Disney|ESPN Australia & New Zealand has announced it will bring its ESPN television advertising sales business in-house from the beginning of October.
The announcement follows the formation of the Disney|ESPN media sales and partnerships group in 2017, which provides advertisers with a singular point of contact for solutions that reach audiences across all Disney and ESPN properties in the market.
The group is now the single representative for all Walt Disney Company advertising assets in Australia and New Zealand. ESPN’s TV ad sales business has represented by Seven West Media since 2014.
Nik Weber, Head of Disney|ESPN’s ad sales and partnerships, said: “The timing is right for us to bring ad sales in house.
“We’ve seen immense growth, particularly with the important demographic of 18 to 39-year-old men, largely due to growing interest in the NBA and NFL and other US sport.
“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.
“Seven West Media have been fantastic partners, and we’re excited to continue working with them on events such as X Games Sydney in October.
“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.”
Seven West Media declined to comment when contacted by B&T.
