ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery form joint US sports streaming platform

In a landmark deal, media giants, Disney’s ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery have banded together to form a jointly run sports streaming hub in the US which will combine the companies’ portfolios of sports rights under one single offering.

Source: NFL

The streaming powerhouse will host a range content from major sport leagues and competitions, including NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, PGA Tour, PGA Championship, The Masters, Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open, UFC, Formula 1, Nascar, FIFA World Cup, LaLiga and Bundesliga.

It will also provide users access to linear sports channels such as TNT Sports, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, truTV and ESPN+.

The yet to be named sports platform is scheduled to debut in the autumn via a new app directly to consumers, with details of pricing and subscription plans yet to be announced. Subscribers can also bundle the product, including with Disney+, Hulu and/or Max.

The joint venture will up the pressure on leading sports streamers such as DAZN and Amazon Prime Video in the region which are not included in the sports streaming bundle.

The announcement also comes following the major deal between Netflix and WWE that will see the streamer gaining exclusive rights to WWE’s Raw show in North America, the UK and Latin America and other territories. Max also added a new sports tier to their offering in the US late 2023 which includes MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA Men’s March Madness, and U.S. Soccer events,

“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, chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company. “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.”

Lachlan Murdoch, executive chair and chief executive officer of FOX said, “We believe the service will provide passionate fans outside of the traditional bundle an array of amazing sports content all in one place.”

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said “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.”