Disney's New ESPN App Reaches For Spectator Outside Cable

New ESPN app launches on Thursday for $30 a month


App uses all ESPN programming without a pay TV subscription


Betting, fantasy sports will be intergrated


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By Lisa Richwine


LOS ANGELES, Aug 20 - Walt Disney's ESPN will deliver its full range of sports setting outside of pay TV for the very first time beginning on Thursday, when the network debuts an app designed to be a center for live video games and individualized news, stats and highlights.


The ESPN app is Disney's effort to record some of the 10s of millions of customers that the pioneering sports channel has lost since 2010 during the streaming TV revolution.


ESPN executives stated they have customized the brand-new offering, which is far wider than the restricted ESPN+ app released in 2018, to deal with the tastes of today's sports fans.


"We know that fans don't simply want to view," ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told reporters. "They desire an experience. They wish to connect."


The app will provide more than 47,000 live occasions each year from the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, college football, tennis, golf and other sports. It will cost $30 per month. An introductory offer will consist of ad-supported versions of the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services free of charge.


Fans can enter their preferred groups and sports for personalization such as a customized variation of the "SportsCenter" news and recap program. Artificial intelligence will create narrative based upon the voices of ESPN anchors.


A new function called "Verts," or scroll-ready, vertical video highlights, also can be customized. Stats for a user's fantasy players will be displayed beside live video games. And an ESPN Bet tab will reveal live, settled and approaching bets for users who have actually connected their betting accounts.


Bob Iger has called the app "a sports fan's dream."


Industry experts see it as a chance for the company to get fans who do not register for cable television, and they do not anticipate it will pull masses from pay TV. ESPN was offered in 100 million homes through pay TV in 2010. In July of this year, that number stood at about 61 million.


"It's another action in Disney's pivot to (streaming) and the importance to streaming to the general company," said MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman.


ESPN will promote the app extensively. Actor John Cena will star in commercials that stress "All of ESPN. All in One Place."


Pay tv will "stay a big part" of ESPN's business, Pitaro said. For the quarter that ended in June, ESPN accounted for $1 billion of Disney's $4.6 billion in running income, or nearly 22%. Most of ESPN's revenue originated from fees paid by cable television and satellite distributors and from advertising.


Subscribers to pay TV will have access to the brand-new ESPN app. Pitaro stated the business wanted to drive all of its clients to the app "because that's by far the finest, the most holistic experience."


(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew Lewis)