Add Disney+ to the growing number of streaming services that are planning on airing live sports.
Disney CEO Bob Iger, on an earnings call Tuesday, announced the home of The Mandalorian and Disney classic films would be adding content from ESPN before the end of the calendar year, including live events.
“By the end of this calendar year, we will be adding an ESPN tile to Disney+, giving all US subscribers access to select live games and studio programming within the Disney+ app,” Iger said. “We see this as a first step to bringing ESPN to Disney+ viewers, as we ready the launch of our enhanced standalone ESPN streaming service in the fall of 2025.”
While details are still scant, Iger did say only a “modest” amount of ESPN programming would be available on its flagship streaming service, likely to drive subscribers to the paid ESPN option. Disney+ added some Hulu programming earlier this year and that helped the service mark its first profitable quarter in the first three months of this year. Disney+ brought $47 million to the company.
Disney will have a lot of live-sporting options to choose from. The company is in the midst of finalizing an agreement with Fox Sports and Warner Bros. Discovery to launch a sports streaming service that will carry games from the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL.
Disney is hardly the only streaming service to embrace live sports. In January, Amazon signed a deal with Diamond Sports to give Prime Video subscribers access to MLB, NBA and NHL games. The company will also stream an NFL wildcard playoff game in the coming year.
Apple, meanwhile, has spent heavily for Major League Soccer and MLB games. And streaming service Max, last year, announced plans to offer its subscribers access to live sports events for a limited time. Users who choose the add-on package, done in conjunction with Bleacher Report, will pay a $10 per month surcharge. The package will include games from MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA Men’s March Madness, U.S. Soccer and more.
Live sports are seen as can’t-miss programming, which bring viewers into the streaming service and could encourage them to linger afterwards.