ESPN+ is raising prices again next month, but this time for a new feature: “Premium members can now watch ESPN+ live on their devices without having to sign up for a cable or satellite subscription.” The new price increase will go into effect on October 1st and will be $5 per month. The company says that the move is necessary to “keep pace with the changing landscape of streaming services.” ESPN+ is one of the many streaming services available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Roku, and other devices. It offers a variety of sports and entertainment content as well as access to ESPN’s archives.
ESPN+ is Disney’s sport-focused streaming service, commonly used in the bundle alongside Disney+ and Hulu. However, if you pay for ESPN+ by itself outside of the Disney+ bundle, your monthly bill is about to go up.
Sports Business Journal reports that ESPN+ is increasing its monthly price from $6.99 per month to $9.99/mo, or from $69.99 per year to $99.99/yr. However, the price for the Disney+ bundle that includes Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu is remaining the same at $13.99/mo ($19.99/mo to include Hulu without ads). Disney hasn’t officially announced the updated pricing, but the company did confirm it was coming in a statement to Sports Business Journal.
The move could be an attempt by Disney to push more people to the more expensive bundle. Disney has been working on several changes to boost subscriber numbers for its other services, including creating an ad-supported tier of Disney+, like what Hulu already offers.
ESPN+ currently offers a mix of college sports, boxing, hockey, soccer, golf, and other live sports, in addition to archived content and original documentaries. Pricing started at $4.99/mo when it launched in April 2018, but was raised by $1 in August 2020, then it went up another dollar in July 2021. The cost of the Disney+ bundle didn’t change those times, either.
The price change will go into effect starting August 23.
Source: Sports Business Journal
