AT&T Reportedly Looking to Sell Crunchyroll to Sony for $1.5 Billion

Here’s a fun rumor. According to The Information, AT&T wants to sell Crunchyroll to Sony for $1.5 billion. Sony reportedly balked at the offer by AT&T since that’s a high price for a niche service. I tend to agree that the price is high, and that it is a niche service. However, there are a few things we all need to consider.

This sale could happen to someone as AT&T is trying to pay down $151 billion of debt. Personally, I don’t think Sony should be the ones the deal is made with though. Sony already owns Funimation. Funimation and Crunchyroll are arguably the two biggest anime streamers out there, and to give it all to one company like Sony is asking for trouble. They’d have to be sure there aren’t any antitrust laws preventing this, and also, consumers may not be too keen on Sony acquiring what is virtually a monopoly on the anime market.

Now, I could see another company like Disney or Netflix swooping in and taking them up on this deal. Netflix in particular is working on growing its anime library, and this would be a big boost to them. Meanwhile, Disney could acquire Crunchyroll and merge it with Hulu to grow their library without relying on deals with Funimation.

I’m currently keeping this news as merely a rumor, but what do you think of this potential?

Via: ComicBook.com