Executives at the Walt Disney Company’s sports brand ESPN have settled on a name for its forthcoming standalone streaming service — and it will be called “ESPN,” according to a report published on Friday.
The report, from CNBC, said the decision to call the streaming service ESPN is rooted in a desire to simplify what ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro views as an already-complicated streaming landscape, with the idea in mind that sports fans will naturally understand that an ESPN streaming service will include live access to ESPN’s cable network programming.
That will, in fact, be the case. But Disney is likely to add confusion in the streaming space, rather than reduce it, because it will also continue to market ESPN Plus as a separate product. The “Plus” implies that streamers have access to ESPN’s cable networks plus additional content, but that won’t be the case — ESPN Plus simulcasts a handful of live events from ESPN, but otherwise has its own schedule and content.
Disney and ESPN executives will announce the retail and bundled prices of the ESPN streaming service at an event next week. ESPN Plus will be included with the ESPN streaming service, and will also be available as a standalone $12 per month subscription.
