Disney+ To Add More Live Sports
Over the past few years, we’ve seen more sports programming added to Disney+, with many documentaries from ESPN, along with a variety of live sports being added, and the ESPN On Disney+ hub launching in many regions around the world as part of the subscription. In the US, ESPN Unlimited launched last year, bringing even more sports coverage to the platform, though at an additional cost.
In the past year, we’ve seen a number of ESPN broadcasts also stream live on Disney+ in the United States, and that is going to continue, as Disney looks to boost engagement and viewership, while also encouraging more people to upgrade to ESPN Unlimited.
During a quarterly financial results investors’ call, Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro spoke about the importance of sports programming being available on Disney+.
As we evolve Disney+, we’ll continue to bring select premium sports events to the platform to both strengthen the service and drive upsell to the Trio Bundle, our highest LTV product. At the same time, ESPN remains the primary destination for daily sports content. Live sports aren’t just a viewership play, they’re a fan engagement and ecosystem play. When a sports fan engages with ESPN, Disney+, or our parks, their lifetime value increases. Underpinning all of this work is our deep commitment to embracing emerging technology.
Roger’s Take: Without doubt, Disney is investing a lot of money into licensing rights for sports content and also spending money creating its own documentaries and studio shows, but unfortunately, live sports on Disney+ is always going to be the one area that changes depending on what country you’re in. The US system of having an additional paid tier is just too valuable to Disney to include in the baseline subscription, like it is internationally. But that additional cost also means there is much more live sports available for ESPN Unlimited customers. We will likely continue to see major events getting shared across both Disney+ and ESPN, as sports companies look to expand their reach. Sports companies like selling live sports rights to major streaming and cable networks, but they also want to grow their sports to reach new audiences. So expect to see more special sporting events land on Disney+ in the future.
Have you checked out live sports on Disney+? Let me know on social media!
