ESPN, FOX, Warner Bros. Discovery launching joint sports streaming service in

By Richard Deitsch, Mike Vorkunov, Andrew Marchand and Greg Rosenstein

ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery are forming a new joint venture to launch a sports streaming service in fall of 2024, they announced Tuesday. This will include the companies’ portfolios of sports networks, certain direct-to-consumer sports services and sports rights.

Subscribers will have access to linear sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV and ESPN+. It can also be bundled with Disney+, Hulu and/or Max.

“The launch of this new streaming sports service is a significant moment for Disney and ESPN, a major win for sports fans and an important step forward for the media business,” Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said in a statement. “This means the full suite of ESPN channels will be available to consumers alongside the sports programming of other industry leaders as part of a differentiated sports-centric service. I’m grateful to Jimmy Pitaro and the team at ESPN, who are at the forefront of innovating on behalf of consumers to create new offerings with more choice and greater value.”

Added David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery: “At WBD, our ambition is always to connect our leading content and brands with as many viewers as possible, and this exciting joint venture and the unparalleled combination of marquee sports rights and access to the greatest sporting events in the world allows us to do just that. This new sports service exemplifies our ability as an industry to drive innovation and provide consumers with more choice, enjoyment and value and we’re thrilled to deliver it to sports fans.”

Pricing will be announced at a later date, the statement said.

What will it mean for consumers?

That’s the biggest question at hand and we’ll learn more about this as more details come out. Among the biggest questions for me is what will the price point be for such a product? In theory, as a practical matter, to give sports fans the opportunity to purchase these significant sports properties directly without having to pay for an entertainment component is a potential game-changer.

On the topic of a price point for the joint sports streaming service, which will be foremost on the mind of consumers, the joint venture has not yet finished its research on where it will land. But for some guidance, based on those briefed on the deal, the likelihood is it will be priced between where a standalone RSN might charge for its monthly offering (think $20-30 monthly depending on where you live) or what you might pay for bundled services (think $75 and up). Could that mean around $50-55? We’ll learn soon.— Richard Deitsch, media reporter

What’s this new venture called?

There is no formal name for the joint venture as of now — they are in the lab formulating names — but that’s going to be something very important when it goes to market. Feel…