On the company’s quarterly earnings call today, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the previously-announced standalone ESPN streaming service will arrive by the fall of 2025. The company had already tipped the service, which Iger explained will offer “the full suite” of ESPN networks as a streaming option, but a general launch date or any additional details hadn’t been revealed.
Iger said that the standalone ESPN offering will serve up the live games and studio programming that’s currently available on a host of cable channels. What’s more, the service will provide access to ESPN Bet and fantasy sports alongside detailed stats and shopping. Of course, all of that will also include “robust personalization,” according to Iger.
These new details come a day after Disney announced it would team up with Fox and Warner Brothers Discovery on a combined sports streaming service this fall. The yet-to-be-named option will include games from NFL, MLB, NHL and the NBA via channels including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV and ESPN. There’s no word on pricing yet, but subscribers will be able to bundle it with their existing Disney+, Hulu, and Max subscriptions. This means that you’ll actually be able to stream ESPN networks without a cable or other live TV subscription before Disney’s own standalone service launches. However, the combo effort is sure to be more expensive as it mashes up all of those additional channels from Fox and Warner Brothers Discovery.
Disney already offers ESPN+ as an alternative to cable. The service makes live games available for streaming, but it doesn’t provide access to action as it airs on ESPN networks. For that reason ESPN+ has been complement to the cable channels, but Disney hasn’t yet said how its services will exist after fall of next year.
Standalone ESPN will also be available on Disney+ for bundle subscribers, just like the company has done with Hulu. No word on pricing for the new iteration of ESPN yet either, but there’s also plenty of time for Disney to hype the service between now and fall 2025. Iger did say that the the price “would be more attractive” than the typical cable bundle.
