ESPN has dove head-first into the world of streaming, not only with their planned joint streaming venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, but also with their own direct-to-consumer service called “Project Flagship” which is set to be released in 2025.
But this begs the question. Is ESPN potentially overextending itself when it comes to the amount of content that sports fans want to consume across the two upcoming platforms?
Not according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who was asked in a recent interview with CNBC why consumers would want to purchase the network’s direct-to-consumer service if they are already planning on purchasing the joint service with added Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery content.
“First of all, we haven’t gotten specific on how the pricing will work,” said Iger of the two services. “I think you have to assume that if someone is already buying the joint venture product, that will be taken into account if someone wants to buy the flagship. What we’re trying to do is serve sports fans in multiple ways. Sports fans who are not part of current multi-channel bundles already, that’s one way to serve them. What ESPN’s flagship service will have will be significantly more than what the ESPN component of the joint venture will be. If they’d like that, they’ll be able to get that too.”
Iger went on to share a few features that will be exclusive to their flagship service, including fantasy sports content and the ability to actually place bets for their users.
If ESPN is able to provide some different content that has an audience, the idea of multiple platforms could certainly work. It also does help that Iger mentioned how consumers will likely get a discount from the flagship service if they already purchased the joint venture.
However, if the network fails to produce enough quality differentiating content on the flagship service from their joint venture service, we could very well see the former fall short a bit in terms of overall consumers purchasing the subscription.
[CNBC]
