ESPN is leaning into its heritage, naming its forthcoming stand-alone streaming app ESPN.
The offering, coming in the fall in time for football season, will have two tiers. The Unlimited plan will cost $29.99 a month and $35.99 a month in a bundle with Disney+ and ESPN+. At launch, the company is offering a discounted price, at $29.99 for those signing up for the three-service bundle.
The Select plan will deliver all content currently available on ESPN+, which costs $11.99 a month.
Rosalyn Durant, EVP, Programming & Acquisitions, said the two-plan approach was aimed in part at “getting fans off the sidelines.” The Unlimited plan combines ESPN+ with every ESPN cable network as well as ESPN on ABC broadcasts.
“We kept coming back to our four letters,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a press briefing Tuesday at Disney’s New York headquarters. “There’s power in our name and there’s trust in our name.” Younger audiences, he added, “see us as a digital brand,” so executives opted for something “simple, straightforward, clear.”
The briefing, ahead of Disney’s upfront presentation to ad buyers later Tuesday, featured the entire leadership team of ESPN, as well as top Disney execs. CEO Bob Iger briefly mingled with colleagues and reporters but did not take part in the briefing.
MORE to come …
