With Venu Stalled, What’s Next for ESPN Streaming?

As a sports fan who has always wanted a more cost-effective way to watch ESPN without paying $75 per month or more for a cable subscription, I was highly intrigued by the prospect of Venu Sports. The service promised to deliver a livestream of ESPN and other popular cable channels for just $42.99 per month, until a preliminary injunction handed down last week in Fubo’s antitrust lawsuit against the service barred Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery from launching the joint streaming venture as planned on Aug. 23. But the good news, for sports fans like me, is that there are multiple other streaming options on their way for cord-cutters to get their ESPN fix without having to pay cable-like prices.

Key Details:

• An ESPN tile is coming to Disney+ sometime around December.
• A standalone ESPN streaming service is intended to launch sometime in 2025.
• The fall of Venu could mean ESPN+ carries on in some form after other ESPN streaming products launch.

The first new ESPN streaming option on its way to fans is a sports-centric content hub that will appear on Disney+ by the end of 2024. In May, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the tile would include a “modest amount of programming,” which is a sure sign that it won’t carry all content available on linear ESPN channels, but it is a step in the right direction for sports fans.

This will likely differ significantly from the worldwide leader in sports’ current streaming platform. ESPN+ is a solid streaming service that houses scores of exclusive events, especially ones that aren’t likely to get massive media attention elsewhere. However, it doesn’t stream many of the cornerstones of ESPN programming, like the full lineup of “Monday Night Football” games (although it does stream some), nor does it carry any live NBA games or popular studio shows like “SportsCenter.” An ESPN tile on Disney+ will likely provide livestreams of some of these major games and events, even if it doesn’t carry everything from the linear channels.

A more fully realized, standalone ESPN streaming service is also in the works. That service — which the company is currently calling “Flagship” — will launch in 2025, and is expected to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 to $30 per month. This service will reportedly have even more features than Venu was set to offer, will include livestreams of all channels in the ESPN family of networks, and will feature every sporting event under the ESPN brand.

What Happens to ESPN+?

One of the biggest questions in Disney’s streaming plans for ESPN is the fate of ESPN+. I myself predicted that with the launch of Venu and the two new ESPN streamers, Disney likely wouldn’t be able to justify the continued existence of ESPN+ in the long term.

Will that change now that Venu is being mothballed? If Disney decides that ESPN+ has enough meaningful content of its own to keep the service going, it might well signal a reprieve for the service. ESPN+ currently serves as the home of UFC Pay-Per-View events, the NHL’s out-of-market games service NHL Power Play, and other exclusive programming, and if Disney generates enough revenue from just these events it could keep the streamer going on its own.

However, unless Disney’s contracts with these sports leagues and organizations stipulate that this content must remain exclusive to ESPN+, I still think the service is more likely to be sunset, especially when the new standalone ESPN service is launched next year. There are simply not many reasons to keep ESPN+ going once the new service is up and running.

The potential death of Venu Sports does not mean that ESPN audiences are out of luck when it comes to streaming the channel. There are still ESPN streaming services in the works, and fans will be able to see at least some ESPN content on Disney+ before the end of 2024.