Disney (DIS) has lengthened its sporting horizons as it has agreed to purchase the NASN sports channel that is based in the UK. The North American Sports Network, isn't about offering local fare that Europeans are used to getting, rather it shows Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League games. It also has the rights to broadcast NFL games to targeted cities in Europe.
The network was created several years ago to serve the expatriate community in Europe that still wanted to watch their preferred sports. While it's not a huge network, with 6 million subscribers, it does give Disney the opportunity to claim the sole network in Europe that caters to American sports.
It may not seem like much of a move, but the timing could be perfect for Disney, as American football is starting to become a lot more popular and understood in Europe with the World Football League and NFL exhibition games that have been offered for years.
While it'll take some time to see how this works out, I think they got in under the radar here and took hold of a property that may be set to grow at a good pace over a long period of time.
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