This Change Could Reinvent Sports Streaming
By Movieguide® Contributor
Over the last year or so, ESPN has worked effortlessly to provide the best experience for fans to watch their favorite sports teams and athletes.
With that effort comes a new streaming service called “Flagship” that, much like ESPN’s mission statement, is dedicated to, “Serving sports fans. Anytime, Anywhere.”
“It is reorienting itself around streaming in preparation for what Pitaro calls the ‘flagship’ service launch next year; It is reworking its sports rights deals, locking in key partners and cutting others loose; And it is shifting the mix of its on-air talent, with dozens of names being let go over the past year, even as others are brought in,” The Hollywood Reporter wrote.
ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro says it’s an “all hands-on deck right now from a product and development perspective.”
Not only will Flagship (its name is subject to change) have many features for streaming sports, but it will also have a sports betting feature.
“We know that it can’t just be as simple as flipping a switch,” Pitaro said. “We know that our product needs to be enhanced.”
The main focus of Flagship will be to provide sports coverage for teams at the regional and local levels.
“We very much believe that Flagship should be part of the solution,” Pitaro explained. “If you’re part of the ESPN environment, we can geotarget you, recognize where you are and serve you local, in-market game. We’ve made that point to various leagues and commissioners that we are very interested in stepping up. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in connection with Flagship. It can be an upsell as part of Flagship. We can make these games available in the ESPN app.”
“We see this as nothing but positive for a sports fan and for the business,” he added.
ESPN is aiming for a 2025 release of the streamer.
Movieguide® recently reported on Flagship:
Pitaro also spoke on the cost of the new platform, and while other reports have “indicated that the service would cost around $25 to $30 per month…Pitaro did not offer concrete details to confirm or refute those reports.”
“He did say that it would be priced in a way so that Disney would be agnostic as to whether a viewer signed up through the cable bundle to watch ESPN, or got it via streaming,” The Streamable reported.
Diamond Sports Group is another platform trying to offer sports on the local level. The group was backed by Amazon, but they pulled their $115 million investment from Diamond because of legal issues and bankruptcy.
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