Disney buys $1 billion stake in Major League Baseball technology unit to create new sports streaming service

THE Walt Disney Company have just bought a 33 per cent stake in a Major League Baseball tech company, as part of their plan to expand into sports streaming with a new online service.

The House of Mouse invested $1 billion in BAMtech, the technology arm of MLB, with a chance to buy an even bigger controlling interest in the years to come.

BAMtech handles streaming not just for baseball teams, but other networks including HBO, the PGA Tour and the WWE Network.

They’re a major player in the world of sports broadcasting, and with Disney’s investment they’ll be able to grow even faster.

Disney also own the sports cable network ESPN, which is one of their largest sources of revenue.

But traditional cable services have been losing viewers to online streaming for many years.

They are hoping that BAMtech will work together with ESPN to create a new digital streaming service, which will offer baseball, hockey, tennis and college sports.

Disney haven’t announced how much it will cost, other than that it will follow a ‘dynamic’ model, where viewers can pay what they like.

It will be another facet of the enormous Disney machine – which already includes money-spinning TV and film properties like Pixar, Lucasfilm and Marvel.

And Disney CEO Bob Iger has hinted that eventually all Disney content could be combined into a super addictive Netflix-style service.