Why does ESPN make so much money?

ESPN, by contrast, is an ad revenue machine, responsible in some years for almost half of the operating profit of Disney. Which means Silver may not need to worry quite so much about making money. Yes, the onus may be on him to raise new rounds of capital should he run into cashflow problems, but even he says “that may be easier to accomplish at a place like ESPN.” Indeed, so long as he continues doing what he does — and so long as he continues to be synonymous with forecasting — he’ll be on sound footing.