ESPN+ Streaming To Bring ‘Netflix-Like Aggregation’ Of Sports Content
The service will come via a revamped ESPN app in the first half of 2018 that will also enable pay-TV subscribers to stream ESPN television network programming. The one-stop-shop will include an additional 10,000 live events, including those in niche passion sports, to the roughly 16,000 that ESPN already airs each year, as well as a host of original content similar to HBO’s docu-series “Hard Knocks.”
“That new version of the ESPN app is going to be the best way to consume the totality of ESPN in the future,” Skipper said.
While a portion of the content will be available for free through ESPN+, premium content will be behind a subscription paywall. Individual sports packages, including MLB.TV, NHL.TV and MLS Live, will also be available for purchase. Prices have yet to be finalized, but the service will likely come with both a monthly subscription option and an annual package that would be offered at a partial discount, according to Skipper.
While original content will be a big part of this, the ability to stream more live events, and have the option to do that seamlessly online and through mobile apps in addition to traditional channels such as cable TV, are what’s incentivizing ESPN to build out such a robust direct-to-consumer app.
Are you old enough to remember when the whole point of cable TV was that for a nominal fee, you could watch commercial free TV? I am. That didn’t last long just like FM radio’s original format.
So I signed up for Sling with 2 months of Roku for free. Installed the Roku device when it finally came 2+ weeks into the subscription and all the text on my TV was in German. Yea, that’s right, German. Nowhere on their website were there instructions on how to change the language. My son came by and changed it to English. I say “I didn’t know you could read German”. He says “Oh, I picked up a little here and there.” He’s 25 and has never left the USA. Sheesh.
Wow, great price. Basically get everything that isn’t on an ESPN channel which, I believe, means everything on ESPN3. If you’re really into the non-football/men’s basketball sports, this is great. Hope they’ll add more content such as more T&F and AAC events.
I love T&F. Would love to see more swimming and diving too. Tae Kwon Do tournaments were all the rage in ESPN’s early days. I miss non-ppv boxing too. Talk about a cartel controling a sport!
Pretty big addition here for the ESPN service and good for MLS fans as this will end up being cheaper than the price for last year’s MLS streaming service
Now, it should be noted that ESPN Plus’ debut is just “later this spring,” likely after the MLS season starts on March 3. However, that actually could work out well for everyone. One source told Soshnick and Palmeri matches will be available for free on MLSsoccer.com until the new service launches. And that could be another free taste that might get more people to sign up for ESPN Plus when it does launch.
Additional details about the array of content in the ESPN+ programming lineup will be announced in the coming days and weeks, but among the thousands of live sports events that ESPN+ will offer to fans are:
MLB – MORE THAN 180 GAMES; A GAME PER DAY THROUGHOUT SEASON: ESPN+ will feature an ESPN+ MLB game each day, seven days per week, throughout the MLB regular season – more than 180 games that will include every MLB team.*
NHL – MORE THAN 180 GAMES; GAME OF THE DAY THROUGHOUT REGULAR SEASON: Beginning with the 2018-19 NHL season, subscribers to ESPN+ will get a daily NHL game throughout the NHL regular season (in keeping with the NHL schedule) – more than 180 hockey games.*
BOXING – YEAR-ROUND SCHEDULE, INCLUDES EXCLUSIVE KHAN VS. LO GRECO BOUT: ESPN+ is a key part of ESPN’s multi-platform Top Rank Boxing on ESPN boxing agreement and will feature high-quality boxing throughout the year, including a selection of exclusive main event fights beginning with the April 21 Amir Khan vs. Phil Lo Greco bout in Liverpool, England. In addition, ESPN+ will feature undercard fights throughout the year from Top Rank on ESPN events, re-airs of all Top Rank on ESPN and PPV events and an unmatched library of legendary fights from the Top Rank and ESPN Big Fights archives.
MLS – MORE THAN 250 GAMES: At launch, ESPN+ will include exclusive access for subscribers to the entire MLS Live out-of-market schedule, featuring more than 250 games,* through their subscription. Before launch, fans can access free MLS out-of-market games streaming live on live on MLSsoccer.com and the MLS App. Additionally, ESPN+ will be the exclusive local-market home for the Chicago Fire, bringing 27 Fire matches to fans in Chicago.
