ESPN’s new over-the-top streaming service, ESPN+, which recently became available with a Netflix-like interface of original and live programming through the upgraded ESPN app, launched officially on Tuesday as a Roku channel.
The service, available for $4.99 a month or $49.99 for the year, can be streamed through a newly-upgraded ESPN channel on the Roku platform.
“Roku customers have enjoyed the ESPN channel for years,” Scott Rosenberg, general manager of Roku’s platform business, said in a statement. “The launch of ESPN+ marks an exciting moment for the OTT sports experience, giving consumers more sports content from their favorite pastimes than ever.”
ESPN+ each year will stream thousands of live sporting events from major leagues such as the MLB, NHL and MLS, as well as lesser-known professional and collegiate-level sports, and taped original programming, including original documentaries and original docu-series. Much of the content that will stream through the app is expected to be in addition to what ESPN broadcasts through its cable channel.
SportTechie Takeaway
So far in 2018 there has been a wave of new app launches and upgrades to existing streaming services that reflect an increasingly crowded space for sports streaming and a concerted effort to target fans who have snipped the traditional cable TV cord.
CBS in February launched a free streaming channel called CBS Sports HQ that features sports news content but lacks an abundance of live sporting events, while Turner Sports in March unveiled an OTT platform called Bleacher Report Live that tends to stream content not normally found on its TV network and allows fans to buy basketball clips through the NBA’s short-duration microtransactions.
Hulu recently doubled down on sports content, partnering with both the NHL to stream the Stanley Cup Playoffs through its $39.99 live TV service, as well as Turner Sports in a marketing push that features the Hulu logo splashed across TNT’s broadcast of the NBA Playoffs. Unlike ESPN+ and Bleacher Report Live that focus on sports not typically found on their cable channel, Hulu offers fans an over-the-top solution to watch a number of sports channels and live events streamed from a number of broadcasters that were previously only available to those consumers with expensive traditional TV packages.
There’s no word yet on whether ESPN+ content may one day appear as an add-on to Hulu, but it’s worth noting that if the proposed $52.4 billion takeover of 21st Century Fox by Disney is approved by regulators, there will undoubtedly be a big push to use the Hulu and ESPN brands to solidify Disney as a powerhouse in the competitive OTT sports streaming market. Hulu is jointly owned by The Walt Disney Company, 21st Century Fox, Comcast and Time Warner. Disney owns ESPN.