Sky renews ESPN deal - with an app twist

ESPN provides live sport and sports programming from the US and around the world, including the NFL. Photo / Getty Imgages

Sky TV has renewed its partnership with global sports brand ESPN, signing a multi-year, multi-platform rights deal.

ESPN provides live sport and sports programming from the US and around the world, including NFL, NBA basketball, NHL, MLB, UFC, NCAA basketball, NCAA football, the US Open, and the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning 30 for 30 film series.

Financial terms were not disclosed but the deal does include one new provision: Sky Sport and Sky Sport Now customers will get the choice to view content through ESPN's website or app.

ESPN is 80 per cent owned by Disney and 20 per cent by Hearst. A logon to any Disney platform - such as Disney+ can then be used to logon to ESPN's app, which offers a mix of live channels and on-demand content. But after several minutes of video, the ESPN app asks for your logon from a pay-TV partner (Sky TV NZ does not yet appear).

Sky and Sky Sport Now subscribers will be able to access content through ESPN's app (pictured).

Although the deal could see some subscribers straying outside of Sky's own platform and app to view ESPN content, the deal is a better outcome than when Disney pulled its Disney channels from Sky to give its direct-to-consumer Disney+ app NZ exclusivity.

In the US, Disney has been selling its big three streaming services - Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu - in one low-cost (US$13.99 per month) bundle.

Here, Sky has been able to keep most ESPN and Hulu content exclusive to its own channels (Hulu original series like The Handmaid's tale first appeared on Spark's Lightbox, which was bought by Sky then rolled into its own Neon).

However, Rival Spark Sport has been able to offer some of the A-list US sports that feature on ESPN through its direct deals with the NBA and NFL.

Today, Sky touted its new ESPN deal would include Super Bowl 2022 (among a welter of other content) in February. A spokesman for Spark Sport confirmed it would also stream Super Bowl 2022.

Spark Sport also recently announced that it would join Sky in offering pay-per-view UFC events.

Streaming growth slows as lockdowns ease

Meanwhile, Disney continues to pile on subscribers to its direct-to-consumer apps, but with their rate of growth slowing as pandemic lockdowns ease, and new competition emerges from a swathe of other studios and broadcasters launching their own apps.

The company said Disney+ added "only" 8.7 million new subscribers during the March quarter for a new total of 103.6m subs worldwide (analysts had been expecting 110m).

Disney+ was on track to reach between 230m and 260m subscribers by 2024, however, the company said.

Disney's Hulu had 42m subscribers at the end of the March quarter, and ESPN+ 14m subs. While Hulu grew by a third over the past year and ESPN+ by 75 per cent, they also saw growth in the three months to March 31.

Netflix, which also saw a slowdown in growth in the first quarter, recently reported 207.6m subscribers worldwide.

Amazon has 204m subscribers to its Prime service, which includes goods delivery, audio and video, but doesn't break out video streaming numbers on a regular basis.

Earlier this week, Amazon revealed it is in talks to buy Hollywood studio MGM in a bid to increase Amazon Prime Video content.