Disney’s latest cruise ship features a water ride with twisting tubes and ocean views.
The House of Mouse is raising the price of streaming sports through ESPN+ by more than 40% at a time when inflation is at a 41-year-high.
FOX Business has confirmed The Walt Disney Company plans to increase the price of the standalone service to $9.99 per month, or $99.99 per year, starting Aug. 23. Existing ESPN+ subscribers will get official notification starting July 20.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIS | THE WALT DISNEY CO. | 94.80 | +3.37 | +3.69% |
| CMCSA | COMCAST CORP. | 40.90 | +1.32 | +3.34% |
| NFLX | NETFLIX INC. | 189.11 | +14.33 | +8.20% |
ESPN+’s standalone service currently costs $6.99 per month, or $69.99 per year. It is also available through a bundle with Disney+ and Disney and Comcast-owned Hulu.
The bundle with ads costs $13.99 per month or $19.99 per month without ads.
The change will not impact the price of the bundle nor the $74.99 cost for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view events.
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ESPN+ offers more than 22,000 live sporting events per year.
In addition to exclusive UFC events, its programming includes ESPN+ NFL PrimeTime and thousands of college sporting events from more than 20 conferences.
The channel also offers more than 75 exclusive and 1,000 out of market National Hockey League games per season and more than 180 Major League Baseball games, plus PGA Golf Tour Live and expanded rights to the Masters and PGA Championship,
Viewers can also watch Wimbledon and the Australian Open, top domestic and international soccer, international cricket and original content.
FILE PHOTO: The ESPN+ logo is displayed in this illustration taken on July 13, 2021. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration / Reuters Photos)
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The price hike for ESPN+ comes as the entertainment giant is preparing to offer a cheaper, ad-supported subscription tier for Disney+. The new subscription tier will launch in the U.S. in late 2022 and internationally in 2023.
Disney has set a goal of 230 million to 260 million Disney+ subscribers by fiscal year 2024. As of the end of the second quarter of 2022, Disney reported a total of 137.7 million paid Disney+ subscribers, 45.6 million paid Hulu subscribers and 22.3 million paid ESPN+ subscribers.
