Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel told investors that recent high-profile media mergers, including Discovery’s planned takeover of WarnerMedia and Amazon’s deal last week to acquire MGM, are proof that “content is in high demand and short supply” and that’s good for Endeavor.
In Endeavor’s first earnings call since the company went public, Emanuel joined Endeavor president Mark Shapiro and CFO Jason Lublin in trumpeting what he called Endeavor’s ideal positioning to provide sports, live event and media content to supply an increased need on the part of increasingly fewer conglomerates.
“We view the combination of WarnerMedia discovery, along with Amazon’s acquisition of MGM as proof point that content is in high demand and short supply… our positioning in this ecosystem favors long term growth,” Emanuel said. “As demand increases, there is a finite number of IP creators to meet that demand, thereby increasing the value of talent, you represent, and the content we all represent. One thing I’ll continue to underscore in these earnings call, is that we are agnostic to all forms of distribution and creators, for all distribution platforms.”
In a question and answer session with Wall Street media analysts, Emanuel was asked to elaborate on the idea of how consolidation might affect Endeavor. Emanuel reiterated that Endeavor’s diverse portfolio can easily adapt to the diverse needs of these merged entities.
“There are a finite number of IP creators to meet that demand,” he said. “That is increasing the value of the talent we represent and the content we own or represent…we are one of the big players in the ecosystem.”
Both Emanuel and Shapiro said that pent up demand for entertainment of all types is “lighting a fuse across the entire range of our businesses.”
