The upcoming ESPN+ direct-to-consumer streaming service will bring a “Netflix-like aggregation” of sports shows, documentaries and live events when the subscription service launches in early 2018, according to ESPN President John Skipper.
Skipper, who closed out Sports Video Group’s two-day summit in New York City with a keynote discussion that spotlighted the ways ESPN is positioning itself for the future, said the launch of ESPN+ this spring represents an effort to meet the evolving consumption habits of consumers.
“It’s about going to where the technology is, and it’s pretty clear that the technology of distributing video is going over the top,” he said. “What we’re really doing is preparing to be able to thrive in the future however the business models, the way people consume content, evolves.”
The service will come via a revamped ESPN app in the first half of 2018 that will also enable pay-TV subscribers to stream ESPN television network programming. The one-stop-shop will include an additional 10,000 live events, including those in niche passion sports, to the roughly 16,000 that ESPN already airs each year, as well as a host of original content similar to HBO’s docu-series “Hard Knocks.”
“That new version of the ESPN app is going to be the best way to consume the totality of ESPN in the future,” Skipper said.
While a portion of the content will be available for free through ESPN+, premium content will be behind a subscription paywall. Individual sports packages, including MLB.TV, NHL.TV and MLS Live, will also be available for purchase. Prices have yet to be finalized, but the service will likely come with both a monthly subscription option and an annual package that would be offered at a partial discount, according to Skipper.
While original content will be a big part of this, the ability to stream more live events, and have the option to do that seamlessly online and through mobile apps in addition to traditional channels such as cable TV, are what’s incentivizing ESPN to build out such a robust direct-to-consumer app.
Through Disney’s investment in BAMTech, which is Major League Baseball Advanced Media’s spinoff company specializing in streaming services, ESPN has acquired the technological capability to be able to stream at a large scale.
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“It’s so that however the world evolves, we can adapt,” Skipper said. “We can move our content around if necessary.”
Skipper also commented on ESPN’s new show SportsCenter on Snapchat, saying it’s a way to connect with millennial-and-younger generations, which is another aspect of the company’s digital transition and its quest to remain relevant amid the rapidly-evolving preferences of media consumption.
With its five millennial hosts, the show gained “millions of subscribers” in its first four weeks, with an audience that’s comprised 75 percent of people between the ages of 13 and 24, according to Skipper.
“We have to go to where they are and present our signature programming in a way that’s appropriate to that platform,” he said. “We understand that we have to make adaptations. We have to adapt and figure out how to remain relevant.”