Sports are coming back together for an ultimate viewing experience.
A new streaming service is on the horizon, combining the forces of Fox Corp., Warner Bros. Discovery, and Disney, per Variety. That means ESPN, TNT, and Fox Sports will all be under one viewing umbrella, making all sports programs available to a singular application, including Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
No date or price for the service has been announced yet, but it’s expected to drop in Fall 2024, giving subscribers access to “ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV and ESPN+, as well as hundreds of hours from the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL and many top college divisions.” Statements from representatives of the three media entities were shared along with the news.
“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,” Disney CEO, Bob Iger, said. “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.”
“We believe the service will provide passionate fans outside of the traditional bundle an array of amazing sports content all in one place,” said Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corp.
“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,” said David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO.
The service will reportedly be split into thirds for each company to have ownership, licensing sports content “on a non-exclusive basis.” Streaming will be a new venture entirely for Fox, while Warner Bros. plans to add a pay tier to its Max service.