Walt Disney’s ESPN, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. are teaming up to form a sports streaming service that will broadcast NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, college sports and more.
ESPN said in a joint Tuesday press release that the powerhouse trio “reached an understanding on principal terms” to move forward with the massive venture this fall. Each of the company’s involved will reportedly own a third of the new service.
Subscribers will be able to purchase a direct app or bundle the yet-to-be-named offering with a customer’s already existing Disney+, Max or Hulu subscription.
The upcoming service will have “a new brand with an independent management team,” ESPN said.
The NFL first tested the streaming waters in 2021 when Amazon paid roughly $1 billion to carry Thursday Night Football, according to Forbes. In January, Peacock boasted about broadcasting “the first-ever streaming-exclusive NFL Playoff game” when the Kansas City Chiefs, who will soon be playing in Super Bowl LVIII, defeated the Miami Dolphins.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, 64, said in an interview Monday that though “the media landscape” is shifting from cable TV to digital streaming, he doesn’t see the Super Bowl becoming a streaming-only event on his watch. Broadcast television, he said, “remains the broadest possible platform” for a massive matchup like the Feb. 11 game between the Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
