ESPN is building towards its direct to consumer future as their top priority for the company at the moment. And on Thursday they made a significant streaming announcement regarding the future of ESPN+ and Disney+ to continue that momentum.
ESPN is trying to navigate the uncharted territory of the collapse of cable and the push towards streaming and putting all hands on deck in Bristol for the launch of their “Flagship” DTC streaming service next fall.
And in what the company calls the “next step” in their direct to consumer future, the network announced that subscribers to the ESPN+, Disney+, and Hulu bundle will now be able to access ESPN+ from inside Disney+.
If you’ve ever experienced the immense frustration of being asked for your login credentials every time you log in to ESPN+, and you subscribe to the bundle, this is the best early Christmas present you can ask for.
ESPN on @DisneyPlus
The next step in ESPN’s direct-to-consumer future launches Wednesday, December 4
Ahead of ESPN’s flagship standalone direct-to-consumer offering launching early Fall 2025 pic.twitter.com/YEygMlgsgz
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) November 14, 2024
ESPN and Disney have been slowly integrating content between the two apps. Previously this year, ESPN has made some select content available for Disney+ subscribers. However, this was just “select games and studio programming.” At the time, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the move was to condition Disney+ subscribers that sports were going to live there. This is obviously a further step forward, but only for those that have the bundled subscription for both.
It’ll be interesting to see just how it’s integrated, whether it will conform to the Disney+ setup or whether it will still have its own look and feel.
While this move may not be a total gamechanger, it will be at least a step up in usability for bundle subscribers, who won’t have to bounce back and forth between apps to catch episodes of Bluey and the Bundesliga. And it’s a further sign that a great re-bundling may be coming to fruition.
[ESPN PR]
