This morning, I received a small nit in my inbox, complaining that my favorite Puck author, Matt Belloni, was too dismissive of ESPN chief Jimmy Pitaro’s digital chops yesterday in his What I’m Hearing private email. The larger context, of course, is that Pitaro is among a quartet of internal Disney candidates (alongside entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, and parks head Josh D’Amaro) being considered to take over at Disney whenever Bob Iger eventually retires, seemingly in two years’ time. (For what it’s worth, the emailer—who does not work at ESPN, though he has been connected with Bristol—pointed to Pitaro’s experience running Yahoo Sports and ESPN’s push into digital and social as examples of Pitaro’s digital bona fides. Anyway…)

In recent weeks, I’ve heard the emailer’s points echoed throughout the sports community—both inside and outside of Bristol. I won’t go so far as to say that many sports business executives are actively rooting for Pitaro, but sports is a clubby community, and Pitaro is seen as one of their own. (Plus, sports leagues and conferences believe they will benefit if Disney’s board picks someone so steeped in sports.) In my conversations with insiders in Pitaro’s corner, he’s often described as an executive who’s at his best when he has to get disparate groups to work together, which will be a vital attribute for any Iger successor.