Over-the-top streaming service ESPN+ is raising its monthly price by $1, to $5.99, according to a report from The Verge.
The price increase will reportedly take effect in August, but the service’s yearly rate of $49.99 will remain the same, as will the $12.99 Disney streaming package that includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. Alone, the sports streaming app now costs the same amount as Hulu’s basic tier.
Subscribers who currently pay the $4.99 monthly rate will be allowed to stay at that price point for one year, according to The Verge.
ESPN+ launched in April 2018 and includes a slate of college sports and mostly off-major sports leagues. Earlier in June, ESPN announced that ESPN+ would air featured hole coverage from the remainder of the 2019-20 PGA Tour.
The service had 2.2 million subscribers in March 2019, but had racked up 7.9 million by March of this year following the launch of the Disney bundle deal.
The ESPN+ price hike comes at an interesting time, as there is a dearth of professional sports content amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the possibility of having college sports in the fall in limbo. The National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball have announced plans to return to play in July, but historically, those leagues would not appear on ESPN+.