For a while now, we’ve been waiting for Disney to make a big business move.
ESPN Wide World of Sports
Disney’s had some problems with streaming over the past few years, but particularly with ESPN+. The service hasn’t been as successful as it could be, even though there’s a high demand for sports entertainment. But now, Disney finally seems to have the solution — and it involves some other major players.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney and ESPN are teaming up with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery to make a joint streaming platform for sports assets.
©ESPN
This service will be available to ESPN+, Hulu, and Max subscribers, and each company will own one-third of the product. The yet-unnamed service is essentially a sports streaming bundle, according to one person familiar with the matter.
Disney+ Hulu bundle
Despite this project, ESPN is still looking for a strategic business partner. Last year, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that he was looking for a partner for ESPN, and was willing to sell an equity stake. ESPN is gearing itself up for a streaming future, hoping to make its flagship channel available as direct-to-consumer in the next 2-3 years.
©Disney
In a similar vein, activist investor Nelson Peltz has been vying for a spot on the board at The Walt Disney Company. Peltz’s strategy for fixing ESPN was for the sports network to partner with Netflix. With this new update, that likely won’t happen.
©New York Times Nelson Peltz of Trian Partners
We’ll be on the lookout for more updates with this new streaming venture, so stay tuned to DFB for additional information.
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Ugh. Another streaming service?
Disney will be making everyone pay for, what was previously free, sports…kind of like genie+ for tv.