ESPN Unveils Long-Awaited ESPN+ Service, Debuting April 12
Sports fans finally know what ESPN's long-awaited subscription service, ESPN+, has to offer. Meant as an addition to pay TV service, not a replacement, ESPN+ comes with an impressive live sports lineup. Fans subscribing to the $4.99 per month service, which debuts on April 12, will get over 180 MLB games this season (featuring every team), over 180 NHL games in the upcoming season, and a selection of main event and undercard boxing matches. (Blackout rules will apply for MLB and NHL coverage.) The service will also offer over 250 MLS games from the MLS Live out-of-market schedule, and thousands of college sports events from almost two dozen conferences, including America East, Big South, Big West, Ivy League, and Missouri Valley.
If that's not enough, fans will also get over 100 days of live golf from over 31 PGA Tour events, hundreds of Grand Slam Tennis matches, and hundreds of international rugby and cricket matches. What the service won't have is content from ESPN or its related sites, including live NFL and NBA games.
The service will offer an on-demand library of content, including the full library of the 30 for 30 documentary series. Subscribers will have access to an exclusive installment called "The Last Days of Knight," about the fallout from CNN's reporting on Indiana University men's basketball coach Bob Knight.
ESPN+ will be powered by BAMTech Media—which is 75 percent owned by The Walt Disney Company, 15 percent by MLB Advanced Media, and 9 percent by the NHL—and which will also power the Disney-branded OTT subscription service coming in late 2019.
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