The price of ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform of a subscription will rise by USD 1 per month to USD 5.99, or €5.34, effective in August. It's the first price increase for the OTT streaming service since its release in April 2018. Disney has not provided commentary for the switch. The motive for the price increase remains unknown, as well as the exact date of the change.
The company report states that the annual price of USD 49.99 won't change and existing subscribers can continue to pay the current rate, at USD 4.99 per month rate for a year. Notably, Walt Disney Co’s new monthly bundle which includes ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney+ and has been a crucial driver of subscriptions for all three platforms will remain at USD 12.99.
In May, Disney announced the number of ESPN+ subscribers increased7.9 million during its second fiscal quarter, a minimal gain from the 7.6 million reported following the company’s prior quarter. The sports streamer was previously experiencing a much more aggressive growth curve, keeping a steady growth from 2.2m subscribers a year ago to 3.5m just over six months ago, and doubling the figure by February following the introduction of the popular Disney+ bundle. ESPN+ continues to add content regularly.
Amid the suspensions and delays that resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic, consumer adoption has slowed. In June, the PGA Tour and ESPN reached an agreement for the OTT platform to stream live, featured-hole coverage from 12 Tour events this season. Disney+ reported 54.5m subscribers in May. YouTube TVand FuboTV also announced a change in pricing. “Sometimes to help us bring new channels at the best value, and to deliver premium features like live sports in 4K, we need to remove other channels and adjust subscription prices,” FuboTV said in an email to customers.
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