Sports streaming enters a bold new era

State of play: On Thursday, ESPN and Fox both unveiled their highly anticipated new direct-to-consumer services, which include all of the sports rights currently available to their cable customers. Despite their rivalry, the companies will offer consumers a chance to buy the services together in a $39.99 per month bundle, starting Oct. 2.

• ESPN's service, titled ESPN, includes a slew of new fan-centric features, like an in-app merchandise store powered by Fanatics, data-filled portals linked to ESPN Bet and ESPN Fantasy and a multi-view option that allows fans to watch multiple live games at once.
• Fox's new service, called Fox One, also provides multi-view functionality and new features including unlimited storage for livestream recordings, a personalized content library and short clips to help users catch up on games.
• Both services are available to ESPN and Fox's existing cable subscribers at no extra cost. ESPN's new service is also available as a bundle with Disney+ and Hulu.

Between the lines: What makes both new streamers so groundbreaking is that each is built to serve as a broader content platform, rather than just a repository for their own programming and live rights.

• That will make it easier for ESPN and Fox to offer bundled packages that can help lower the overall cost of streaming for consumers.

Zoom in: Both networks are starting to invest more in new companies and leagues that they can use in their bundles.

• ESPN acquired the NFL Network as a part of a larger strategic deal with the NFL earlier this month, which it will include in its new service.
• ESPN made a minority investment in the Premier Lacrosse League in June, as a part of its renewed media rights deal with the league.
• I asked Fox One CEO Pete Distad this past week whether Fox is eyeing a similar platform model for other leagues and programmers.
• "I guess you could argue we kind of created that with this," he said, while noting the service will include access to the Big Ten Network, of which Fox has a 61% stake.

• Fox One also includes news and entertainment programming from across its networks. While that doesn't include content from Fox News' subscription streamer, Fox Nation, those can be added via a bundled offering.
• Distad said the company is currently working to identify podcasts that are part of Red Seat Ventures, a creator company it acquired earlier this year, that would make sense for the service.

What to watch: The streaming platform shift has huge implications for local sports fans, who are currently struggling to navigate a convoluted rights ecosystem as regional sports networks falter. (See above.)

• Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred wants to nationalize the league's local sports rights deals with a big streamer when the majority expire in 2028.
• ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro has been vocal about ESPN's interest in housing the MLB's live rights.
• "We are engaged. We are having healthy conversations with them," he told reporters Wednesday. "Nothing to announce today, but we're very interested in baseball in general, but also local content."

The bottom line: "I think there's a lot of mess out there right now in terms of bundling," Distad said. "No one has the answer, but that's why we built this flexibly."

Go deeper: Streaming enters its profit era