ESPN ends advertising sales relationship with Seven
Disney ESPN Australia and New Zealand will bring its ESPN television advertising sales in-house from October.
The business previously ran its ESPN advertising sales business through Seven West Media, however the division will now join the rest of Disney’s in-house sales operation.
The formation of the Disney ESPN Media Sales and Partnerships group began in October last year
It comes almost a year after the announcement Walt Disney had merged its sales teams for ESPN, Disney and Maker Studios. Disney ESPN will continue to have a relationship with Seven West Media through the X Games, which commences in October.
Nik Weber, head of Disney ESPN ad sales and partnerships, said the “timing was right”.
“We’ve seen immense growth, particularly with the important demographic of 18-39 year old men, largely due to growing interest in the NBA and NFL and other US sport,” Weber said.
“We have a phenomenal run of programming coming up, with the US Open on August 28, the NFL season kicking off on September 7, and the NBA tipping off on October 17.”
Weber added Seven West Media had been fantastic “partners”.
“However, after integrating our sales teams last year, it was increasingly important for the business to be able to offer brands and advertisers a truly complete offering in a single relationship. We now have a full suite of products and a single point of contact to help marketers speak to a range of audiences, on the world’s most compelling story-telling platforms.”
As a result of the transition, ESPN Disney is currently recruiting for a number of positions. It is unclear how many Seven staff will be affected by the change.
Mumbrella has approached Seven for comment.
