Disney’s (DIS) long-awaited ESPN streaming service has arrived.
For the first time, subscribers can access the full range of ESPN programming outside of a cable bundle — a shift that underscores just how much the sports media landscape has changed.
Priced at $29.99 a month, the new ESPN app will stream more than 47,000 live events each year. The launch is the biggest shift in Disney’s transition away from legacy networks to digital distribution. It also marks the end of an era for the entire cable industry.
For decades, ESPN was the crown jewel of the cable bundle, generating billions in carriage fees for its parent company and anchoring a sprawling menu of sports programming that kept households subscribed. That is, until it didn’t.
In 2011, ESPN peaked at about 100 million US cable subscribers. That number has since fallen to roughly 60 million. Netflix’s global membership count totaled around 302 million at the end of 2024.
In Disney’s latest quarter, revenue from linear networks fell 15% year over year, while direct-to-consumer revenue — which includes Disney+ and Hulu — rose 6%. Disney is also preparing to merge Disney+ and Hulu into a single platform next year, betting that bundled services will help reduce churn. The company has made adjustments along the way, including layoffs across global operations earlier this summer.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has called the new ESPN app “a sports fan’s dream,” and the launch follows a series of major content deals aimed at strengthening ESPN’s rights footprint.
Earlier this month, Disney struck a preliminary agreement with the NFL to acquire NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and NFL Fantasy in exchange for a 10% equity stake — assets that will be folded into the new platform.
“With the NFL as an investor, ESPN’s long-term future is incrementally more secure,” Morgan Stanley analyst Ben Swinburne wrote earlier this month. “By investing in ESPN, the NFL will be even more motivated to help ESPN survive and potentially thrive in the new streaming-first world ahead.”
ESPN will also become the exclusive US streaming home of WWE premium live events beginning in 2026, including marquee shows like “WrestleMania” and “SummerSlam.” The five-year deal was valued at a reported $325 million per year.
Separately, the company is still in talks with MLB and renewed its NBA media rights in the spring, reportedly boosting its annual payments from $1.5 billion to $2.6 billion.
ESPN also began a 10-year deal with the SEC in 2024, making the network the exclusive home of SEC football and men’s basketball, including high-profile games and the SEC championship.
An ESPN Monday Night Football logo is seen on a television camera before an NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File) ·ASSOCIATED PRESS
But this reshuffling of rights agreements is just the latest in a years-long shift that has taken sports away from cable and broadcast networks and into the unbundled world of streaming services.
Amazon (AMZN) has had exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football since 2022. Google’s YouTube TV (GOOGL) took over NFL Sunday Ticket for the 2024 NFL season. Apple (AAPL) streams Friday night MLB games and Major League Soccer. NBC’s Peacock (CMCSA) streaming service now carries some Big Ten football games and NFL playoff games exclusively.
Just days after its merger was completed, Paramount Skydance (PSKY) secured a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal to become the exclusive US home for all UFC events.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) HBO Max also offers a sports add-on through TNT Sports, which includes rights to College Football Playoff games and the NHL. And those rights may end up in a new streaming service when the company is broken up next year.
Even Netflix (NFLX), which previously said it wasn’t interested in live sports, inked a three-season deal with the NFL last year to air Christmas Day games, coughing up a reported $75 million per game.
And as audience habits change and broadcasters and advertisers look for ways to reach the largest number of people, the NFL’s clout is hard to overstate. NFL games made up 72 of the 100 highest-rated broadcasts in 2024, a year packed with other marquee events, including the presidential election and the Summer Olympics.
That dominance underscores why live sports remain the most valuable property in media, and why tech giants and legacy broadcasters alike are fighting for rights.
“The leagues have a lot of power at this time,” Bart Spiegel, partner of global entertainment and media deals at PwC, told Yahoo Finance last week. “We always say content is king and it’s no different with these leagues that are creating this content and putting it out there and striking really creative deals to ensure that their IP continues to be popular in perpetuity.”
Wall Street analysts don’t expect the new ESPN app to cannibalize pay-TV en masse, but the symbolic shift is clear: the last great reason for households to stay tethered to cable is gone.
According to the latest installment of the Gauge report from Nielsen, streaming’s share of viewing set another record in July, accounting for 47.3% of overall TV viewing and edging closer to the 50% threshold.
As Iger said earlier this month, “We don’t really look at being in the linear business and the streaming business. We’re in the television business.”
Allie Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
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