COLLEGE SPORTS – THOUSANDS OF GAMES AND EVENTS, MULTIPLE SPORTS, ACROSS NEARLY TWO DOZEN CONFERENCES: The ESPN+ lineup will be rich with thousands of live college sports events, including football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, track & field, gymnastics, swimming & diving, lacrosse, wrestling, volleyball, golf and more — from over a dozen conferences across the country including the America East, ASun, Big South, Big West, Horizon, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Missouri Valley, NEC, Southern Conference, Southland, Summit League, Sun Belt, WAC and many more.
SPRING SPORTS COLLEGE BASEBALL & SOFTBALL: ESPN+ will help college baseball and softball fans see more games than ever before, with hundreds more games from across the college ranks streamed live, exclusively on ESPN+.
LACROSSE, TENNIS AND TRACK & FIELD: ESPN+ will carry dozens of events from across conferences this spring.
FALL SPORTS
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: ESPN+ will include hundreds of college football games each season from across more than a dozen conferences in the FBS and FCS.
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SOCCER, VOLLEYBALL, FIELD HOCKEY: ESPN+ will have hundreds of games this fall from soccer, volleyball and field hockey as the 2018-19 academic year gets underway. WINTER SPORTS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: College hoops fans will get hundreds of men’s and women’s games every season on ESPN+ from all across the college basketball landscape – from division one powerhouses to top mid-majors to the next tournament Cinderella and more.
COLLEGE WRESTLING, SWIMMING & DIVING, GYMNASTICS AND ICE HOCKEY: Fans of winter Olympic sports will get hundreds of games from a variety of conference partners nationwide exclusively on ESPN+.
PGA TOUR LIVE GOLF – MORE THAN 100 DAYS OF COVERAGE FROM 31 PGA TOUR EVENTS: Golf fans will be able to follow the PGA TOUR throughout the year, with more than 100 days of live coverage from 31 PGA TOUR events, including THE PLAYERS Championship, the FedEx Cup Playoffs, AT&T Byron Nelson, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Travelers Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational and dozens more. Coverage will include Thursday, Friday and some Saturday and Sunday play during the events.
GRAND SLAM TENNIS – HUNDREDS OF TENNIS MATCHES FROM WIMBLEDON, US OPEN & AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Tennis fans will have access to more of the action than ever at three of the annual Grand Slam tennis events. With hundreds of men’s and women’s singles and doubles matches, ESPN+ will be the perfect complement for every passionate tennis fan.
RUGBY & CRICKET – HUNDREDS OF MATCHES FROM INTERNATIONAL RUGBY AND CRICKET: ESPN+ will serve rugby and cricket fans in the U.S. with more of their beloved sports, throughout the year. Rugby fans will get matches from SANZAAR (including Super Rugby, The Rugby Championship, the Lions Series, Mitre10 Cup, Currie Cup, Bledisloe Cup and other international matches), the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series, and 18 regular-season matches in the inaugural season of Major League Rugby, the new American professional rugby union league. Meanwhile, passionate cricket fans across the U.S. will get matches across Test, ODI and T20 formats from New Zealand Cricket and Cricket Ireland.
In addition to the hundreds of NHL and MLB games included in the ESPN+ subscription ($4.99/month, or $49.99/year), die-hard fans will be able to purchase the entire MLB.TV out-of-market package via ESPN+ and view the games within the ESPN App. MLB.TV will cost an additional $24.99 per month. Beginning with the 2018-19 NHL season, fans will also be able to purchase the entire NHL.TV out-of-market package.
New, Re-Imagined ESPN App – with ESPN+ Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Service – Launches to Sports Fans Today
At launch, the new ESPN App with ESPN+ will be available on the following devices and platforms, with more to follow:
Amazon – Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV smart TVs and Fire Tablets (4th generation and newer). Apple – iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. The ESPN App with ESPN+ will also be supported in the Apple TV App on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. Google – Android phones, Android TV and Chromecast.
ESPN+ is the new multi-sport, video streaming service from ESPN. In the next few weeks, Insider content will be integrated into ESPN+. So, you’ll continue to receive the same Insider coverage you’re used to, plus live sports and exclusive originals–all at no extra cost!
ESPN Insider has long been the ESPN.com paywall feature, behind which sits writing from people like Keith Law, and more niche areas like recruiting information. Last month, ESPN bundled the existing ESPN Insider subscribers into ESPN+, a move that makes a ton of sense. It’s hard to imagine many people paying for a subscription to ESPN editorial content and features and also paying for a streaming service; the move essentially removed internal competition while making services more valuable to subscribers.
The release, though, makes it sound like since April 2018, a million people have sought out ESPN+ and subscribed, which hasn’t exactly been the case. How do the numbers break down? ESPN isn’t really saying