With its latest move, Disney is taking another step closer to an all-in-one streaming ecosystem.
At the Walt Disney Company’s 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Disney CEO Bob Chapek confirmed that ESPN+ will make its way to Hulu in the form of a portal, likely similar to Hulu’s existing FX section.
This way, users who subscribe to both ESPN+ and Hulu can watch the former’s content without leaving the latter’s platform. Users can subscribe using Hulu’s ESPN+ add-on or through the The Disney Bundle, which includes Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu. Customers will also be able to purchase UFC PPV events through Hulu.
Get Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for just $14.99 a month ($12 savings).
In December, the addition was originally announced and, in the words of UFC announcer Bruce Buffer — “it’s time.”
Users have already started seeing ESPN+ content appear on Hulu. A user on the Hulu subreddit posted an ESPN+ splash page found on Hulu, asking for location services.
The move could also be an opportunity for Hulu subscribers who don’t currently have access to ESPN+ to see what they can get with the Worldwide Leader In Sports’ streaming platform.
ESPN+ subscribers have access to the UFC, including PPV events, daily out-of-market game from MLB and NHL, collegiate athletics, original programming and documentaries, as well as expanded soccer coverage including Serie A, FA Cup, UEFA Nations League, EFL Championship, EFL Carabao Cup, Eredevise, the entire MLS Live out-of-market schedule, and more. Users can also access long-form content from popular writers like Bill Barnwell, Zach Lowe, Matthew Berry, Jackie MacMullan, and Jeff Passan on ESPN.com
In February, ESPN+ announced it has over 12.1 million subscribers as of January 2nd, 2021. Over the course of the year, the service nearly doubled adding 5.5 million subscribers. It will be interesting to see how many subscribers ESPN+ adds thanks to this integration.