The countdown is on to the ESPN DTC launch in just two weeks on August 21st. And ESPN is stacking its platform thanks to new deals with the NFL and WWE. But now comes the hard part – figuring out just who the service is for and how to access it.
The new ESPN app featuring “all of ESPN all in one place” is designed for the WorldWide Leader in Sports to reach cord cutters and provide ESPN outside of a cable or satellite bundle for the first time.
But one of the selling points for the ESPN DTC platform is that cable, satellite, and other MVPD subscribers won’t need to pay the $29.99 per month to access the service. As long as you have an active subscription that includes ESPN, you will be able to authenticate that subscription for access.
That includes WWE PLEs, which will be added to the ESPN DTC platform beginning with WrestleMania 42 next April. Unlike UFC events, there will be no additional upcharge for the WWE events on the ESPN app. When the deal was announced on Wednesday, there was much confusion over whether or not that would be the case or if WWE fans would have to pay an extra $30 per month for access on top of all their other spending.
Well… that’s not the whole story. It’s not just that confusion reigns over WWE events, confusion reigns over the entire DTC service and who will be able to access it at launch.
According to CNBC’s Alex Sherman, ESPN does indeed have an agreement with several major providers to check it out when the service goes live on August 21st. They include Charter, DirecTV, Verizon Fios, and Hulu and Fubo which are both part of Disney.
However, ESPN has yet to come to an agreement with the likes of Comcast, YouTube TV, Dish, Sling, and Cox. That means millions of sports fans will miss out on the ESPN DTC platform through authentication when it launches.
Now comes the new stuff – and the confusing part: I’m told not every pay-TV provider will be listed on Aug. 21, when the application launches. That’s because ESPN doesn’t have up-to-date carriage agreements with all of the largest pay TV providers. These deals are staggered over multiple years. Some have happened recently, others haven’t.
So, here’s what I can tell you: Disney has been able to get authentication rights from Charter, DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, Verizon Fios and some smaller pay TV operators.
That means ESPN’s direct-to-consumer product will not initially be available for Comcast Xfinity customers, YouTube TV subscribers, Dish satellite TV customers, Sling TV users or Cox cable subscribers.
I’m told discussions with all of these pay TV providers are ongoing, and Disney hopes to have most of them done by the end of the year. It’s still unclear to me at this point if Disney can accelerate some of these discussions if their pay TV carriage renewals aren’t until 2026.
Sports fans need an engineering degree to figure out the dozens of apps, services, and combinations needed to watch what they want. The dissolution of the bundle and the rise of streaming has led to more consumer confusion and angst than ever before. Trying to balance various subscriptions between apps, linear, and streaming services can leave fans feeling frustrated and priced out with all the different paywalls they have to climb.
And now the new ESPN DTC service will be no exception.
The fact that it will be available for some, but not all existing cable and satellite subscribers at launch is only going to add to the confusion. Many fans will likely sign up for the service, not realizing they already have access to it. Others will assume they have access to it and become frustrated when that is not the case. Still more may end up switching away from their favored provider to get ESPN DTC, only then to be granted access weeks or months later when new carriage agreements are reached.
The bottom line is that it greatly complicates ESPN’s messaging about the app and the ability to reach all sports fans. If the WWE PLEs end up being the only major thing that subscribers at Comcast, YouTube, etc. miss out on, then at least there is several months to come to new agreements. But the longer this gap exists, the more pressure will begin to build on everyone involved to get deals done to make a level playing field.