Disney's New ESPN App Reaches For Sports Fans Outside Cable

New ESPN app launches on Thursday for $30 a month


App offers all ESPN shows without a pay TV membership


Betting, dream sports will be intergrated


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By Lisa Richwine


LOS ANGELES, Aug 20 - Walt Disney's ESPN will provide its full range of sports configuring outside of pay TV for the very first time starting on Thursday, when the network debuts an app developed to be a hub for live video games and individualized news, stats and highlights.


The ESPN app is Disney's effort to capture a few of the 10s of countless clients that the pioneering sports channel has actually lost because 2010 during the streaming TV revolution.


ESPN executives stated they have actually customized the new offering, which is far more than the minimal ESPN+ app introduced in 2018, to deal with the tastes of today's sports fans.


"We understand that fans don't simply wish to see," ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told press reporters. "They want an experience. They wish to engage."


The app will offer more than 47,000 live events each year from the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, college football, tennis, golf and other sports. It will cost $30 monthly. An introductory offer will consist of ad-supported versions of the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services for free.


Fans can enter their favorite groups and sports for modification such as an individualized variation of the "SportsCenter" news and wrap-up program. Expert system will create narration based on the voices of ESPN anchors.


A brand-new function called "Verts," or scroll-ready, vertical video highlights, also can be tailored. Stats for a user's dream gamers will be displayed next to live video games. And an ESPN Bet tab will reveal live, settled and upcoming bets for users who have actually linked their betting accounts.


Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger has called the app "a sports fan's dream."


Industry analysts see it as an opportunity for the company to get fans who do not sign up for cable television, and they do not expect it will pull masses from pay TV. ESPN was offered in 100 million homes through pay TV in 2010. In July of this year, that number stood at about 61 million.


"It's another step in Disney's pivot to (streaming) and the significance to streaming to the general business," stated MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman.


ESPN will promote the app extensively. Actor John Cena will star in commercials that stress "All of ESPN. All in One Place."


Pay television will "remain a big part" of ESPN's organization, Pitaro said. For the quarter that ended in June, ESPN represented $1 billion of Disney's $4.6 billion in running earnings, or almost 22%. Most of ESPN's profits originated from fees paid by cable television and satellite suppliers and from marketing.


Subscribers to pay TV will have access to the new ESPN app. Pitaro said the company intended to drive all of its customers to the app "since that's by far the very best, the most holistic experience."


(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew Lewis)