ESPN Makes Way to Disney+ in Bid to Catch Families, Casual Sports Fans

If some people don’t feel they need to go to ESPN, Disney is working to bring ESPN to them.

The entertainment giant on Wednesday made ESPN content available to Disney+ customers — even if they aren’t direct subscribers to the ESPN+ broadband hub or the ESPN linear cable networks. Under the plan, Disney will make a curated batch of ESPN live-game broadcasts, originals and studio shows available to Disney+ subscribers, while those who subscribe to a broader bundle of Disney streaming services will be able to access ESPN+ content without leaving Disney+.

“One of our priorities is audience expansion, and we love the idea of potentially speaking directly to casual fans and speaking to the very large female audience that is on Disney+” says Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, during an interview. “We see an opportunity to help the Disney+ platform in terms of creating some more stickiness and differentiation, and also helping ESPN in terms of expanding our audience.” Disney’s research, he adds, shows very little overlap between people who watch ESPN offerings on linear channels and subscribers to Disney+.

Among the offerings that will be made available to Disney+ subscribers are ESPN mainstays such as “College GameDay” and “Pardon the Interruption.”

The move represents a significant volley in Hollywood’s ongoing streaming wars, in which Disney and its rivals are working to fend off inroads made among video consumers by digital competitors such as Netflix, Apple and Amazon. Placing ESPN on Disney+ makes it more of a broad-audience streaming outlet, rather than a venue aimed solely at younger viewers and their parents. In March, Disney made its general-entertainment Hulu service available to subscribers through Disney+.

“This launch is really going to expand what Disney+ is, who it’s for and what we have to offer,” says Alisa Bowen, president of Disney+. If Disney+ users try to seek out a broader array of ESPN material, they will be encouraged to upgrade to the broader bundle of Disney streaming services that also include ESPN+ and Hulu.

The new Disney+ access t sports may also serve to whet consumer appetites for the launch of a new stand-alone ESPN streaming service that will provide nearly everything the sports-media giant offers, not just an array of content meant to complement its linear channels. When ESPN+ launched in 2018, it was devised as a venue that could serve superfans with new originals and some live sports not available on cable. As more viewers leave traditional cable and satellite services, however, it seems clear that Disney has to pivot more aggressively to meet them. The new, fuller ESPN streaming outlet is expected to debut by the fall of 2024.

The launch of ESPN content on Disney+ may also serve sponsors, says Rita Ferro, president of global advertising for Disney. “It allows us tot talk to new sports fans and program to them with unique experiences and events that potentially would never have the same audience if it were only on an ESPN platform,” she says.

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The company already has devised two sports events aimed at decidedly non-traditional sports crowds. An animated “alterna-cast” of “Monday Night Football” featuring characters from “The Simpsons” will stream on Disney+ and ESPN+ on December 9. Meanwhile, mainstay characters like Daisy Duck and Mickey Mouse will take part in a special animated version of a Christmas Day NBA game between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs that will surface on Disney+, ESPN+ and ESPN2.

“We are starting to think about what other alternative broadcasts we can do that can speak to the younger audience,” says Pitaro. The sports leagues are behind such an idea, he says. “They continue to look for ways to make their content, their games, more relevant to more people, and that means, of course attracting and younger demographic, and we can help there.”

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