John Skipper

We at ESPN like competition. It makes us better. It makes us sharper.

Chess is a competition. Checkers is a competition. Mostly, I'm interested in doing real sports.

I have this thing I used to say at home and in the office: If somebody is calling, unless it's somebody who can fire me, I'll call them back later.

Things that are unique and rare will cost a lot of money. Houses in East Hampton and Malibu will cost a lot of money because there just aren't that many of them. The value of sports has appreciated because it's the only thing that people have to watch live.

Brand matters. And ESPN is, by far, the most popular sports brand. People trust ESPN.

I have found - and tennis may be the greatest manifestation of it - Americans have become more international in taste. Remember the old axiom that you have to have American players for Americans to be interested? And in tennis, it's just not true anymore.

With the polarization of points of view around significant political and social issues, sports is a place where people can sort of talk about something together. And I think that is important to people.

Sports occupies a central place in our society, and, as such, it is unavoidably cultural in nature and often engaged in societal issues.

Every bit of knowledge we have demonstrates that there is a complete correlation between playing sports and success and potential for success. Playing sports is good for you physically, mentally, spiritually, psychologically.

It is accurate that the Walt Disney Company and ESPN are committed to diversity and inclusion. These are long-standing values that drive fundamental fairness while providing us with the widest possible pool of talent to create the smartest and most creative staff. We do not view this as a political stance but as a human stance.

When you look at what you get in a cable subscription, it is a spectacular value. For $70 or $80 a month is what it would cost a family of four to go to the movies one time.