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ESPN+ is coming to Disney+ for bundled subscribers

ESPN+ is coming to Disney+ for bundled subscribers

On November 17, 2024By Littum

ESPN is building towards its direct-to-consumer future as their top priority for the company at the moment. And on Thursday, they made a significant streaming announcement about the future of ESPN+ and Disney+ to continue that momentum.

Trying to navigate the uncharted territory of the collapse of cable and the push towards streaming, ESPN is putting all hands on deck in Bristol for the launch of their “Flagship” DTC streaming service next fall.

And in what the company is calling the “next step” in its direct-to-consumer future, the network announced that subscribers to the ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu bundle will now be able to access ESPN+ from within Disney+.

If you’ve ever experienced the immense frustration of being prompted for your login information every time you log into ESPN+ and you subscribe to the package, this is the best early Christmas present you could ask for.

ESPN on @DisneyPlus

The next step in ESPN’s direct-to-consumer future will launch on Wednesday, December 4

Ahead of ESPN’s flagship standalone direct-to-consumer offering launching in early fall 2025 pic.twitter.com/YEygMlgsgz

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) 14 November 2024

ESPN and Disney have slowly integrated content between the two apps. Earlier this year, ESPN made some select content available to Disney+ subscribers. However, this was just “selected games and studio programming.” At the time, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the move was to condition Disney+ subscribers that sports would live there. This is obviously a further step forward, but only for those who have the bundled subscription for both.

It will be interesting to see how it is integrated, whether it will fit the Disney+ setup or if it will still have its own look and feel.

While this move may not be a total game changer, it will at least be a step up in usability for bundled subscribers who won’t have to jump back and forth between apps to catch episodes of Bluey and the Bundesliga. And it’s a further sign that a major re-bundling may be coming to fruition.

(ESPN PR)