Disney Eyes August 2025 for ESPN Streaming App

ESPN will offer a standalone streaming option likely starting in August 2025, Disney CEO Bob Iger said Wednesday. In an earnings call with analysts, Iger said the 2018 ESPN+ launch was "the first step" in an "inevitable" move to take Disney subsidiary ESPN direct to consumer. In addition, he said ESPN's joint venture sports streaming platform with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, announced this week (see 2402070006), is "an attractive business proposition." The JV targets those who never had a multichannel TV subscription and "gives them a chance to do so at a price point that will be obviously more attractive than the big fat bundle." The JV "is going to be substantially less expensive to consumers" than a cable or direct broadcast satellite channel bundle, he said. The ESPN streaming app will include options that the Fox/WBD JV won't, such as integrated betting, fantasy and merchandise sales, said Iger.