Breaking: Standalone ESPN Streaming Service Will Be Available via Disney+ in Fall 2025, But Will It Be Available on Its Own?
It’s unclear is the ESPN direct-to-consumer service will only be available via Disney+ or if sports fans can subscribe to it on its own.
Following a dominant victory over an activist investor who was looking to take over seats on the Disney board, during a shareholders meeting, CEO Bob Iger released a pre-recorded video that highlighted a number of plans for the future of the company. One of the announcements in the package was that the forthcoming standalone streaming service that will bring all of ESPN’s sports programming and live events to consumers without the need for a cable, satellite, or live TV streaming subscription will be available via Disney+, promising a new wrinkle in the ever-expanding Disney Bundle.
- The yet-to-be-named full-ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming platform will launch in fall 2025.
- The price of the ESPN service is being targeted at $25-$30 per month.
- As part of Disney+, it will be a part of the Disney Bundle, meaning that there will be some sort of discounted associated with subscribing, even if it isn’t direct.
Disney’s plans to launch a direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service that includes every single second of ESPN programming have been in the works for nearly two years, but it was made official last May when the worldwide leader in sports began negotiating with league and distribution partners to make it happen. Then in February, as part of Disney’s first earnings call of the year, Iger confirmed that the long-awaited platform would be available as early as August 2025.
During the Disney shareholder’s call on Wednesday, Iger confirmed that the platform will be available inside the Disney+ experience. Without giving many concrete details, he noted that it would be similar to how the recent integration of a Hulu into the company’s flagship streaming worked. If that remains the blueprint, the new ESPN platform will be available via its own independent subscription but be able to be accessed via Disney+ for customers who have bundled their subscriptions.
However, Iger did not go so far as to confirm that the service will operate exactly in the same way. Instead, he left the door open for the possibility of the sports streamer being an add-on to Disney+ similar to how Warner Bros. Discovery introduced the Bleacher Report Sports Add-On last October as an additional paid tier to Max. Thus far, WBD has postponed requiring an extra subscription to access the sports package, but that move is anticipated to happen this summer.
Considering that Disney has touted the fact that bundling its services has been a major boon for its streaming operations, it does not seem out of the realm of possibilities that the eventual ESPN platform lives exclusively inside Disney+. The company already gives significant discounts to customers who sign up for more than one service, and consumers who subscribe to Hulu + Live TV get the entire Disney Bundle — Disney+, ESPN+, and on-demand Hulu — for free. Hulu’s live TV streaming service costs at least $74.99 per month, so the addition of the relatively cheaper Disney+ and ESPN+ is worth it for the company in order to increase the value of the service.
While the ESPN DTC service will not rival the cost of Hulu + Live TV, it will be considerably more than the rest of Disney’s streaming products. Therefore, it would make sense if customers who signed up for the sports streamer also got Disney+ as a bonus. If that’s the case, that would eliminate the need to build a completely separate platform, and by adding in the family and genre entertainment found on the flagship service, it would provide a more well-rounded streaming experience that would be more likely to keep customers engaged with — and signed up for — the service.
“Disney has a real chance to become the ultimate streaming destination for consumers,” Iger said.
The CEO also touted the fact that the ESPN DTC product will have more exclusive and interactive features than ever seen before. Expounding on comments made in February, Iger noted that features like an integration with the newly launched ESPN Bets gambling platform, the ability to integrate ESPN fantasy sports into your viewing experience, and e-commerce opportunities will make this streamer different from the joint venture between Disney, WBD, and Fox launching later this year.
Whether the ESPN streaming service is available on its own or only via Disney+ is yet to be seen, but there is no doubt that it will be a major disruption in the way that many sports fans watch their favorite teams and leagues.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”