A new ESPN tile is being added to the app’s homescreen. The tile just says “ESPN,” because for right now, it’ll only include the live games and shows that are normally part of ESPN Plus. But next year will mark the long-awaited debut of a true ESPN streaming service — you know, the actual cable channel with shows that sports fans can’t live without — and that’ll eventually be accessible through this Disney Plus portal, too.
Disney’s reasoning for putting all this content under one umbrella is simple: it wants to get more people signed up for the Disney Plus / Hulu / ESPN Plus triple-package bundle. And the less friction there is, the more appealing that bundle becomes for customers who might only be paying for the core service right now. To help push the bundle even harder, Disney Plus subscribers can now access “a curated selection of live sports events and shows from ESPN Plus and movies and series from Hulu.” The tiles for both services will now appear in the main navigation even if you’re not paying for Hulu or ESPN.
“This gives our bundle subscribers one place to consume everything they love from all our brands.” Alisa Bowen, president of Disney Plus, said in a press release. ESPN Plus offers access to “over 30,000 live sports events each year” along with plenty of original content. But this is really just a half-step towards the end goal of bringing real, linear ESPN to the service. Disney says what we’re seeing today is “the groundwork for an expanded sports offering on Disney Plus in the US upon the launch of ESPN’s flagship direct-to-consumer product, expected in fall of 2025.”
That ESPN streaming service is expected to launch as early as August and has been rumored to cost upwards of $30 per month. Yes, just for ESPN. You’ll be able to view it through Disney Plus, but CEO Bob Iger has said the ESPN app will offer a more feature-packed sports experience with integrated betting and fantasy leagues. The Disney option is there for people who want the convenience of everything being crammed into a single app.
Disney is determined to make its streaming business a reliable profit maker, and the real money is in bundles and ad-supported plans. On the ad front, advertisers will have the ability to purchase inventory “by sport, league, team, within live events, and across all marketplaces” now that ESPN content is streaming within Disney Plus. The company has also taken steps to tackle password sharing and now charges customers between $6.99 and $9.99 for letting others sign into their Disney Plus account from a different location.
The cost of subscribing to Disney Plus is inevitably going to keep climbing higher. And Disney will no doubt cite the app’s value as an all-encompassing entertainment hub — now with sports — as the rationale for those hikes. For the end user, it can all feel reminiscent of cable, but that’s the streaming era we find ourselves in.
