A detailed view of a broadcast camera with the NFL shield and the ESPN Monday Night Football logo is seen during a game between the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field in Chicago on December 20, 2021.
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ESPN will launch its flagship direct-to-consumer service in August or fall 2025, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced during an interview Wednesday with CNBC's Julia Boorstin.
The service will include all ESPN programming and feature new customization and integration with ESPN and ESPN Bet fantasy platforms.
The date of this launch has long been anticipated by the sports media world, although the news is somewhat muted by Disney's announcement that ESPN will be available in a new sports package this fall. The direct-to-consumer service would have been the first time non-cable subscribers could access ESPN outside of the traditional cable package.
Now, the yet-to-be-named joint venture of Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery will take on that role.
It's unclear now whether TV viewers who have abandoned cable will agree to pay a premium for any of the sports offerings, none of which include live sports games from Comcast NBCUniversal and Paramount Global.
ESPN did not announce pricing for the flagship direct-to-consumer service. Disney already has a sports streaming service in ESPN+, which ended the quarter with 25.2 million subscribers, up from 26 million a quarter ago. ESPN+ only has some of ESPN's content and does not include the network's most popular live sports, including the full set of Monday Night Football.
In the CNBC interview, Iger downplayed the possibility of the joint streaming service cannibalizing the ESPN product. He said the two platforms would offer different features to sports fans.
ESPN's offering “will have many more features and provide a much more immersive experience for the sports fan than what this package offers,” he said. “This package is really a channel package.”
Disney is trying to transform the business of ESPN, which has suffered from the loss of traditional cable subscribers. The company has considered finding a strategic partner for the network and has held preliminary talks with the NFL, NBA and MLB about potential deals, CNBC previously reported.
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