The cost of watching live sports through the ESPN app is about to go up.
Starting September 17, sports fans will have to shell out $32 per month to watch live ESPN programming without a traditional cable or satellite TV subscription, up from $30 per month that the plan currently costs.
The cheaper ESPN plan, called ESPN Select (previously ESPN Plus), is also increasing from $13 per month to $14 per month. ESPN Select offers a handful of streaming-only sports, without the full ESPN cable multiplex.
The price increases are likely intended to drive sports fans to price-attractive bundles: ESPN Unlimited is offered as a bundle with Disney Plus and Hulu for $36 per month, or $45 per month if streamers want to remove ads from on-demand Disney Plus and Hulu content. Lower-priced bundles for ESPN Select are also available, starting at $22 per month.
The Walt Disney Company, the parent of ESPN, didn’t say whether the sports giant plans to adjust the prices of its bundles with NFL Plus and the Fox One app. ESPN Unlimited costs $40 per month when bundled with Fox One or $42 per month when bundled with NFL Plus Premium.
ESPN Unlimited launched last year, offering the full ESPN cable multiplex over streaming without a pay TV subscription for the first time. That said, some cable, satellite and streaming TV customers can activate ESPN Unlimited as part of their subscription without paying anything extra.
YouTube TV customers are the latest to get thedesk.net/tag/espn included with plans that offer sports channels, including YouTube TV’s base subscription and YouTube TV Sports Plan. DIRECTV’s satellite and streaming customers also have access to ESPN Unlimited if their plans include at least one ESPN channel.
ESPN will start offering live broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games in September, and will simulcast Super Bowl LXI from ABC in February 2027.
