ESPN Has Ambitious Plans for Its New Flagship Streaming Service
ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro says the company has an ‘army’ of engineers working on the service.
ESPN wants to make sure it gets its new streaming service right. That was the message from the network’s president Jimmy Pitaro, who talked about the service at the Columbia University Sports Management Conference on Thursday. Pitaro unveiled more details about the forthcoming streamer currently known as “Flagship,” painting the picture of a fully integrated service that’s incredibly fan-focused. In addition to all of the programming found on the ESPN family of networks, Pitaro revealed that the streamer will incorporate tickets, gambling, merchandise, and more.
Key Details:
- Pitaro teased a more “interactive” and “personalized” experience with the new service.
- Flagship will come with a multiview, sports betting options, ticketing and merchandise, and more.
- ESPN+ will continue to exist within the new streaming service.
The forthcoming streaming service that Pitaro discussed on Thursday is still slated to be released ahead of the college football and NFL seasons in 2025 and will be the home to numerous features far outside the traditional streaming customer experience. While that’s not exactly new — Pitaro and Disney CEO Bob Iger have been discussing how packed the user experience on “Flagship” will be for month — many of the features themselves are surprising.
Some of the components due to be available on ESPN’s new streamer include a multiview, sports betting capabilities powered by ESPN Bet, fantasy data, advanced stats, and even ticketing and merchandise. Pitaro reinforced how much of a tailor-made experience the company wants it to be for customers.
“It’s not just about flipping the switch [and making the network available direct-to-consumer],” Pitaro said. “When we do this, it will come with significant product enhancements. Yes, you’ll be able to get all of our networks. But the shoulder experience around the video will be much more interactive and it will be much more personalized. … I could go on and on, but we have an army of engineers and designers on all of this right now.”
Front Office Sports reports that the new streamer will also offer Disney’s current sports streaming service ESPN+ within Flagship. This would seem to counter my theory that Disney is planning to shut down ESPN+ once it launches Flagship. But nothing is finalized yet; there could still be a chance that Disney opts to shut down the standalone ESPN+ app and keep the brand alive within Flagship as a content tile.
Pitaro continued to harp on his insistence that the customer experience comes first with Flagship, and with all ESPN products. He talked about his disdain for the term “worldwide leader in sports” when discussing ESPN, and said that all he’s ever wanted was to deliver a world-class experience for fans.
“It’s always felt un-ESPN-like,” Pitaro said of the moniker. “The fact that historically we’ve referred to ourselves that way, it’s always felt a bit off from my perspective. I’m fine if other people want to refer to ESPN in that way. But let’s focus on serving the sports fan. Let’s be of service. That’s our mission.”
From the sound of the company’s plans for Flagship, it appears that ESPN is carrying over that philosophy to the new streamer as well. Disney is expected to bring Flagship to the market early next summer, and the service is predicted to cost between $20 and $30 per month.
ESPN+
ESPN+ is a live TV streaming service that gives access to thousands of live sporting events including NFL, MLB, NHL, UFC, College Football, F1, Bundesliga, PGA Tour, La Liga, and more. Users can see sports documentaries and select archived events. Subscribers can access exclusive articles from top ESPN insiders.