Disney is launching its new ESPN flagship streaming app Thursday, just in time for the football season, bringing customers the full ESPN suite in one place.
The entertainment company has been working on the launch of the direct-to-consumer app — which is also named ESPN — for some time. It’s designed to expand access for existing cable subscribers and give sports fans outside the traditional pay TV bundle access to all of ESPN’s content.
It’s the first time the company is offering all of its linear TV content to customers via streaming.
“We’re approaching our 46th year here, and I would say that this is one of the biggest days at ESPN, if not the biggest,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told CNBC’s David Faber Thursday. “This is something that fans have been wanting, they’ve been asking for for many years. And our mission is to serve the sports fan — anytime, anywhere — and we’re going to deliver.”
Pitaro and Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company will be focused on the ESPN ecosystem as a whole, rather than subscribers specifically to the new service.
“As a company, we’re now agnostic when it comes to linear television and digital television, digital content, we manage them together and holistically,” Iger said. “We look at the whole, and that’s what we’ll do here.”
Here’s what we know about what the app will look like and how it will work for consumers.
Plan playbook
Anyone who currently pays for ESPN through their cable service will have access to the ESPN streaming app.
For everyone else, the app will come in a variety of options at sign-up.
Subscribers can buy into the unlimited plan, which grants access to all of ESPN’s networks, for $29.99 per month or $299.99 annually.
ESPN says this plan will cover more than 47,000 live events annually, including the NCAA championships, the Australian Open, the PGA Championship and more.
Users can also bundle the ESPN unlimited plan with Disney+ and Hulu for $35.99 a month, including ads, or $44.99 a month without ads.
At launch, Disney will offer that same bundle at a promotional price of $29.99 per month, with ads, for the first year.
There’s also another bundle on the way, in October. ESPN and Fox Corp. are teaming up to offer their direct-to-consumer streaming services as a combined offering.
Fox’s service, called Fox One, also debuts Thursday and includes all Fox content including news and sports. It costs $19.99 a month on its own.
The ESPN and Fox One bundle will be available on Oct. 2 for $39.99 per month. However, customers of the pay TV bundle will receive access to each of the streaming apps at no additional cost.
What’s next for ESPN+
Short of the ESPN unlimited offering, the company is also debuting its ESPN select tier.
This plan features access to all content available on the existing ESPN+ service, including live sports streaming, a library of exclusive studio shows and original content and on-demand game replays.
ESPN says this plan will cover more than 32,000 live events annually.
It will cost $11.99 per month or $119.99 annually.
Customers can also purchase the Disney+, Hulu and ESPN select bundle, which includes ads, for $16.99 per month, or a no-ads option for $26.99 per month.
ESPN+ was the sports network’s first foray into streaming, launching in 2018 as a separate app that has exclusive content outside the TV network. While it has some live game simulcasts, it’s never housed the bulk of ESPN’s content.
ESPN+ had 24 million subscribers as of Disney’s most recent earnings report.
Existing ESPN+ customers will automatically become subscribers of the ESPN select plan under the new service, the company has said.
Customers with existing subscriptions to the streaming bundles will be able to watch ESPN content on Disney+ alongside the other programming.
“This is going to continue to evolve and continue to improve over time, and in fact, with the data that will be available, it will improve even more as sports fans are served what they want to watch and what they want to see the most,” Iger said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
Bulking up content
ESPN’s streaming service will include all of the network’s live games, along with programming from ESPN2, the SEC Network and ESPN on ABC. In addition, it will feature fantasy products, new betting tie-ins, studio programming and documentaries, among other kinds of content.
The network recently signed two deals to bolster its sports offerings.
In early August, ESPN said it was entering a partnership with the WWE for the U.S. rights to the wrestling league’s biggest events, including WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble and SummerSlam. CNBC reported ESPN will pay an average of $325 million per year for five years of rights. On Wednesday, ESPN and WWE said that deal starts immediately, earlier than previously announced.
ESPN also reached a deal this month with the National Football League to acquire the NFL Network in exchange for the pro football league taking an equity stake in ESPN.
Pitaro said Thursday that ESPN is having “healthy conversations” with Major League Baseball to reach a new deal, but did not provide specifics.
— CNBC’s Alex Sherman and Lillian Rizzo contributed to this report.
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