Sports Center at ESPN Headquarters.
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ESPN is coming to Disney+. Now, the sports network wants to ensure Disney+ users have access to ESPN.
walt disney On Wednesday, Disney+ debuted an exclusive ESPN tile for those who subscribe to the sports streaming platform ESPN+. You can watch shows without leaving the Disney+ application. Next fall, subscribers will have full access to all ESPN content through the ESPN tile on Disney+ when ESPN launches its as-yet-unnamed “flagship” service.
Disney offers approximately 100 live games available to Disney+ members without a corresponding ESPN subscription. ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro said in an interview that these events span college football and basketball, the National Basketball Association and WNBA, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, tennis, golf, the Little League World Series and the UFC.
A replacement “Simpsons” telecast of next week’s NFL “Monday Night Football” game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys will also be available to Disney+ subscribers, as well as five NBA Christmas games. It will be.
“Subscribing to Disney+ gives kids and families access to general entertainment and sports if they’re Hulu subscribers,” Pitaro said. “Our goal is to serve sports fans anytime, anywhere.”
ESPN also plans to include some of its studio programming, such as “College Gameday,” “Pardon the Interruption,” and certain podcasts that include video, on Disney+ for non-ESPN subscribers. Pitaro said some of ESPN’s sports movies and documentaries will also be available on Disney+ during the sports season.
Similar to Hulu’s integration earlier this year, ESPN programming will also be integrated within Disney+ search. If a Disney+ subscriber who is not an ESPN customer clicks on something that requires an ESPN subscription, the user will be prompted to sign up within the app.
New content on Disney+
Pitaro said ESPN is also producing two studio shows exclusively for Disney+. The first is a daily “SportsCenter,” exclusive to Disney+ subscribers, that airs live on Disney+ at set times and then remains on the platform for on-demand viewing.
The second is a women’s sports program that airs weekly or several times a week. Both programs are in development and will be aimed at more casual sports fans, Pitaro said.
“Our research shows there is little overlap between people who watch Disney+ and ESPN Linear,” Pitaro said.
Disney+ has a strong female audience, and Pitaro wants them to tune into its weekly women’s programming, which she first hinted at in an interview with CNBC Sports in October.
ESPN+ has about 30,000 live games each year and costs $11.99 each. Month if purchased separately from Disney+. The Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ bundle (with ads) costs $16.99 per month.
Disclosure: Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC, is a co-owner of Hulu.
WATCH: CNBC Sports Videocast: ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro
