WBD, Fox & ESPN to launch joint sports streaming service in U.S.

In what promises to be a game-changer in the world of streaming rights, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox and Disney will launch a sports-centric streaming venture in the United States that will combine each services’ various rights under one digital roof.

The unnamed service is expected to launch this fall with pricing yet unknown. It will be owned by a newly-formed company with its own leadership team.

According to Variety, each group will own a third of the service, licensing their sports content to it on a non-exclusive basis, meaning it would also air on their traditional home for non-subscribers.

From their report:

“Subscribers would get access to linear sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV and ESPN+, as well as hundreds of hours from the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL and many top college divisions. Pricing will be announced at a later date,”

CNBC reported subscribers will be able to bundle the new service with Hulu, Disney+ and/or Max. This will not affect ESPN’s continued plans to launch their full direct-to-consumer product either this year or next.

That will also affect MMA fans and pro wrestling fans as well.

Both the UFC and PFL have deals with ESPN with the former’s contract set to expire at the end of 2025 while the PFL signed a multi-year extension in November 2023.

UFC head Dana White said in January that parent company TKO expects to begin talks with ESPN in the next “three or four months.”

How this bundle plays into ESPN’s exclusive domestic PPV rights distribution deal with the UFC remains to be seen. Currently, one must subscribe to ESPN+ in order to be able to order UFC PPVs.

WBD has an existing deal with AEW that expires at the end of 2024. While their exclusive negotiating window isn’t public knowledge, WBD is considered the front-runner given Tony Khan’s publicly stated desire to remain loyal to his lone domestic TV partner.

AEW has yet to become part of WBD’s BR Sports tier on the Max streaming service despite being listed within TNT Sports. However, Dynamite, Collision and Rampage would be available via this new “skinny bundle” if they remain on the WBD networks.