This year, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox, and ESPN will establish a unified sports streaming platform
The rivals plan to launch their joint service at a time when cable television viewing is becoming less popular and sports media rights are becoming increasingly valuable.
This fall, ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery, all owned by Walt Disney, will debut a joint sports streaming service that will provide fans with a fresh approach to watch major live sports events for the first time, the companies announced on Tuesday.
The platform does not yet have a name or a price. It will be owned by a recently established business with its own leadership team. Each of Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery will hold a third of the company.
Through a new app, customers would be able to subscribe directly. Additionally, customers would be able to combine the product with Disney+, Hulu, and Max, the businesses’ streaming services.
Designed with sports enthusiasts in mind, the product will be a more condensed bundle of linear networks than a typical cable offering. It will include ESPN+ and every sports-related broadcast and cable network owned by Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
A person familiar with the situation said that ESPN will continue to offer a comprehensive direct-to-consumer streaming solution, which Disney is now investigating, even after the product launches. ESPN has stated in the past that it intends to release that product either this year or next.
While sports media rights are becoming more and more valuable, people are no longer choosing to watch on traditional cable, which is why the competitors want to launch their joint service at this time.
