Where Does Disney Make Its Money? It’s Domestic Parks, Baby!

by Ray Keating

Analysis

June 20, 2025

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The Walt Disney Company obviously is a large, diversified entertainment business with a global reach. And considering that the company is more than a century old now, and it has intellectual property assets that millions of people have valued and enjoyed from childhood to senior citizen status, perhaps it’s not too surprising that nearly every decision Disney makes gets dissected like few other companies.

Given this reality, it’s worth taking a look at where Disney makes its money. The following chart shows the percentage breakdown of total revenues by major company sectors.

On the revenue front, the largest share goes to the theme parks, with Domestic Parks and Experiences accounting for 27 percent and International Parks another 6 percent – for a total of 33 percent. Consumer Products at 4 percent usually get tallied up with the parks for a total of 37 percent of Disney revenues.

Next up is Direct to Consumer, i.e., streaming, at 25 percent of Disney’s revenues.

That’s followed by Sports – i.e., ESPN – at 19 percent of revenue.

Linear Networks, such as ABC, register at 10 percent. But this largely is viewed as a sector whereby one is managing the decline.

And finally comes Content Sales/Licensing and Other, which actually includes revenues from theatrical releases. This sector’s share of Disney revenue comes in at 9 percent.

Of course, revenue is one thing, but expenses have to be considered to get to a measure of profitability or income. The Disney income breakdown is spelled out in the following chart.

While parks and consumer products accounted for 37 percent of Disney revenues, they tally up to 56 percent of income – with Domestic Parks accounting for the bulk at 41 percent of total income, Consumer Products at 10 percent (versus 4 percent of revenues!), and International Parks at 5 percent.

Next up is Linear Networks accounting for 17 percent of income versus 10 percent of revenues. So, while managing the decline, it’s a lucrative decline.

ESPN serves up 15 percent of income, with its revenue share, again, at 19 percent.

It’s not surprising that DTC amounts to a smaller share of income versus revenue as it just became profitable for Disney recently. But the difference is striking, with DTC accounting for 25 percent of revenues but only 8 percent of income. Disney is counting on profitability rising on the DTC front as Linear Networks income declines.

And finally, Content Sales/Licensing and Other had an income share of 4 percent compared to its 9 percent revenue share. Yikes! Part of the difference is the enormous costs of Disney’s movies and streaming shows.

When looking at these breakdowns, one understands how Bob Chapek, a parks guy, got the Disney CEO job – however briefly – and why Josh D’Amaro probably has an edge if the next Disney CEO comes from the inside – which very much remains an “if.”

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right? Keating also is a stockholder in Disney.

Walt Disney ranked as one of the great entrepreneurs of the 20th century. In 10 Points from Walt Disney on Entrepreneurship, Ray Keating, editor and columnist for DisneyBizJournal and a leading economist on entrepreneurship and small business, turns to Walt for inspiration and insights on what it means to be an entrepreneur, on embracing entrepreneurship, and on learning lessons for the entrepreneurial journey.

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