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• Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2019

  Choosing the Right Esports Business Model

  David Collis and Alexander MacKay

  Two esports entrepreneurs must choose on which business model to focus their time and money. After successfully launching an online esports coaching platform, a number of new opportunities emerge in the rapidly growing esports space which now has close to 1 billion gamers and an online audience that is greater than the Superbowl. Should they focus on a B2C business, a B2B business? Develop an analytics capability to support "sabremetrics" for esports or a content creation capability? How can they best exploit ownership of the world's top team in the "Hearthstone" league. The choice will depend on the future industry structure and how the two can most effectively "follow the money".

  Keywords: entrepreneurial ecosystems; business development; Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Management; Strategy; Sports; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Sports Industry; Video Game Industry; North and Central America; Europe; Asia;

  Citation:

  Collis, David, and Alexander MacKay. "Choosing the Right Esports Business Model." Harvard Business School Case 719-459, March 2019.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2019

  The Walt Disney Company: The 21st Century Fox Acquisition and Digital Distribution

  David J. Collis

  Citation:

  Collis, David J. "The Walt Disney Company: The 21st Century Fox Acquisition and Digital Distribution." Harvard Business School Case 719-445, January 2019.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2017 (Revised December 2018)

  Reawakening the Magic: Bob Iger and the Walt Disney Company

  David Collis and Ashley Hartman

  Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and Buzz Lightyear strolled down Main Street at the grand opening of Hong Kong Disney in the fall of 2005, pausing to snap selfies with enthusiastic children in Mickey Mouse ears. Bob Iger, newly appointed CEO of The Walt Disney Company, proudly watched the parade go by, but concerned for the future of the global corporation, he turned to colleagues and asked, “How many characters in this parade were created by Disney in the last 10 years?” There was one. But the languishing Disney animation department was not the company’s only problem. Disney was under pressure: the company had recently delivered poor financial results; ratings at the ABC network had fallen below competitors; Walt’s nephew, Roy E. Disney, had stepped down from the Board after expressing his displeasure with the direction of the company under Iger’s predecessor, Michael Eisner; and Comcast had made a $54 billion hostile bid to take over Disney only one year before. The situation for Disney looked bleak.
  Yet by December 2015 the tide had turned. The much-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens was set to become the highest grossing film ever in the U.S. and earn over $2 billion worldwide. Frozen had just surpassed $1 billion in box office to become Disney animation’s biggest success ever. In live action movies, Disney franchises, like Pirates of the Caribbean and Marvel’s Iron Man, had produced multiple blockbuster hits. ESPN, ABC, and other cable and broadcast properties were producing record profits. Attendance was up at Disney parks and cruise ships, while the Shanghai Disney Resort, the company’s third and largest theme park in Asia, was scheduled to open in June 2016. Iger thought back to the Hong Kong Disney parade, reflecting on how far the company had come and the lessons he had learned about reawakening the Disney magic.

  Keywords: franchise management; brand management; culture change; business units; acquisition strategy; technological change; Disney; ESPN; cord-cutting; Bob Iger; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Integration; Media; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Consumer Products Industry;

  Citation:

  Collis, David, and Ashley Hartman. "Reawakening the Magic: Bob Iger and the Walt Disney Company." Harvard Business School Case 717-483, March 2017. (Revised December 2018.)  View Details

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