Disney, Warner Bros. & Fox to Launch Joint Sports Streaming Service
ESPN, TNT, Fox Sports, and more will soon share a streaming home.
Three of the biggest corporations in sports here in the United States are working together to launch a new streaming venture. On Tuesday, it was announced that Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox Sports will be starting a streaming subscription service that put will put their various sports coverage under one plan. This will likely shake up not just streaming, but the entire sports TV industry.
This new service will get the combined forces of all three companies, meaning that their linear networks will be together in one place. That includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, and TruTV. A name, launch date, and price point have yet to be announced by the companies.
All of the major American professional sports leagues would be affected by this streaming deal, as they mostly covered by the three participating companies. The NBA, NHL, and MLB have a ton of coverage across the trio of corporations. The NFL would have some involvement, given how many games are on Fox and that Monday Night Football is part of ESPN, but it would still have a major presence elsewhere.
CBS and NBC are the two major sports entities that aren't a part of this new venture. CBS and the various CBS Sports networks have a streaming option with Paramount+, while NBCUniversal sports have a lot of coverage on Peacock. The NFL airs multiple games every week on CBS, and Sunday Night Football is covered by NBC. Those two companies also have a slice of the Super Bowl pie. Amazon is also in on the NFL, with the exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football. In addition to some NFL coverage, NBC also has deals with the Olympics and the English Premier League.
This massive announcement comes on the heels of another live TV mainstay recently announcing streaming plans. WWE and TKO recently announced that the flagship Monday Night RAW TV series will be leaving USA in 2025 and heading to Netflix. The series will be airing live on Netflix every Monday night, while Friday Night Smackdown remains on traditional television.
More details about this new sports service will be announced at a later date. It will operated as its own entity with an equal ownership distribution amongst the three companies involved.