ESPN announces subscription based online streaming, ESPN+ to debut on April 12th

ESPN+ to Launch April 12, Bringing Sports Fans More Live Sports, Exclusive Originals and On-Demand Library – All for $4.99 Per Month

ESPN+, the upcoming direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International in partnership with ESPN and featuring ESPN branded content, will launch on April 12 and offer fans a dynamic lineup of live sports, original content and an unmatched library of award-winning on-demand programming – all for a subscription price of $4.99 per month.

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Additional details about the array of content in the ESPN+ programming lineup will be announced in the coming days and weeks, but among the thousands of live sports events that ESPN+ will offer to fans are:

• MLB – MORE THAN 180 GAMES; A GAME PER DAY THROUGHOUT SEASON: ESPN+ will feature an ESPN+ MLB game each day, seven days per week, throughout the MLB regular season – more than 180 games that will include every MLB team.*
• NHL – MORE THAN 180 GAMES; GAME OF THE DAY THROUGHOUT REGULAR SEASON: Beginning with the 2018-19 NHL season, subscribers to ESPN+ will get a daily NHL game throughout the NHL regular season (in keeping with the NHL schedule) – more than 180 hockey games.*
• BOXING – YEAR-ROUND SCHEDULE, INCLUDES EXCLUSIVE KHAN VS. LO GRECO BOUT: ESPN+ is a key part of ESPN's multi-platform Top Rank Boxing on ESPN boxing agreement and will feature high-quality boxing throughout the year, including a selection of exclusive main event fights beginning with the April 21 Amir Khan vs. Phil Lo Greco bout in Liverpool, England. In addition, ESPN+ will feature undercard fights throughout the year from Top Rank on ESPN events, re-airs of all Top Rank on ESPN and PPV events and an unmatched library of legendary fights from the Top Rank and ESPN Big Fights archives.
• MLS – MORE THAN 250 GAMES: At launch, ESPN+ will include exclusive access for subscribers to the entire MLS Live out-of-market schedule, featuring more than 250 games,* through their subscription. Before launch, fans can access free MLS out-of-market games streaming live on live on MLSsoccer.com and the MLS App. Additionally, ESPN+ will be the exclusive local-market home for the Chicago Fire, bringing 27 Fire matches to fans in Chicago.
• COLLEGE SPORTS – THOUSANDS OF GAMES AND EVENTS, MULTIPLE SPORTS, ACROSS NEARLY TWO DOZEN CONFERENCES: The ESPN+ lineup will be rich with thousands of live college sports events, including football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, track & field, gymnastics, swimming & diving, lacrosse, wrestling, volleyball, golf and more — from over a dozen conferences across the country including the America East, ASun, Big South, Big West, Horizon, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Missouri Valley, NEC, Southern Conference, Southland, Summit League, Sun Belt, WAC and many more.

SPRING SPORTS

• COLLEGE BASEBALL & SOFTBALL: ESPN+ will help college baseball and softball fans see more games than ever before, with hundreds more games from across the college ranks streamed live, exclusively on ESPN+.
• LACROSSE, TENNIS AND TRACK & FIELD: ESPN+ will carry dozens of events from across conferences this spring.

FALL SPORTS

• COLLEGE FOOTBALL: ESPN+ will include hundreds of college football games each season from across more than a dozen conferences in the FBS and FCS.
• MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SOCCER, VOLLEYBALL, FIELD HOCKEY: ESPN+ will have hundreds of games this fall from soccer, volleyball and field hockey as the 2018-19 academic year gets underway.

WINTER SPORTS

• COLLEGE BASKETBALL: College hoops fans will get hundreds of men's and women's games every season on ESPN+ from all across the college basketball landscape – from division one powerhouses to top mid-majors to the next tournament Cinderella and more.
• COLLEGE WRESTLING, SWIMMING & DIVING, GYMNASTICS AND ICE HOCKEY: Fans of winter Olympic sports will get hundreds of games from a variety of conference partners nationwide exclusively on ESPN+.
• PGA TOUR LIVE GOLF – MORE THAN 100 DAYS OF COVERAGE FROM 31 PGA TOUR EVENTS: Golf fans will be able to follow the PGA TOUR throughout the year, with more than 100 days of live coverage from 31 PGA TOUR events, including THE PLAYERS Championship, the FedEx Cup Playoffs, AT&T Byron Nelson, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Travelers Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational and dozens more. Coverage will include Thursday, Friday and some Saturday and Sunday play during the events.
• GRAND SLAM TENNIS – HUNDREDS OF TENNIS MATCHES FROM WIMBLEDON, US OPEN & AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Tennis fans will have access to more of the action than ever at three of the annual Grand Slam tennis events. With hundreds of men's and women's singles and doubles matches, ESPN+ will be the perfect complement for every passionate tennis fan.
• RUGBY & CRICKET – HUNDREDS OF MATCHES FROM INTERNATIONAL RUGBY AND CRICKET: ESPN+ will serve rugby and cricket fans in the U.S. with more of their beloved sports, throughout the year. Rugby fans will get matches from SANZAAR (including Super Rugby, The Rugby Championship, the Lions Series, Mitre10 Cup, Currie Cup, Bledisloe Cup and other international matches), the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series, and 18 regular-season matches in the inaugural season of Major League Rugby, the new American professional rugby union league. Meanwhile, passionate cricket fans across the U.S. will get matches across Test, ODI and T20 formats from New Zealand Cricket and Cricket Ireland.

In addition to the hundreds of NHL and MLB games included in the ESPN+ subscription ($4.99/month, or $49.99/year), die-hard fans will be able to purchase the entire MLB.TV out-of-market package via ESPN+ and view the games within the ESPN App. MLB.TV will cost an additional $24.99 per month. Beginning with the 2018-19 NHL season, fans will also be able to purchase the entire NHL.TV out-of-market package.

This is extremely interesting. It sounds to me like ESPN has an agreement with MLB and the NHL to allow customers to stream in-market games, bundled that within the WatchESPN / ESPN3 infrastructure, rebranded it, and is now making it a premium subscription-based service. I'm very curious on how this will impact things going forward, but I'm not at all going to be a happy camper if this means all the VT games I used to be able to stream as part of my cable subscription won't be available unless I also subscribe to this new venture. Especially given the hefty chunk of that cable bill that is already going to ESPN.