ESPN+ Joins Disney+ Streaming Bundle

Published: December 6, 2024

ESPN+ Joins Disney+ Streaming Bundle

Movieguide® Contributor

Disney+ has all the pieces in place for its special streaming bundle.

“As signaled last month, the addition of ESPN+ took effect this morning, giving subscribers to select live sporting events and library and studio fare via a branded ESPN tile on the home screen,” Deadline reported on Dec. 4. “The integration follows that of Hulu earlier this year.”

The bundle now includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. Plans start at $16.99 per month.

“In a Zoom briefing with reporters, executives said initial sports programming due to be featured on the home page of Disney+ will include NBA and WNBA games, Australian Open tennis and studio shows like PARDON THE INTERRUPTION,” Deadline reported. “The effort to cross-pollinate sports and entertainment programming offers a preview of a more ambitious undertaking slated for fall 2025: the planned launch of ESPN’s ‘flagship’ streaming service. (It, too, is slated to get real estate on Disney+.)”

Disney boasted 122.7 million “core” Disney+ subscribers on Sept. 28. That doesn’t include its Disney+/Hotstar subscribers. It has 25.6 million ESPN+ subscribers.

“John Lasker, SVP of ESPN+, said the 5,000 live events set to be offered via Disney+ to bundle subscribers in the first 90 days represent ‘a small fraction’ of the 30,000 events available each year on ESPN+,” Deadline said. “Part of the design there is to stimulate engagement and interest in sports to a casual sports fan that might not otherwise come to ESPN in their normal media behavior. So it’s not creating an alternative to ESPN or ESPN+, but more an extended reach opportunity.”

With the launch comes new ESPN and Hulu tiles for all subscribers. Though Disney+ standalone subscribers won’t have free access to the services, they can now easily peruse what’s available.

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“ESPN+, which launched in 2018, initially was positioned as a supplement to the main ESPN pay-TV offering. Over the years, it has added more and more consequential live sports, but it still falls well short of delivering fans a comprehensive experience,” Deadline reported. “As cord-cutting has continued to erode ESPN subscriber numbers, execs made the call to bring the full ESPN offering into direct-to-consumer streaming.”

However, Disney faces some challenges as it engages in a legal battle with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery regarding Venu Sports.

“That service, whose planned launch was wiped out earlier this year by a federal judge’s injunction in an antitrust lawsuit filed by Fubo, brings together sports-focused programming on 15 linear networks,” Deadline said. “Disney and its partners have appealed the injunction ruling and will make oral arguments next month in their appeal.”