A detailed view of the broadcast camera showing the NFL emblem and ESPN Monday Night Football logo during the game between the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field in Chicago on December 20, 2021.
Sports Line Pictured | Sports Line Pictured | Getty Images
Venu Sports, sports streaming joint venture disney ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corporation., which costs $42.99 per month.
The upcoming streaming platform announced pricing on Thursday and said it plans to launch in the fall. It will offer a 7-day free trial. More details are expected to be released at launch. Venu is still awaiting regulatory approval.
Venu Sports aims to be online before the start of the NFL season, which starts on Thursday, September 5, according to a person familiar with the matter. Fox owns the broadcast rights to Sunday’s NFL games, while ESPN is the broadcaster of Monday Night Football.
CNBC reported earlier that the service could start at $45 to $50 per month.
The high-end pricing — common among direct-to-consumer sports streaming services — was partly expected so as not to shake up any carriage agreements with traditional pay-TV distributors. Live sports remain the most-watched TV program and the most expensive part of the pay-TV package. In turn, media rights valuations have soared, with the NBA recently valued at $77 billion over 11 years.
Venu noted on Thursday that users who sign up for Venu for $42.99 per month will have access to that introductory price for 12 months, suggesting that prices may rise in the future.
“Aimed at sports fans outside of traditional pay-TV packages, Venu is scheduled to launch in the U.S. in the fall and will offer thousands of viewers from all major professional sports leagues and top college conferences,” the company said in a press release Thursday. Live sports events.
The three media companies announced the joint venture in February, each owning one-third of Venu, which operates as its own company with its own management team. Former Apple and Hulu executive Pete Distad appointment CEO. Subsidiaries declare The name May Venu.
The platform will include all live sports rights owned by its parent company, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, college football and basketball. Venu subscribers also have access to the parent company’s 14 traditional TV sports networks, including ESPN, ABC, Fox, TNT and TBS, as well as the streaming service ESPN+.
“With an impressive portfolio of sports programming, Venu will provide American sports fans with a single destination to watch many of the most popular games and events,” Distad said in a press release. “We are providing Venu has been built from the ground up for fans who want seamless access to their favorite sports, and we’re launching it at an attractive price that will appeal to cord-cutters who currently can’t get through existing pay TV services and those who never cut the cord. Fan package.
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery Channel also plan to bundle their streaming services Max, Disney+ and Hulu. The upcoming bundle will be priced at $16.99 per month with ads or $29.99 per month without ads.