Is DeSantis Vs. Disney Hurting The Mouse House? What A Survey Reveals

Walt Disney Company DIS is locked in a legal battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and commentators opine that the hostility could be hurting both.

A recent survey has confirmed that Disney's image has taken a beating since the unsavory development unfolded.

What Happened: Disney has dropped 12 spots to the 77^th position in the 2023 Axios Harris Poll 100, Axios reported. The survey, which gauges the reputation of the most visible brands in America, took responses from 16,310 Americans from a nationally representative sample and was conducted on March 13-28.

Disney’s reputational quotient – a metric calculated using measurements across multiple dimensions, including character, trust and trajectory, fell from 73.4 in 2022 to 70.9 in 2023.

Expectedly, its popularity score diverged along party lines. Disney's reputational quotient improved from 72.5 to 80.3 among Democrats but it plunged 14 points among Republicans to 61.

As opposed to the average reputational gap of 4.4 between the respondents affiliated with the two parties, Disney's was 19.3.  Although Disney's reputational score has been on the wane since 2017, the trend has been bipartisan till 2022.

About 35% of Republicans and 19% of Democrats felt Disney has become less authentic and more divisive, Axios said.

See Also: Best Media Diversified Stocks

Why It's Important: Disney took a stance against what is referred to as DeSantis' "don't say gay" law, which banned discussions about sexuality and gender identity in younger children.

The governor retaliated in kind by revoking the special administrative status Disney enjoyed on the land surrounding its Florida theme park. The entertainment giant filed a lawsuit against the governor on the grounds of witch-hunting and also shelved a $1 billion project to relocate some of its California employees to Florida.

Disney, for its part, is going through challenging times. The company's streaming business is facing intensifying competition and the box office is yet to take off in a big way. Cable subscriptions are also on the downhill. Additionally, the company is facing the heat of shareholder activism.

The stock reflects the travails, as it is trading off its year-to-date intraday high of $118.18 reached in early February.

Disney closed Tuesday's session down 2.18% at $89.82, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Read Next: Disney Feud Hurting DeSantis As Bob Iger Believes ‘This Is A Battle You Can Win,’ Says Analyst