view a hockey team as being too far afield. (However, naming the team the Mighty Ducks should have cost them the franchise, but that's a different discussion.)

For the same reason, I guess I could see corporate ownership as being too far afield for some companies where it's completely alien to their core strengths, but not others. If Microsoft just bought a gaming company, how much further down the road is a football team?

I didn't even realize that Disney owned the Might Ducks around the same time they owned the Angels. Turns out they owned those Mighty Ducks from inception in 1993 until 2005, which was far longer than they held the Angels.

From wiki: Anaheim Sports, Inc., formerly Disney Sports Enterprises, Inc. (DSE), was a fully owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company based in Anaheim, California and created in 1992 as the ownership group for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim professional hockey team.

In December 1996, Disney Sports Enterprises, Inc. was renamed to Anaheim Sports, Inc. for tax purposes and to align with the teams' names.[8] Anaheim Sports teams were then seen as an additional draw for people to visit Disneyland Resort and a key to a potential regional sports channel, ESPN West.

By 1998, the two teams were losing money and the ESPN West channel never got off the ground, which could have justified keeping the teams. The two teams were put up for sale in 1999. From 1995 to 1998, the Angels lost Anaheim on average $16.6 million while only being competitive in three out of five years. While the Ducks were a money maker in the beginning, the team was expected to lose money for its third season.

You're right that Disney would seem to be the ideal company to get (back) into pro sports, being that it's really just the entertainment industry. Anaheim Sports, Inc. rolled up into Disney's parks and resorts operating segment. Seems that they only sold because it wasn't profitable, which might not be the case now in 2022 and in the NFL......

Coming soon: The Denver Mighty Broncos!