ESPN says its direct-to-consumer streaming service will debut in September at $29.99 a month

NEW YORK – ESPN said Tuesday that its caller all-encompassing streaming work volition instrumentality connected a acquainted sanction — ESPN — and motorboat successful September astatine an archetypal terms of $29.99 per month.

The work volition alteration consumers to presumption each of ESPN's assorted networks, including ones devoted to the SEC, Big 10 and ACC assemblage leagues, arsenic good arsenic contented from the existent ESPN+ streaming service, which volition beryllium folded successful to the caller product.

The web besides promised enhancements to its ESPN app for mobile devices, including utilizing artificial quality to make a personalized “SportsCenter” for consumers that concentrates connected quality and highlights for their favourite teams, sports and athletes.

September volition correspond a large infinitesimal for ESPN connected par with the cablegram sports network's motorboat successful 1979, the instauration of ESPN2 successful 1993 and motorboat of the ESPN.com website 2 years later, said Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN chairman. The nonstop day it volition go disposable volition beryllium announced later.

It's besides a pivotal improvement successful the accelerating manufacture displacement from tv to streaming. ESPN and its sister channels volition stay disposable connected cablegram and outer systems.

After kicking astir respective ideas for what to telephone the service, which was known informally arsenic “Flagship” during the developmental stages, Pitaro said executives decided to support it simple. “There's powerfulness successful our sanction and there's spot successful our name,” helium said.

All unrecorded events shown connected ESPN networks, on with sports shown connected broadcast sister ABC-TV, volition beryllium disposable done the streaming service.

So volition its different programming, similar “SportsCenter”, “Pardon the Interruption,” “First Take,” “The Pat McAfee Show,” “NFL Live” and archetypal films. ESPN announced Tuesday that a erstwhile web personality, Rich Eisen, volition bring his regular programme to ESPN adjacent arsenic helium continues to enactment astatine the NFL Network.

ESPN's streaming work volition beryllium disposable for $299.99 per year. The Disney-owned web said it volition besides let radical to bundle ESPN on with Hulu and Disney+ for $35.99 a period — oregon $29.99 a period for the archetypal year.

Although consumers volition beryllium capable to bargain the much constricted slate of programming disposable present connected ESPN+ for $11.99 a month, Pitaro said ESPN decided against offering different lower-cost alternatives containing some, but not all, of the company's assorted services. It would beryllium excessively confusing for consumers, helium said.

Pitaro said ESPN remains unfastened to different acquisitions oregon partnerships to physique programming. That includes perchance taking connected immoderate struggling determination sports networks that amusement baseball, adjacent though ESPN decided earlier this twelvemonth to opt retired of the last 3 years of its declaration to amusement Major League Baseball astatine the extremity of this season.

“When the league is acceptable to person a conversation, we are acceptable to listen,” Pitaro said.

___

David Bauder writes astir the intersection of media and amusement for the AP. Follow him astatine http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.