ESPN announced Monday that its new OTT streaming service, ESPN+, will launch on April 12 featuring live sports, original content and a catalog of on-demand programming.
The $4.99-per-month service touted since November and powered by BAMTech — the technology spinoff of Major League Baseball Advanced Media for which Disney outlaid $2.58 billion for a 75-percent stake — will also be carried through a reimagined ESPN app and offer a Netflix-like aggregation of sports.
Subscribers will have access to a featured daily MLB and NHL game throughout their respective seasons, which amounts to more than 180 live games of each sport. ESPN+ will also exclusively host more than 250 out-of-market MLS matches as well as serve as the in-market home for the Chicago Fire’s entire schedule.
In addition to the major domestic pro sports leagues in the U.S., ESPN+ will air thousands of college sporting events (primarily from smaller conferences), PGA Tour golf, hundreds of matches from three of the Grand Slam tennis tournament (all except the French Open) and scores of international sports such as rugby and cricket.
“ESPN was built on a belief in innovation and the powerful connection between sports and a remarkable array of fans,” James Pitaro, ESPN president and co-chair of Disney Media Networks, said in a statement. “That same belief is at the heart of ESPN+ and the new ESPN App. With ESPN+, fans have access to thousands more live games, world class original programs and on-demand sports content, all at a great price. They will get all of that as a part of a completely re-imagined, increasingly personalized ESPN App that provides easy, one-stop access to everything ESPN offers.”
“The launch of ESPN+ marks the beginning of an exciting new era of innovation for our media businesses – one defined by an increasingly direct and personal relationship with consumers,” Kevin Mayer, chairman for Disney direct-to-consumer and international, added. This new product reflects our direct-to-consumer strategy focused on combining our beloved brands with our proprietary, industry-leading technology to give users unparalleled access to our world-class content.”
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SportTechie Takeaway:
ESPN+ is Disney’s highly anticipated rebuttal to a wave of cord cutting. The corporation’s TV division dragged down its earnings in 2017, prompting the need for an overhaul to how that content is offered. Delivering an appealing and affordable streaming app is critical for Disney and the sports giant’s future.
Noticeably absent from the initial release was mention of the NBA. Disney-owned networks ESPN and ABC are airing 104 nationally televised games this season, and the NBA is a big part of the network. Also not included in the statement were the major college sports conferences for which ESPN has broadcast rights. ESPN has indicated that, to start, programming on ESPN+ will be original and not simply be simulcast from the linear networks, and one can’t help wonder how viable the new service will be without a host of the company’s most high-profile programming. For the time being, that will still require users to authenticate an account with a cable provider.