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Commitments and Contingencies
 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments
The Company has various contractual commitments for rights to sports, films and other programming, totaling approximately $66.8 billion, including approximately $3.0 billion for available programming as of September 30, 2023. The Company also has contractual commitments for the construction of cruise ships, creative talent and employment agreements and unrecognized tax benefits. Creative talent and employment agreements include obligations to actors, producers, sports, television and radio personalities and executives. Contractual commitments for sports programming rights, other programming rights and other commitments including cruise ships and creative talent are as follows:
Fiscal Year:
Sports Programming(1)
Other
Programming
Other
Total
2024$10,331  $3,286  $4,055  $17,672  
202510,631  1,591  2,803  15,025  
20267,876  941  760  9,577  
20276,687  671  388  7,746  
20284,713  565  146  5,424  
Thereafter19,121  376  2,181  21,678  
$59,359  $7,430  $10,333  $77,122  
(1)Primarily relates to rights for NFL, college football (including bowl games and the College Football Playoff) and basketball, cricket, NBA, NHL, soccer, MLB, UFC, tennis, golf and Top Rank Boxing. Certain sports programming rights have payments that are variable based primarily on revenues and are not included in the table above.
Legal Matters
On May 12, 2023, a private securities class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the Company, its former Chief Executive Officer, Robert Chapek, its former Chief Financial Officer, Christine M. McCarthy, and the former Chairman of the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution segment, Kareem Daniel on behalf of certain purchasers of securities of the Company (the “Securities Class Action”). On November 6, 2023, a consolidated complaint was filed in the same action, adding Robert Iger, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, as a defendant. Claims in the Securities Class Action include (i) violations of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder against all defendants, (ii) violations of Section 20A of the Exchange Act against Iger and McCarthy, and (iii) violations of Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act against all defendants. Plaintiffs in the Securities Class Action allege purported misstatements and omissions concerning, and a scheme to conceal, accurate costs and subscriber growth of the
Disney+ platform. The Company intends to defend against the lawsuit vigorously. The lawsuit is in the early stages and at this time we cannot reasonably estimate the amount of any potential loss.
Two shareholder derivative complaints have been filed. The first, in which Hugues Gervat is the plaintiff, was filed on August 4, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The second, in which Stourbridge Investments LLC is the plaintiff, was filed on August 23, 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Each named The Walt Disney Company as a nominal defendant and alleged claims on its behalf against the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Robert Iger; its former Chief Executive Officer, Robert Chapek; its former Chief Financial Officer, Christine M. McCarthy; the former Chairman of the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution segment, Kareem Daniel, and ten current and former members of the Disney Board (Susan E. Arnold; Mary T. Barra; Safra A. Catz; Amy L. Chang; Francis A. deSouza; Michael B.G. Froman; Maria Elena Lagomasino; Calvin R. McDonald; Mark G. Parker; and Derica W. Rice). Along with alleged violations of Sections 10(b), 14(a), 20(a), and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act, premised on the same allegations as the Securities Class Action, plaintiffs in both actions sought to recover for alleged breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, abuse of control, gross mismanagement and waste. On October 24, 2023, the Stourbridge action was voluntarily dismissed and, on November 16, 2023, was refiled in Delaware state court alleging equivalent theories of liability based on state law. On October 30, 2023, the Gervat action was stayed pending a ruling on an expected motion to dismiss to be filed in the Securities Class Action. The Company intends to defend against these lawsuits vigorously. The lawsuits are in the early stages, and at this time we cannot reasonably estimate the amount of any potential loss.
The Company, together with, in some instances, certain of its directors and officers, is a defendant in various other legal actions involving copyright, breach of contract and various other claims incident to the conduct of its businesses. Management does not believe that the Company has incurred a probable material loss by reason of any of those actions.