ESPN, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery have reached an understanding on principal terms to form a new joint venture to build a new platform to house a streaming sports service.
The platform brings together the companies’ portfolios of sports networks, certain direct-to-consumer (DTC) sports services – including content from all the major professional sports leagues and college sports.
The formation of the pay service is subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements amongst the parties. The offering, scheduled to launch in the fall of 2024, would be made available directly to consumers via a new app. Subscribers would also have the ability to bundle the product, including with Disney+, Hulu and/or Max.
The platform would aggregate content to offer fans an extensive, dynamic lineup of sports content, aiming to provide a new and differentiated experience to serve sports fans, particularly those outside of the traditional pay TV bundle.
By subscribing to this sports service, fans would have access to the linear sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV, as well as ESPN+.
The news, announced on Tuesday, comes as sports streaming rights have skyrocketed with both ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT renegotiating their packages with the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The service will be priced at or above $40 per month, according to a new CNBC report, citing sources. The report added an executive has been identified to lead the new venture. The executive will be announced at a later date.
Key Highlights:
ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery would form a new joint venture to develop, launch and operate a streaming sports bundle of linear networks and certain DTC sports content and services.
Each entity would own one-third of the JV, have equal board representation and license their sports content to the joint venture on a non-exclusive basis.
The service would have a new brand with an independent management team.
