In This Article:
According to a report from CNBC, the newly announced sports streaming joint venture from Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Fox (FOX, FOXA), and Disney's ESPN (DIS) will cost $40 per month. The streaming service is expected to launch in the fall of 2024, as Disney preps ESPN to launch its own direct-to-consumer app by fall 2025.
Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer, Dan Howley, and Pras Subramanian discuss the new joint venture, what it means in terms of streaming competition, and who this venture is aimed at.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino
Video Transcript
JOSH SCHAFER: Welcome to Yahoo Finance's group chat. I'm Josh Schafer alongside Pras Subramanian and Dan Howley. And today, we are starting with a major play in the sports streaming space. ESPN, Fox, and Warner Brothers Discovery are bringing together a slew of sports networks under one app. The official subscription costs for this new app, which hasn't been named, has not been listed. But CNBC out reporting today that it will have a price tag starting at, or potentially more, than $40 per month.
Should also note, guys, some other news out of Disney, as they're reporting earnings just now in the last hour. The ESPN standalone streaming service that we've been waiting for is slated to launch in the fall of 2025. So that could, in some ways, be a different option here if you just wanted sports that are on ESPN. You wouldn't have to go for this full bundle. But the bundle, and the reported $40, is sort of what I want to bring to the table here and debate.
$40 to get a slew of sports leagues. Right? We're talking exposure to NBA, exposure to MLB, a decent amount of NFL games, pretty much all of the NHL games. So you're going to get a lot of sports. But $40 a month is a pretty big price tag.
DAN HOWLEY: Do you want to rant? Or do you want me to rant?
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I'll do my quick rant real quick.
DAN HOWLEY: OK, go for it.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So seems like a helpful service. But I have cable. I don't understand why we've disintermediated all this into like multiple streaming services, then they all kind of come back together Frankenstein like, and then I got to pay money for this. But then, oh, I don't get Comcast, I don't get whatever else, one of the big major ones. CBS, right?
JOSH SCHAFER: Yeah.
PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So--
JOSH SCHAFER: You're missing the NBC and CBS football games. As a sports fan, that's the biggest thing I take away from this. So it's Sunday Night Football, and then the CBS games on Sunday.