You may have noticed a change within your ESPN app late last week. The update marked the arrival of a new BAMTech-powered OTT streaming service called ESPN+. The live sports/Netflix-like creation is ESPN’s offer of a middle ground between cord-cutters and paid-TV subscribers and represents the network’s desire to bring more content to more fans. Here’s what you can expect:
Let’s Take An ESPN+ Tour
ESPN+ is nestled nicely within the home screen of the ESPN app via the ‘watch’ tab:
Click on ‘watch’ and you’ll be offered a free, 30-day trial ($4.99/month following that period). Once inside that tab you’ll have three content options: Featured, ESPN+ and Originals. The Featured tab will lay out some content for which you’ll still need a cable subscription, like live games, re-airs and new shows like Get Up!
The ESPN+ tab is where you can start receiving access to non-cable programming. For example:
Certainly there’s a Netflix-like feel to this area of the app — something ESPN hinted at late last year. You can see access to original programming such as Draft Academy or 30 for 30 — a couple of the documentary-style programs offered. ESPN knows everybody likes to multi-task, so you’re given the option of reading up-to-the-minute news stories while taking in a show:
Though limited to a degree, ESPN+ does offer an array of live sports. Not the ones that you’d expect to see on cable, however. Sure, the service offers a daily MLB game (barring blackout rules) and full-length replays of things like playoff hockey, but it’s the less traditional sports that are intriguing:
You may notice that the college offerings aren’t from major conferences, nor are they sports that would normally be televised (softball and lacrosse, for example). You’re going to find plenty of soccer content with ESPN+ absorbing MLS Live, plus the streaming of overseas leagues.
To make live programming a little easier to find, the app has a calendar icon (top right in the above image) that sorts content by network, league and time:
ESPN+ has the user-friendly thing covered, as you’re able to watch programming while perusing other parts of the app:
SportTechie Takeaway
If you’re pleased with the programming you get from ESPN via cable, you probably don’t need ESPN+. For those with interests in other sports not normally shown on TV, it’s worth checking out, and at $4.99/month, the price seems reasonable if the non-traditional sports interest you.
Keep in mind that there are other OTT streaming options currently on the market. CBS Sports HQ was launched in late-February which, similar to ESPN, was designed as a complementary option to their cable programming. The service is free, though its live offerings aren’t quite as robust as ESPN+.
Turner Sports also created an OTT platform of their own — Bleacher Report Live — which delivers content not normally viewable on its television network as well as offer fans the ability to purchase the NBA’s short-duration microtransactions.