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Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Fox (NASDAQ: FOX) (NASDAQ: FOXA) and Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) are collaborating on a joint venture to produce a streaming platform that shares sports assets.
The companies would each own a third of the platform, which would combine their interests and provide large-scale negotiating power as the price of sports rights continues to rise ever higher.
The platform will be available through its own app, but may also be bundled to subscribers of Hulu, ESPN+ and Max, and will launch in the fall, the companies said.
The three companies would license their sports content on a non-exclusive basis, but would still offer a one-stop shop for linear sports broadcast networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, Fox, FS1. , FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV and ESPN+.
It is set to be rebranded with independent management, the companies said.
The launch is “a significant moment for Disney and ESPN, a big win for sports fans and a major step forward for the media business,” said Bob Iger, CEO of Disney (DIS). “This means the full suite of ESPN channels will be available to consumers alongside sports programming from other industry leaders as part of a differentiated, sports-focused service.”
“At WBD, our ambition is always to connect our core content and brands with as many viewers as possible, and this exciting joint venture and unprecedented combination of sports rights and access to the world’s biggest sporting events allows us to do just that,” said WBD head David Zaslav.
“We are thrilled to bring the Fox Sports portfolio to this exciting new platform,” Fox (FOX) (FOXA) CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in reaction.
In Disney’s (DIS) latest earnings call, the company gave final color to long-simmering plans to bring ESPN into the streaming era: “Another key building opportunity is to take ESPN, which is already the the world’s leading sports brand, and transform it into the leading digital sports platform, allowing us to reach fans in new and compelling ways and fully integrate key features into our core ESPN offering,” said CEO Bob Iger. “We are already moving quickly down this path and are exploring strategic partnerships to help advance our efforts across marketing, technology, distribution and additional concepts.”
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has begun to move into live streaming of sports by leveraging the rights to Turner Sports and launching the Bleacher Report Sports Add-On service tier on October 5.
Some details were previously reported by The Wall Street Journal.
As of 5:13 pm ET, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) stock had jumped 3% after hours, and Fox (FOXA) was up by 3.6%. Disney (DIS) was down 1.1% after-sales.