Sports fans in the United States will be able to unite much of their streaming under one roof from later this year, thanks to traditional rivals joining forces.
Big hitters ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery have announced a yet-to-be-named streaming service set to launch this autumn that’ll combine linear networks with direct to consumer streaming.
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Pricing will be announced later this year and the service will be available to bundle as part of existing Disney+, Hulu, and Max subscriptions. Each of the major stakeholders owns one third of the proposition, which will have an independent manager.
There’ll be loads of content to enjoy under one roof, including NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA Tour golf, and grand slam tennis from Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open.
Footy fans will get the FIFA World Cup, US Soccer, as well as Bundesliga, La Liga and MLS. Motorsport fans will get Formula 1 and Nascar via the streaming service. There’s loads of premium college sports including the NCAA basketball tournaments.
Importantly, the service will include the ESPN networks currently only available through a cable TV subscription (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, and the free-to-air ABC content), as well as the ESPN+ streaming service. That in itself is a big and unprecedented deal.
Fox content from the Fox network TV channel station, FS1, FS2, and the Big Ten Network channels will be joined by live sports from Warner-owned Networks like TNT, TBS, and truTV.
In the announcement, Disney CEO Bob Iger said: “The launch of this new streaming sports service is a significant moment for Disney and ESPN, a major win for sports fans, and an important step forward for the media business.
“This means the full suite of ESPN channels will be available to consumers alongside the sports programming of other industry leaders as part of a differentiated sports-centric service. I’m grateful to Jimmy Pitaro and the team at ESPN, who are at the forefront of innovating on behalf of consumers to create new offerings with more choice and greater value.”
