ESPN hasn’t offered the full cable experience directly through a standalone app or subscription for years. Although there was ESPN+, which is a separate streaming service with extra sports content, it did not include the actual ESPN cable channels, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and others.
If you wanted to watch everything, you still needed a traditional cable subscription or a live TV streaming service that could access it. The sports media company is finally breaking free from this model. Every channel and game, plus ESPN+ is being bundled into one mega streaming service that you can pay for directly without cable needed.
Introducing a fresh ESPN service to gather them all
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro announced that the company will launch a new direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service, simply named ESPN, in early fall 2025. That is, the first part of the autumn season, spanning from late September through early October. Exact launch dates may be announced later in the summer, according to the press release.
The service offers two subscription tiers as follows:
- Select Plan: Priced at $11.99/month or $119.99/year. It offers access to ESPN+ content, including over 32,000 live sports events annually, exclusive studio shows, on-demand replays, and original programming.
- Unlimited Plan: At $29.99/month or $299.99/year, subscribers gain access to the entire suite of ESPN networks and content. This includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+, and ACCNX, covering 47,000 live events each year, on-demand replays, studio shows, original programming, and more.
You can pay $30 per month to get ESPN’s Unlimited plan by itself, or you can pay that same $30 to get a special bundle that includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN together. Normally, that bundle would cost $36 per month. But they’re offering it at the lower price when it first launches.
If you’re already subscribed to ESPN+, you won’t need to sign up again or make any changes when the new service launches. The service will automatically move you into the new system based on what kind of subscription you currently have.
If you pay for ESPN+ by itself (the standalone plan), you’ll now be part of the new ESPN Select Plan. If you normally get ESPN+ as part of the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ bundle, then you’ll be upgraded into the Select Bundle. You’re basically keeping what you already paid for, but inside a more powerful app experience.
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You’ll still see ads with your subscription
Unfortunately, even ESPN’s highest-tier streaming subscription will not escape ad infestation. The company confirmed that “ads will be served in select live and linear content” regardless of your monthly commitment. This issue isn’t unique to ESPN.
It’s only reflecting how the larger industry works where Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and now ESPN are taking back their ad-free promises because subscription money alone isn’t enough to cover billion-dollar content deals, especially in sports. The tragedy here is that streaming was supposed to be the alternative to all that noise.
There’s also the consideration for whether you’re actually getting your money’s worth. You may cut cable and get all your sports in one place, but it creates an entirely new problem. Unless you’re only watching sports, you’ll still need other subscriptions if you want more than the service offers. Only few services exist that allow you to choose what you watch and make life easier for you.
