ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery forming joint venture to launch streaming sports service in U.S.

ESPN, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery have reached an understanding on principal terms to form a new joint venture to build an innovative new platform to house a compelling streaming sports service.

The platform brings together the companies’ portfolios of sports networks, certain direct-to-consumer (DTC) sports services and sports rights — including content from all the major professional sports leagues and college sports.

The formation of the pay service is subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements amongst the parties. The offering, scheduled to launch in the fall of 2024, would be made available directly to consumers via a new app. Subscribers would also have the ability to bundle the product, including with Disney+, Hulu and/or Max.

The platform would aggregate content to offer fans an extensive, dynamic lineup of sports content, aiming to provide a new and differentiated experience to serve sports fans, particularly those outside of the traditional pay TV bundle.

By subscribing to this focused, all-in-one premier sports service, fans would have access to the linear sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, as well as ESPN+.

Key Highlights:

ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery would form a new joint venture to develop, launch and operate a streaming sports bundle of linear networks and certain DTC sports content and services.Each entity would own one-third of the JV, have equal board representation and license their sports content to the joint venture on a non-exclusive basis.The service would have a new brand with an independent management team.

Bob Iger, Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company said, “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. This means the full suite of…


Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/other/espn-fox-and-warner-bros-discovery-forming-joint-venture-to-launch-streaming-sports-service-in-u-s

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Publish date : 2024-02-07 02:32:22

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