By Michaela Gordoni
ESPN will bundle NFL+ Premium with its unlimited plan in time for its new streaming service launch.
The bundle, which includes NFL RedZone, is available for $39.99 per month on Sept. 3, the day before the NFL season starts. It will also offer Fox One with ESPN DTC for $39.99 per month in October, TheWrap reported on Aug. 19.
Disney will also offer a bundle of ESPN Unlimited, Disney+ and Hulu for $35.99 per month with ads and $44.99 per month with no ads. The ESPN Select plan, with ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu, will be available for $16.99 per month. Ad-free will cost $26.99 per month.
Standalone ESPN Unlimited costs $29.99 per month, while standalone Select is $11.99 per month. NFL+ is $6.99 per month or $49.99 per season. NFL+ Premium costs $14.99 per month or $99.99 per season.
Related: ESPN+ Joins Disney+ Streaming Bundle
ESPN will stream five out-of-market NFL preseason games through its app for ESPN Unlimited and pay TV subscriptions on Aug. 23. The games are Baltimore at Washington, Indianapolis at Cincinnati, Houston at Detroit, Buffalo at Tampa and Los Angeles Chargers at San Francisco.
Sports Business Journal reported NFL Network programs will eventually appear directly in ESPN’s DTC service through the NFL and ESPN’s deal to transfer NFL Network, RedZone and other assets to ESPN. However, the deal needs to be cleared under regulatory approval and may not finalize until late next year.
NFL’s content will not be integrated into the ESPN app, so users will still have to launch separate apps to stream. If the deal closes, then the NFL Network will integrate into ESPN. RedZone would still require an additional subscription, as ESPN will only have linear rights, Awful Announcing reported.
Disney has an 80% stake in ESPN. Disney and Fox representatives recently gave statements about their collaboration.
“This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to delivering premium experiences across platforms and meeting consumers where they are – anytime, anywhere,” said Sean Breen, executive vice president of Disney Platform Distribution.
Fox sees the alliance as “evidence of our desire to deliver the best possible value and viewing experience to our shared customers,” said Tony Billetter, senior vice president of strategy and business development of Fox’s direct-to-consumer operations.
By launching all of these bundle deals and collaborations, ESPN hopes to be the go-to place for sports fans. With flexible viewing and cost-cutting bundles, the network may be likely to achieve its goals. However, all of these bundles and subscriptions may be confusing for fans who’d rather have one place to go to for all or most of their viewing needs.
Read Next: Accessing ESPN on Disney Is Getting a Whole Lot Easier
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