Disney’s upcoming ESPN streaming service has set two plans and pricing ahead of its launch this fall.
ESPN’s Unlimited plan will provide access to 47,000 live events, studio shows and more. It will be available for $29.99 per month/$299.99 per year standalone, $35.99 in a bundle with ads on Disney+ and Hulu and $44.99 per month with no ads on Disney+ and Hulu. At launch, the bundle will cost $29.99 for the first 12 months.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Select plan, which includes all the content currently available on ESPN+, will be $11.99 per month/$119.99 per year. It will cost $16.99 per month with ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu and $26.99 per month with ad-free Disney+ and Hulu.
Existing ESPN+ subscribers will automatically become subscribers to ESPN’s new service, based on their current subscription level. Standalone ESPN+ subscribers get the ESPN select plan, and Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle subscribers get the ESPN select bundle.
“Our priority is really looking at the people, the 60+ million households that are on the sidelines,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro told reporters on Tuesday. “We are platform agnostic. We are perfectly comfortable — in fact, very happy — with the traditional ecosystem. We’ve done a lot to protect that ecosystem and we will continue to make the traditional ecosystem a priority.”
A launch date for the offering was not disclosed.
The upcoming streamer, which was first announced last year and will also be available to ESPN linear’s existing pay TV subscribers, will package the sports network’s programming with fantasy sports integrations, enhanced statistics, betting features and e-commerce.
“The difference is that the ESPN linear service, if that’s all its consumer chooses to watch, will not have the bells and whistles and those additional features that the DTC service will have,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said during last week’s earnings call for its second quarter of 2025. “If you’re subscribed to [Disney+, Hulu and ESPN’s streaming service], you’ll have a seamless experience there. They’ll be completely, ultimately integrated or embedded into the service. That is a real plus from the consumer experience perspective.”
Iger added that Disney would be “somewhat agnostic” from a subscriber perspective as it looks to balance growing the streaming business with preserving the linear multi-channel ecosystem.
In addition to the ESPN streaming service, the sports network’s content is also available on streaming via the cheaper, standalone ESPN+ service for $11.99 per month, which the company will continue to market and sell in part due to contractual rights commitments with several leagues, both domestically and internationally. ESPN is also available as a tile in Disney+ available for bundle subscribers.
Disney’s sports segment, which includes ESPN and ESPN+, grew revenue 5% to $4.5 billion during the second quarter, but operating profit fell 12% to $687 million due to write-off from exiting its scrapped Venu Sports joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox.
ESPN grew domestic revenue 7% to $4.2 billion and international revenue 11% to $379 million. Operating income fell 17% to $648 million domestically, but rose 11% to $21 million internationally.
The domestic results reflected higher programming and production costs due to three additional college football playoff games and one additional NFL game; ad revenue growth of 29% due to rate and average viewership increases; and a modest increase in affiliate revenue offset by fewer subscribers.
ESPN+ subscribers fell 3% to 24.1 million, with ARPU growing 3% to $6.58 driven by price increases and the impact of a shift in subscriber mix.
Looking ahead, Disney is forecasting that its sports segment will grow operating income 18% for full year 2025.
