IN THIS ISSUE:

• 💰 The ESPN+ price hike can teach us about the future

• 🥊 Amazon is bringing brawling to Prime Video

• ⚾ Get Peacock in the MLB Clubhouses ASAP, NBC!

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The Main Event: 3 Lessons from the ESPN+ price hike

Disney has announced that the price of ESPN+ is going up to $9.99 a month on August 23. That is a $3 increase from the current monthly price, and double the original $4.99 price back in 2018. The reasons behind the jump are straightforward, but what does this move tell us about the future of ESPN+ and streaming sports in general?

There are plenty of reasons why Disney is raising the price of ESPN+.

• The service has added a TON of sports recently, and those rights are expensive.

• Disney wants more subscribers to choose the Disney bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu & ESPN+ for $13.99.

• ESPN+ still costs much less than competitors like DAZN ($20), Bally Sports+ ($20) or league out-of-market services ($25-$30 a month).

There are three key lessons we can learn from this move by thinking about the impact of the price increase on the future of ESPN+.

1. ESPN+ price increase means more money to compete against big tech

When sports were only on TV, ESPN competed against NBC, CBS, Fox and Turner and there was little doubt that they were the biggest player.

Now that streaming sports has become the major focus, they are up against the likes of Apple, Amazon, Google and Netflix, and these companies make Disney and ESPN seem small. A recent NYT article about streaming sports mentions NFL Sunday Ticket getting bids from Google, Amazon and Apple. This shows that ESPN is in for an unfair fight with big tech rivals.

There are so many upcoming rights bids that have the potential of streaming sports components.

• Big Ten Football

• NBA

• UEFA Champions League

• NASCAR

• U.S. Open

A price increase now might be enough to reload ESPN with the cash needed to bid high enough to compete with tech companies for now. ESPN can’t rely on the reach of their cable channels to prop up their streaming service forever.

2. ESPN+ anchors the pricing for streaming version of ESPN

Disney has said that a streaming only version of their ESPN cable channel is coming. In fact this week they made a point to say that they won’t drop the cable channel when take ESPN to streaming. The biggest challenge they are bound to have with a streaming version of ESPN is pricing.

A streaming ESPN is going to have to be expensive. It offers a ton of popular, expensive sports and they want to protect the cable business as long as they can. Finding that right price will be tricky because they have:

• A soft cap of ~$35, which is the cost of Sling TV Orange with ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3.

• A soft floor of the ESPN+ price.

When ESPN+ was $5-7, a $20-30 streaming ESPN plan could have felt too high by comparison.

With ESPN+ moving to $10, it could be easier for a streaming ESPN plan to feel more in line. It could also feel like more of a value by including ESPN+ in the plan. I doubt they’d sell it this way, but that would make streaming ESPN essentially an add-on for ESPN+.

 3. ESPN+ is way more important if the Disney Bundle changes

Disney is preparing major changes to their streaming offerings, and they have the potential to make ESPN+ a way more important piece of the puzzle.

• As mentioned, a streaming version of ESPN is coming

• Disney+ is adding a cheaper ad-supported plan

• More mature shows, live content and ABC shows coming to Disney+ instead of Hulu

The value in the Disney Bundle was always three for the prices of two, with Disney+ ($8), Hulu ($7) and ESPN+ ($7) for $14. The moves above could lead to changes in the Disney Bundle, including a switch to the cheaper ad-supported Disney+ as part of the plan.

An even bigger move has been pushed by industry analysts, where they could merge Hulu content into Disney+. There has been less and less reason for Hulu to exist on its own, but it has been a key part of the Disney Bundle feeling like a value. But a higher priced ESPN+, combined with a potentially higher priced ad-free Disney+ plan, could keep the bundle appealing even without Hulu.

No matter which final decisions they make, Disney has shown that the success of streaming sports is key to their streaming future. They’ve brought ESPN+ to over 20 million subscribers so far, but now more price increases are going to be key to growing the service in the coming years.

Streaming sports is expensive.

The Fast Break:

🏈 NFL Chief Media boss talks streaming football

While we are still waiting for a big announcement for NFL+, the league’s chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp offered more details on football streaming on SI.com.

Rolapp said that they aren’t ready to discuss the new NFL Sunday Ticket now, but it will be “innovative, accessible and digital.” Umm, Okay…

NFL+ will be exactly what was rumored, and nothing more. It will have mobile access to live local and national games, and extras.

I am far more interested in the section about the future of NFL Media. They talk about the shifting media landscape and close with this quote.

Be bold, NFL. Be bold.

🥊Prime Video locks up ONE Championship Martial Arts Amazon continues its impressive run of adding streaming sports by bringing ONE Championship exclusively to Prime Video in the U.S. and Canada.

• The deal starts with Moraes vs. Johnson II on Aug 26.

• ONE on Prime Video may feature MMA, muay Thai and Kickboxing events

• There will be a minimum of 12 events each year, with more possible

• ONE is moving to Amazon from Turner Sports, where it was on TNT and B/R Live

John Morgan has a great write up on SI.com about ONE Championship moving to Prime, with excited comments from everyone involved.

Many have tried to build MMA events to compete with the UFC, but none have reached their level of success. Will the wide audience of Amazon Prime be the missing key to success that other MMA has lacked on Showtime, DAZN, or B/R Live?

💰 Can gambling save struggling sports streamers? 

Recent articles about struggles at Sinclar, owner of Bally’s Sports+, and DAZN share a pattern; streaming sports services looking to sports betting as their salvation.

In an interview with the Baltimore Business Journal, Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said

• Online betting is the key final step to their streaming plans

• Not ready to reveal plans, but focus is casual “gamification” betting

• Tennis betting is a big target for them on their Tennis Channel Plus service

In an interview with Financial Times, DAZN CEO Shay Segev said:

• DAZN will expand beyond streaming with betting, watch parties, games and NFTs (uh-oh)

• DAZN UK betting service will launch next month

• When asked if DAZN is for sale, he said that isn’t the goal but “I’m not saying it won’t happen or it couldn’t happen.” (double uh-oh)

Online casinos are a dime a dozen, and it won’t be easy for these companies to compete without a background in gaming or a huge bankroll. If these streamers go all in on this, the risk of someone taking them for everything they have is high.

Watch. Learn. Stream.

I Watched:

• The MLB All-Star Game… with an antenna.

• The exciting final day of the British Open. Golf at its finest.

• Lots of boxing, including Ryan Garcia in a rout, and Isaac Dogboe scoring a nice upset.

I Learned:

This footage is phenomenal.

Also, the LA Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts points out a big flaw in the MLB All-Star streaming mess.

NBC has got to set up Peacock every stadium ASAP.

I’ll Be Streaming: 

• MLB baseball, if only because these truly are the dog days of sports summer

• Watching, but not streaming, my kids compete in their final swim meets of the season. Not everything worth seeing has to be online.

Gratitude

Thank you for reading this week’s Streaming Sports Newsletter. Also thanks for being patient as life forced me to delay the newsletter by a few days this week.

It is wonderful to be able to welcome so many new subscribers, especially those joining from Jared Newman's Cord Cutter Weekly. I hope you all have enjoyed reading it. If you haven’t joined in yet, please subscribe so you won’t miss an issue. Also, take a moment to share this issue with anyone you think might enjoy it.

Thanks to so many of you for the wonderful feedback. These official issues are better because of you. I always enjoy hearing from readers. Even if you just reply to say ‘Hi’ to let me know you are reading it would mean the world to me. You can reach me on Twitter @royd77 or by replying to this email at [email protected]