ESPN is Disney. Disney & Apple are better friends than any other media company & Apple. If there were a "few bigger names" that were going to do it with Apple, it would be ESPN (Disney). I'd love to see it... but it just isn't going to happen unless the much-dreamed-about "new model" can show ALL of the current players how they are going to make MORE money- not less. Apple is also wanting in on that action, which translates into more money + Apple's cut.
I've speculated before - and I don't know how realistic it is - that Apple has enough cash to pretty much buy 51% of Disney outright, and that they ought to. The Disney portfolio includes ABC, ESPN, whole or partial ownership of a variety of other cable channels, two film distribution labels, a radio conglomerate, at least one publishing imprint, and all of the LucasFilm production infrastruture, plus all of the Disney, Lucas, and Marvel IP. Not to mention the long-standing ties between the two companies to start with. If you wanted to change the way the media business works, what better than to become one of the players and blaze the trail yourself?
I think this becomes a far more realistic option if the US fixes their atrocious tax policy on repatriated foreign earnings, because the non-domestic cash pile is otherwise difficult to use for this.
