WBD, ESPN & Fox to launch sport streaming JV for US

Warner Bros. Discovery, ESPN, and Fox have come to an understanding on principal terms to form a joint venture to create a sport streaming platform in the US.

Each broadcaster will own one-third of the entity, have equal representation on its board, but it will have an independent management team. There is no indication that it would look to expand beyond the US at this time.

The as-yet unnamed platform will bring together the trio’s sport portfolios in the territory, non-exclusively, into a single paid subscription service. Together they hold rights to top US sports such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL; PGA Tour and Masters golf; Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open tennis, Giro d’Italia cycling; LaLiga, Bundesliga, and UEFA football; Formula 1 racing; UFC; and more. 

With so much content at hand, the companies’ announcement claims they will aim to, “aggregate content to offer fans an extensive, dynamic lineup of sports content, aiming to provide a new and differentiated experience to serve sports fans, particularly those outside of the traditional pay TV bundle.” They aim to launch in autumn of this year, but its formation is still, ”subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements amongst the parties.”

As well as the streaming destination and app, subscribers will have access to linear channels, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV, and ESPN+. They will also be able to bundle the sport package with the likes of Disney+, Hulu and/or Max, which are non-sport platforms from EPSN parent company Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery.

While sport has continued to bring in large audiences in the US, particularly the NFL, “cord-cutting” and switching to streaming platforms has been long been a talking point.

Bob Iger, chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company said, “The launch of this new streaming sports service is a significant moment for Disney and ESPN, a major win for sports fans, and an important step forward for the media business. This means the full suite of ESPN channels will be available to consumers alongside the sports programming of other industry leaders as part of a differentiated sports-centric service. I’m grateful to Jimmy Pitaro and the team at ESPN, who are at the forefront of innovating on behalf of consumers to create new offerings with more choice and greater value.”

Lachlan Murdoch, executive chair and chief executive officer of Fox said, “We’re pumped to bring the FOX Sports portfolio to this new and exciting platform. We believe the service will provide passionate fans outside of the traditional bundle an array of amazing sports content all in one place.”

David Zaslav, chief executive officer of Warner Bros. Discovery, said “At WBD, our ambition is always to connect our leading content and brands with as many viewers as possible, and this exciting joint venture and the unparalleled combination of marquee sports rights and access to the greatest sporting events in the world allows us to do just that. This new sports service exemplifies our ability as an industry to drive innovation and provide consumers with more choice, enjoyment and value and we’re thrilled to deliver it to sports fans.”

Warner Bros. Discovery recently also formed a joint venture in the UK, joining with BT to create TNT Sports last year.