Back in June, The Desk was the first to report that executives from Fox Corporation and the Walt Disney Company’s ESPN were discussing ways to bundle their two streaming services together — and, now, we have official word that both companies intend to do just that in a few weeks.
On Monday, Fox Corporation said they will bundle their Fox One streaming service together with ESPN Unlimited at a price of $40 per month, a savings of around $10 compared to the retail cost of each service when purchased separately. The bundle, which launches in October, will offer Fox’s entire linear television portfolio — including the national Fox broadcast network, two Fox Sports channel, Fox News and Fox Business Network — with the entire ESPN multiplex of cable sports networks.
“Announcing ESPN as our first bundle partner is evidence of our desire to deliver the best possible value and viewing experience to our shared customers,” Fox Direct to Consumer SVP Tony Billetter said in a statement.
“Viewers will have access to an incredible portfolio of content through this bundle, including NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, College Football and Basketball, NASCAR, INDYCAR, UFC, as well as the upcoming FIFA World Cup, and more as we continue to look for opportunities to streamline the user experience,” Billetter continued. “Especially for the ultimate sports fan.”
The platform will also unlock access to ESPN Plus, a standalone streaming service that offers additional sports content beyond ESPN’s cable channels. That service costs $11 per month on its own, but is included with ESPN Unlimited.
Separately, ESPN Unlimited and Fox One are slated to launch on August 21. ESPN Unlimited costs $30 per month, while Fox One is priced at $20 per month.
The deal effectively recreates two-thirds of what would have been Venu Sports, a former streaming joint venture that Fox and Disney participated in with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) that was slated to launch last August. The pact fell apart after Fubo sued the trio on antitrust grounds, arguing their service improperly segregated sports channels from entertainment and news networks that were sold as a bundle to competing pay TV operators. Fubo and Disney resolved the lawsuit with an agreement to merge their pay TV businesses.
