Disney's Brand-new ESPN App Reaches For Spectator Outside Cable

New ESPN app launches on Thursday for $30 a month


App provides all ESPN shows without a pay TV subscription


Betting, fantasy sports will be intergrated


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By Lisa Richwine


LOS ANGELES, Aug 20 - Walt Disney's ESPN will provide its complete series of sports configuring beyond pay TV for the very first time starting on Thursday, when the network debuts an app designed to be a center for live video games and individualized news, stats and highlights.


The ESPN app is Disney's effort to record a few of the tens of millions of consumers that the pioneering sports channel has lost given that 2010 during the streaming TV revolution.


ESPN executives said they have customized the new offering, which is far wider than the restricted ESPN+ app introduced in 2018, to accommodate the tastes of today's sports fans.


"We understand that fans don't just wish to watch," ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told press reporters. "They desire an experience. They wish to connect."


The app will use more than 47,000 live events each year from the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, college football, tennis, golf and other sports. It will cost $30 per month. An initial deal will include ad-supported versions of the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services totally free.


Fans can enter their favorite teams and sports for modification such as an individualized variation of the "SportsCenter" news and recap show. Artificial intelligence will create narration based upon the voices of ESPN anchors.


A brand-new feature called "Verts," or scroll-ready, vertical video highlights, likewise can be customized. Stats for a user's fantasy gamers will be shown next to live video games. And an ESPN Bet tab will reveal live, settled and approaching bets for users who have connected their betting accounts.


Disney President Bob Iger has called the app "a sports fan's dream."


Industry analysts see it as a chance for the company to choose up fans who do not register for cable, and they do not anticipate it will pull masses from pay TV. ESPN was readily available in 100 million homes through pay TV in 2010. In July of this year, that number stood at about 61 million.


"It's another step in Disney's pivot to (streaming) and the importance to streaming to the overall company," said MoffettNathanson expert Robert Fishman.


ESPN will promote the app extensively. Actor John Cena will star in commercials that stress "All of ESPN. All in One Place."


Pay television will "stay a huge part" of ESPN's service, Pitaro stated. For the quarter that ended in June, ESPN accounted for $1 billion of Disney's $4.6 billion in operating earnings, or almost 22%. The majority of ESPN's earnings came from costs paid by cable television and satellite suppliers and from marketing.


Subscribers to pay TV will have access to the brand-new ESPN app. Pitaro said the wanted to drive all of its customers to the app "because that's without a doubt the best, the most holistic experience."


(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew Lewis)