Warner Bros. Discovery, ESPN and Fox announce new joint sports streaming service for the US market

ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) have formed a joint venture that will bring a new sports streaming service to the US market later this year.

The parties have reached an understanding on principal terms to form the JV to build an innovative new platform that will house a sports streaming service.

The platform will bring together the companies’ portfolios of sports networks, certain direct-to-consumer (DTC) sports services, and sports rights, including content from all the major professional sports leagues and college sports.

The formation of the pay service is subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements among the parties. The offering, scheduled to launch in the autumn of 2024, would be made available directly to consumers via a new app. Subscribers would also have the ability to bundle the product, including with Disney+, Hulu and/or Max.

The platform would aggregate content to offer fans an extensive, dynamic lineup of sports content, aiming to provide a new and differentiated experience to serve sports fans, particularly those outside of the traditional pay TV bundle. By subscribing to this focused, all-in-one premier sports service, fans would have access to the linear sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV, as well as ESPN+.

Each entity would own one-third of the JV, have equal board representation, and license their sports content to the joint venture on a non-exclusive basis. The service would also have a new brand with an independent management team.

Bob Iger, CEO at The Walt Disney Company said: “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. 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. I’m grateful to Jimmy Pitaro and the team at ESPN, who are at the forefront of innovating on behalf of consumers to create new offerings with more choice and greater value.”

Lachlan Murdoch, executive chair and chief executive officer at Fox, said: “We’re pumped to bring the Fox Sports portfolio to this new and exciting platform. 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 at Warner Bros. Discovery, added: “At WBD, our ambition is always to connect our leading content and brands with as many viewers as possible, and 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.”

ESPN is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.