ESPN’s new streaming application, featuring everything the sports media arm of Disney has to offer, will cost $29.99 per month.
The service, which will take the ESPN name, as CNBC reported last week, will be heavily discounted when bundled with Disney’s other streaming services, Disney+ and Hulu. The three services, with ads, will cost $35.99 per month when purchased together.
For users who sign up at the time of ESPN’s launch this fall, the price of that bundle will fall to $29.99 per month for the first 12 months. In other words, ESPN customers will effectively get Disney+ and Hulu for free for the first year.
An annual subscription to the ESPN streaming service will cost $299.99.
“Our priority is looking at the 60 million households on the sidelines,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said Monday during a media event.
The ESPN application will include all of the network’s live games; programming on other ESPN cable networks such as ESPN2 and the SEC Network; ESPN on ABC; fantasy products; new betting tie-ins; studio programming; documentaries; and more.
The new service differs from ESPN’s current streaming product ESPN+, which does not include some of the most-watched live games (such as the full slate of “Monday Night Football”) that currently air on traditional pay TV.
ESPN+ will remain a less expensive offering for consumers, functioning as the entry tier for ESPN customers who don’t want the entire service. However, Pitaro added the company will prioritize upgrading current ESPN+ subscribers to the all-access service.
ESPN+ costs $11.99 per month and can be bundled with Disney+ and Hulu for $16.99 per month with commercials.
As CNBC reported last week, Pitaro decided to name the application “ESPN” to simplify what has become a cluttered streaming world, filled with different media products that can be bundled with other services at different price points.
Later this year, ESPN’s mobile application will be reimagined and act as the gateway to the all-access service on smart TVs and devices. The revamped app, which will include new features such as a personalized “SportsCenter,” will be available to all users — not just those who purchase ESPN’s $29.99 direct-to-consumer product.
Pay TV subscribers who already get ESPN will automatically be able to authenticate into the new app to get the digital bells and whistles that are not available through cable TV.
Customers who purchase ESPN outside of the cable bundle will also receive ESPN+.
Disclosure: Comcast, which owns CNBC parent NBCUniversal, is a co-owner of Hulu.
