ESPN will be increasing its focus on streaming in the coming months
with an update that will directly affect
Ultimate Fighting Championship fans.

The Worldwide Leader announced on Tuesday that a new
direct-to-consumer streaming service — simply known as “ESPN” —
will launch this fall. For a $29.99 per month subscription fee (or
$299.99 annually), viewers will be able to access the entire lineup
of ESPN networks and content. In a release, this is referred to as
the unlimited plan. There are also bundling options with Hulu and
Disney+ available for $35.99 per month with ads or $44.99 with no
ads.

“Fans have never been able to buy our ESPN networks directly
before,” ESPN Chairmain Jimmy Pitaro said. “That will all change.
This fall everything ESPN has to offer will be available in one
place.”

In the past, fans without a cable subscription were not able to
watch events on ESPN’s linear networks, though much of the UFC
content has been available through ESPN+. However, UFC events
airing exclusively on ESPN networks were not accessible to those
with only an ESPN+ subscription. ESPN+ will remain a standalone
option under the select plan for $11.99 per month, which includes
more than 32,000 live sports events annually as well as a variety
of other content.

The UFC’s deal with ESPN will conclude at the end of 2025. The Las
Vegas-based promotion is free to negotiate with any potential
broadcast partner at that point and is reportedly seeking a deal in
the neighborhood of $1 billion per year. Until then, ESPN holds the
exclusive rights to all UFC events. This includes pay-per-views,
which can only be purchased if one has an ESPN+ subscription.

An specific launch date, as well as other details regarding the new
ESPN streaming service, are expected to be announced this
summer.

“As we thought about the name, we kept returning to the fact that,
across every generation, ESPN is the most trusted, loved and
recognized name in sports, and that we should keep it simple and
double down on the power of ESPN,” Pitaro said in a release. “Our
straightforward approach to name and pricing will help fans cut
through the clutter, and provide them compelling options to access
all our content within the enhanced ESPN App. It will be the
ultimate sports destination for personalized experiences and
features, and, on top of that, fans will be able to choose to
bundle ESPN with the industry-leading Disney+ and Hulu streaming
services.”

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

Internationaler Kampfkunst und Kampfsport Kleinanzeiger