Now You Never Have to Leave Disney+

ESPN+ has come to Disney+, fulfilling Disney DTC’s (direct-to-consumer) destiny.

For subscribers to the Disney Trio — Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu — a new ESPN tile housing ESPN+ content has been added to the Disney+ homepage. For Disney Bundle subscribers, the Hulu tile has been there since March 2024 (and announced the prior May).

The addition of ESPN+ content to the Disney+ app provides users with “access to sports, general entertainment, and kids and family programming, all within a single app,” in the press release’s words. Why would you ever leave? Well, other than to watch something awesome elsewhere, like “The Diplomat” on Netflix. (Those are definitely not the press release’s words.)

It’s “a seamlessly integrated viewing experience throughout the Disney+ app with the kind of offering that only The Walt Disney Company can deliver,” the announcement continues, definitely hoping we quote it.

Speaking of quotes…

“This launch really puts a cherry on top of a fantastic year of innovation at Disney+,” Alisa Bowen, president of Disney+, said in a statement. “Earlier in the year, we made Hulu available in the Disney+ app, and now we’re doing the same for ESPN+. This gives our bundle subscribers one place to consume everything they love from all our brands.”

As John Lasker, SVP of ESPN+, calculates (or at least is credited with calculating), within “the first 90 days” of this new setup, “bundle subscribers should expect 5,000 live events, including NFL, NBA, NHL, College Basketball, and Australian Open. Also, new originals from 30 for 30 and ESPN Original Series.”

ESPN+ “offers access to more than 30,000 live sports events each year,” the release boasts.

If you’re not a bundle subscriber, well, this next part will either tease you, annoy you, or entice you.

“One of the things I’m most excited about with this launch is that we’re also making the ESPN and Hulu tiles visible to all subscribers,” Bowen said. “That means, for our Disney+ standalone subscribers, they’ll have a really easy way to discover everything we offer from these two incredible brands, and have the ability to upgrade their subscription for the full bundle experience.”

But, you know, you’ll have to pay to play.