ESPN looking to help users find sports streams - even on its rivals, report says
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ESPN (NYSE:DIS) has reportedly held talks with big sports leagues and media partners about offering a digital feature that will link its users directly to where a live event is streaming - whether or not that streamer is an ESPN competitor.
That could address a lingering pain point for live sports viewers: trying to figure out where exactly they need to be to see a given event, in an age when sports rights regularly change hands in big-dollar deals.
The sports network could send visitors to ESPN.com or its free ESPN app over to national/global streamers making increasing inroads into sports, such as Apple TV+ (AAPL) or Amazon Prime Video (AMZN), or to regional sports networks such as Bally Sports+ (SBGI) or MSG+ (MSGE), CNBC reported.
They're early talks meant to gauge enthusiasm from the leagues and media companies, according to the report. But one model under consideration would send ESPN a cut of subscription revenue for users who sign up for another streaming service via ESPN.
And alerting users to events airing in linear TV could create a comprehensive TV guide to live sports.
Earlier, Citi suggested that Disney (DIS) may now be motivated to sell out of its stake in Hulu.