Disney’s Bob Iger has confirmed that the standalone version of ESPN will be available through Disney+, and in a similar way to how Hulu is now offered. As this is being positioned as a standalone streaming service, Disney+ subscribers will still need to pay extra each month for access to the additional sports content.
The standalone version of ESPN has been in the news for some time now, and at a time when Disney is making some major moves in general. For example, and in partnership with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, the three companies plan to offer a mega sports streaming service that brings together the sports portfolios of all three services.
In addition to this mega bundle, Disney’s standalone streaming version of ESPN will offer a way for homes to access the “full suite of ESPN’s channels.” As part of a prerecorded message given during Disney’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders yesterday, Iger also confirmed that the standalone version will be available through Disney+. Specifically, Iger explained that the standalone sports service will be offered as a Disney Bundle option.
Unfortunately, no further details were provided on the cost of bundling standalone ESPN with Disney+, so it remains unclear how much access to the sports content will cost. While previous reports have indicated the cost of standalone ESPN will be in the region of $25-$30 a month, it stands to reason that bundle customers will get some form of a discount when adding ESPN. In the case of Hulu, the Disney Duo Basic bundle costs $9.99 a month and this compares to $15.98 a month when paying for both services separately.
On a more general note, Iger explained that the new sports service “will give consumers the ability to stream their favorite live games and studio programming, and take advantage of an immersive, customizable sports experience that includes betting, fantasy sports, e-commerce, and more.” Iger also said that the company is “hard at work building ESPN into the preeminent digital sports destination.”
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