New ESPN streaming service will complete the great unbundling

ESPN is planning to launch its flagship streaming platform later this year, negating the need to have cable television to watch all events aired by the Disney-owned sports network.

In a further sign of a brewing sports streaming war that pits ESPN against pretty much everyone else, ESPN plans to liberate its hefty assortment of sports rights and go straight to consumer.

The platform will go beyond the ESPN+ streaming service to include the television networks like ESPN, ESPN 2 and ESPN U. There’s no sign of cable providers losing ESPN, but the same channels will be available outside of a traditional TV bundle for the first time.

In the company’s most recent earnings report Disney executives said: “ESPN’s flagship offering that will launch in early fall has been and remains our priority.

“And we expect the elevated product and content experience — which will all be housed within the ESPN app — will be a digital destination for sports fans unlike anything available in the marketplace today, with the full suite of ESPN’s networks and ESPN+, and highly interactive and personalised features.”

The great unbundling fulfils a major goal for streamers seeking access to a full suite of content without needing a cable or satellite provider.

It’s not clear when precisely the service will launch but September, in time for the start of the 2025 NFL season and ESPN’s iconic Monday Night Football broadcasts remains a safe bet.

It’s also not clear how much this service will cost. The safe bet is ‘a pretty penny.’

An increasingly fragmented sports market

ESPN going it alone is another sign of the sports streaming market becoming even more fragmented. On one hand it’s the a la carte option sports fans – who don’t want to pay for news, and reality TV and movie channels – have always wanted.

On the other hand, this is just one provider and there are at least half a dozen required to watch what used to be available as part of an encompassing cable subscription. Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Fan Duel, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock and more all have fragments of the great sporting pie and to have them all is mightily expensive.

What’s next is an option to bundle them all (Warner, Disney and Fox already failed with one attempt), and then we’re basically back to where we started.

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