Disney Reportedly Planning Streaming-Only Version of ESPN

Disney has some big plans for ESPN down the road. According to the Wall Street Journal (per The Streamable), Disney has begun laying the groundwork to sell the channel as a subscription streaming service in the coming years. This will give consumers a way to stream all ESPN programming without cable or satellite contracts. There is no timeline for when the standalone streaming ESPN channel will be available. 

The Wall Street Journal says Disney is making deals with pay-TV providers to secure the contract flexibility needed to launch an ESPN streaming service. Disney has come to agreements with some providers, though the terms of the deals haven’t been disclosed. Another move Disney has to make is it has to get approval from sports leagues whose broadcasting rights it owns since the values of its theses with those leagues are based on traditional TV metrics. ESPN is popular among cable viewers as 78 percent of adults rated ESPN as a “must have” to justify a pay-TV subscription. 

Last May, former Disney CEO Bob Chapek said a streaming-only version of ESPN would be “the ultimate fan offering.” after being asked about the future of the streaming platform ESPN+. Chapek also said  “when it comes time to actually pull the trigger,” the service would “appeal to superfans that really love sports, and I think there’s nobody but ESPN who could frankly pull that off.”

Current Disney CEO Bob Iger talked about a streaming-only ESPN channel in February and suggested that the company is still looking at the best way to bring it to the market. “ESPN+ actually has grown nicely for us, and it’s shown us that the ESPN brand can be enjoyed and can be expressed well as a streaming brand,” he said, per The Streamable. “And I think that we are going to continue to look at that as a potential pivot for ESPN away from the linear business. But we’re not going to do that precipitously. We’re not going to do that until it really makes sense from an economic perspective.”

The current cost of ESPN+ is $9.99 per month. And while the streaming service some live games, ESPN carries from the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB, which means that the cost of a standalone streaming channel could be at least $20 per month. But since ESPN is still popular among cable viewers, Disney will take its time before a final decision is made.