Mickey makes his second appearance at top-tier sports events in Shanghai, and sports IPs are starting to "go Disney".

The recently concluded Shanghai Masters saw Mickey appear at the venue in a tennis-themed outfit. This marks the second time this year that Mickey has made a "costume-changed" appearance at a top-tier sports event in China.

At the F1 Chinese Grand Prix in March, Mickey and Minnie showed up at the Shanghai International Circuit in racing suits. When it came to the Masters, Mickey changed into a tennis outfit.

Behind the successive entry of character IPs into event scenarios, the sports IP market is also undergoing a round of value revaluation. As major event organizers and platforms rush to enter the market, sports copyright expenditure continues to rise.

Statistics from overseas consulting agencies show that global streaming platforms' sports copyright expenditure is expected to reach 14.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2026, a year-on-year increase of 7%. Amazon's sports copyright expenditure this year is expected to reach 3.8 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 27% of total streaming expenditure; Netflix has secured the broadcast rights for all 104 matches of the 2030 World Cup in Spain and Andorra.

Data from ESPN, Disney's sports channel, shows that ESPN's digital and social platforms have set the highest quarterly audience record in the history of global sports media, with an average of 598 million global monthly users, a year-on-year increase of 45%.

Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro even said bluntly during a conference call: "Live sports is not just a ratings game, it is a game of fan engagement and ecosystem. When a sports fan interacts with ESPN, Disney+ or our parks, their lifetime value to Disney will increase."

Nowadays, the commercial value of sports no longer only stays on broadcast rights, and offline experience is becoming a key variable to extend the life cycle of events.

Disney not only has global sports media infrastructure like ESPN, but also has character IPs such as Mickey and *Cars* that can cross age and cultural circles.

When sports events need to "break the circle" to reach more families and young consumers, Disney provides a set of offline conversion capabilities from content to merchandise and then to park experience, which also provides a high-standard reference for IP and event collaboration.

Background: ESPN completes acquisition of NFL Network, turning event copyright into subscription entry

In August 2025, ESPN officially launched its direct-to-consumer streaming service, priced at $29.99 per month, covering the full series of ESPN linear channels and ESPN+ content, and providing more than 32,000 live events on average every year.

Shortly after the service was launched, in January this year, ESPN completed a landmark transaction: the acquisition of linear broadcast rights for the NFL Network and RedZone channels. After the acquisition, the number of NFL games broadcast by ESPN per season increased to 28, and the NFL Network was also integrated into ESPN's streaming products.

NFL Network is a 24-hour professional football channel under the official NFL (National Football League), whose content covers exclusive live events, studio programs, news analysis and original documentaries. Nearly 50 million subscribers of the channel have been integrated into ESPN Unlimited. Football has always been the highest-rated sport in the United States. The annual Super Bowl, which gathers countless stars, has long been known as the "American Spring Festival Gala", and the audience size of the 2026 Super Bowl reached 125 million.

In August this year, Disney reached a multi-year agreement with Formula E (FIA Formula E World Championship). Starting from the 2026/27 season, all Formula E events will be broadcast on Disney+ and ESPN+ in the United States and most international markets.

In the same month, Disney+ secured the live broadcast rights for all 380 La Liga matches in France, which will be produced and broadcast by ESPN.

Overseas analysis points out that the platform's shift to sports is partly due to the fact that "the easy growth in mature markets has been exhausted". Judging from the recent financial reports and conference calls of Hollywood giants, retaining existing subscribers is as important as acquiring new users, and sports is regarded as the most effective starting point — viewers of dramas and movies will cancel their subscriptions when the show ends, but people who follow a team often stay subscribed for the entire season.

Similarly, advertisers are willing to pay a premium for the large-scale synchronously viewed live audience.

According to a statistics from an overseas advertising industry report, across the global market, from Q3 2025 to Q2 2026, sports brands' advertising expenditure on digital channels reached 3.3 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 26%.

Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said at the investor conference in September 2026 that live sports is "absolutely on fire" and confirmed that ESPN's top copyrights have been locked until 2029 or 2030.

Two brilliant consecutive wins in the Chinese market: From F1 to ATP, Disney brings more imagination to sports IP experiences

In order to expand their respective consumer markets, Disney and F1 reached the global "Full Speed Fun" partnership in May 2025, covering co-branded products, original content, offline experiences and public welfare collaborations. Mickey and Minnie officially appeared on the F1 circuit.

Prior to that, Disney had created racing-themed films such as *Cars*, but had not yet systematically brought its core character IP into the "hardcore" F1 racing circle.

Shanghai is the only city in the world that has both F1 events and a Disney Resort.

For the Chinese Grand Prix, the two parties connected the linkage between the resort and the circuit, and launched the combined ticket of "F1 Chinese Grand Prix + Shanghai Disney Resort". Mickey and Minnie changed into F1-themed racing suits, and the F1 racing car painted with Mickey's image also drove into the resort.

The F1 Chinese Grand Prix has been held in Shanghai since 2004. Since Disney and F1 established their partnership, F1 has become a more active trend indicator on social media during the event, with celebrities, KOLs and fans all present, and the online topic views exceeded 10 billion times.

Although the event only lasts for 3 days, the commercial value of F1 for the mass entertainment consumer group in China has been further released.

The organizer previously publicly revealed that the total on-site attendance of the 2026 F1 Chinese Grand Prix exceeded 230,000, hitting a new high in nearly 20 years.

At the D23 Disney Fan Convention in August this year, the two parties announced that the agreement would be extended to 2028, and at the same time announced that Pixar's *Cars* series would join the partnership for the first time.

Emily Prazer, Chief Commercial Officer of F1, said: "The extended 'Full Speed Fun' campaign with Disney is far more than a cooperation at the event level, it is a strong alliance between F1 and Disney at the level of immersive cultural storytelling and entertainment experiences."

In China, in addition to F1, Disney also has the Shanghai ATP 1000 Tennis Masters, which is the only ATP 1000-level event in the Asia-Pacific region, and belongs to the same top international event tier as F1.

In August this year, Disney (China) and Shanghai Jiushi Sports, Culture & Tourism Group Co., Ltd. announced a three-year cooperation. The 2026 Shanghai Rolex Masters held in October is the first project of this cooperation.

Zhang Huaqun, General Manager of Shanghai Jiushi Sports, Culture & Tourism Group Co., Ltd., also said: "This collaboration with Disney is an important practice for us to empower scenarios with IP and activate experiences with content." The two parties launched the "Ace of Magic" themed activity, integrating tennis sports and the character stories of "Mickey and Friends", turning the "ACE Buddy World" next to the court into Mickey's tennis world, presenting co-branded products in the retail area with the concept of "player lounge", and launching the combined ticket of "Masters + Disney Resort" at the same time.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "EW-Entertainment" (ID: EW-Entertainment), written by EW-Entertainment, republished with authorization from 36Kr.