ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery to offer combined sports streaming bundle
A view of the logo during ESPN The Party on Feb. 5, 2016 in San Francisco. Credit: Getty Images for ESPN/Mike Windle
In one of the most seismic developments yet in the transition to live streaming, ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday announced a joint venture to launch a service that would bring together their vast, combined sports rights.
The companies said they had agreed in principle to a streaming bundle that would include ESPN’s linear and ESPN+ sports offerings as well as those of Fox and WBD (parent of TNT Sports), which includes a huge trove of programming covering every major North American pro sport and many other events.
No price was announced for the service, which would be offered via a standalone app.
The news release said the service “is subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements amongst the parties,” but is scheduled to launch this autumn.
The companies said subscribers would be able to bundle the product beyond the sports world with streaming services such as Disney+, Hulu and/or Max.
“The launch of this new streaming sports service is a significant moment for Disney and ESPN, a major win for sports fans, and an important step forward for the media business,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in the release.
As streaming services have become more popular – and expensive – many have anticipated a day when such services would be bundled in a fashion similar to the longtime model in pay TV.
This venture is the boldest step yet in that process and presumably will accelerate the transition from cable bundles to streaming ones.
Live sports widely is viewed in the industry as the most important remaining pillar in the traditional cable bundle. Now, there will be an alternative to it.
Locally, a similar process might be underway.
The YES Network and MSG Networks recently announced a business partnership that does not yet include joint offerings of each other’s live-streaming sports rights. But it was widely viewed as a step in that direction.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
