Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney to launch joint sports streaming service

Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney are joining forces to create a new streaming product, the companies announced Tuesday. The service is set to launch later this year and each company will own one-third of the service.

Under the partnership, the three organizations would share sports entities and be available on ESPN+, Hulu and Max. The Wall Street Journal also reported the service would be “essentially a sport-streaming bundle,” and each company’s networks will be available, as well.

“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,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. “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.”

According to Sportico, networks owned by each company will be part of the bundle, as will access to sports with which they have media rights agreements. That means subscribers will get access to MLB, NBA and NHL games, as well as a lengthy list of college sports events. While Fox shows NFL games during the season, two networks — CBS and NBC — will not be available on the service. That means fans won’t get to watch the CBS games or Sunday Night Football, as well as Thursday Night Football on Prime Video.

Sportico’s Eben Novy-Williams laid out which sports will be available on the service, which is being heralded as a “game-changer.”

Here's a list of all the sports that will be in this bundle. As expected, it's a lot: https://t.co/MUr00EjQny pic.twitter.com/nIcwbQutaV

— Eben Novy-Williams (@novy_williams) February 6, 2024

“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,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said. “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.”

The news also comes as ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery are working through media rights negotiations with the NBA. ESPN has also reportedly held conversations with the NFL about an equity stake in the network, and is still planning on moving to a direct-to-consumer model, as well.