Streaming ESPN Starts Aug. 21

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Mark Jeffries

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Aug 6, 2025, 12:06:35 PM8/6/25
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It will be known as just ESPN (what else?), will be $29.99 a month and has announced that they will be taking over the WWE pay-per-view events that had been on Peacock--this is an addition to the NFL buying 10% of ESPN and putting the NFL Network and NFL RedZone under the Worldwide Leader's supervision (and will be a strain on "SportsCenter" doing any sort of straightforward reporting on anything negative about the NFL):

M-D November

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Aug 6, 2025, 1:08:28 PM8/6/25
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WWE fans are, unsurprisingly, not happy about this move, largely because, over the last $15 years, WWE has conditioned their fans to expect value - first by heavily promoting a $9.99 price point for the OTT WWE Network, then by moving to Peacock's $5.99 tier (which, if you're a Kabletown customer, meant you were getting it for free). If we were coming straight from traditional PPV to the ESPN streamer, the move might not be going over as poorly (since monthly PPVs were ~$60 pre-Network), but we're well and truly beyond that point.

They've shot themselves in the foot by telling US customers that not only do you have to pay 3x more to get less content, but you ALSO have to have a Netflix subscription, live OTA TV or the CW app, and a basic cable or Peacock subscription if you want to continue watching all of the weekly programming. And the cherry on this bullshit sundae is that this only applies domestically - because WWE already consolidated their international rights with Netflix - which means WWE is giving a Stone Cold Salute (IYKYK) to its US fanbase.

There are going to be a lot of fans signing up for VPNs or abandoning the product altogether.  And Tony Khan and AEW must be absolutely salivating at that prospect.

Tom Wolper

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Aug 6, 2025, 3:03:36 PM8/6/25
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Jimmy Traina, the media columnist for Sports Illustrated, breaks down the deal for what it means to NFL fans. He notes that as the deal needs to go through government regulators, nothing will change for the upcoming  pay no attention to the URL.



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Tom Wolper

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Aug 6, 2025, 3:39:46 PM8/6/25
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M-D November

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Aug 7, 2025, 1:01:53 PM8/7/25
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Over the last 18 hours or so, some clarifying information has come out regarding the pricing of ESPN’s new streamer. It seems that Disney has struck deals with many of the large cablecos to give existing subscribers access to the app at no additional charge. Not sure if that means WWE PLEs won’t also have an upcharge attached, like UFC events, but time will tell. 

PGage

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Aug 8, 2025, 8:19:43 PM8/8/25
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My understanding was that current subscribers to the Disney Hulu ESPN plus bundle will get the new ESPN Streamer for no extra charge (At least for a little while).

I learned in a length posted here that even though ESPN is getting NFL red zone that can only be accessed through ESPN on its linear service, Meaning you have to have some kind of cable or YouTubeTV subscription. Otherwise, you have to subscribe separately to nfl.com. Also The red zone deal in total does not take affect until the following football season.

I will check on the price for accessing red zone online through nfl.com, but this may put a cramp in my plans to cancel my YouTube TV subscription. I have confirmed that Now that all NBA games will be available via streaming or my league pass subscription which I can change to online, the only things I use YTTV for are Jeopardy!, Red Zone, and San Francisco Giants baseball games. I may eventually have to give up on Jeopardy and go back to listening to Giants games on the transistor radio, but I don’t wanna give up the Red Zone.

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