Fox, Disney, Warner Bros. sports bundle expecting 5M subscribers in five years
The sports streaming venture formed by Fox Corp, Walt Disney and Warner Bros Discovery expects to draw 5 million subscribers in its first five years, Fox boss Lachlan Murdoch said Monday.
The new sports-centric service is expected to launch in the fall with hopes of luring an audience Murdoch has dubbed “cord-nevers,” referring to younger viewers who have eschewed traditional cable subscriptions.
“We’re running really hard and really fast to get the service up and running before the start of the college football season this year,” Murdoch said at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom conference.
Pricing for the service — which would have rights to the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and college competitions — could be higher than what people have talked about, Murdoch added.
CNBC reported in February the yet-to-be-named service announced to last month is expected to be priced at above $40 per month, adding the firms have identified a chief executive who would be named at a later date.
“This a pro-consumer package,” Murdoch said, adding the stand-alone sports streaming venture will be available to ESPN+, Hulu and Max subscribers.
“What this bundle does is put a majority of sports into one bundle. It’s an easy place for sports fans to come to.”
The venture is intended to switch things up in the TV industry which, historically, has “made life for our audiences… incredibly hard,” added Murdoch, who was named the sole chair of Fox and News Corp — which also owns The Post — in September.
Fox, which shares a common owner with News Corp, publisher of The New York Post, declined to comment. The Post has also sought comment from Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The sports-centric platform was reportedly born out of six months of talks about how to lure back sports fans that have already cut the cord.
“We believe the service will provide passionate fans outside of the traditional bundle an array of amazing sports content all in one place,” Murdoch said when the new streaming platform was announced — a move that will rival Amazon and Apple’s sports offerings.
Disney CEO Bob Iger added that the “significant moment” for sports fans is “an important step forward for the media business,” while Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav added: “This new sports service exemplifies our ability as an industry to drive innovation and provide consumers with more choice, enjoyment and value.”
The forthcoming service will offer a massive trove of sports content under one roof, including from Disney-owned networks such as ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, BTN, ACCN, ESPNEWS. Fox, and ESPN, provide rights to the biggest prize, NFL games, along with Major League Baseball — as well as content from cable channels FS1 and FS2.
Warner Bros. Discovery will be contributing its NBA and NHL content — which it currently offers through TNT — along with college basketball’s March Madness, which also airs on TBS and TruTV, and rights to European soccer tournaments like the Champions League.
The networks also own rights to golf, tennis, NASCAR and Formula 1.
Pricing will be announced at a later date, the companies said, only teasing that it will be significantly lower than the typical cable sports package, which can top $100 a month.
Subscribers will also have the ability to bundle the product with Disney+, Hulu and Max, among others.
