ESPN eyes more social content for Unlimited experience
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ESPN is eyeing more ways to bring short-form video and social content into its "Unlimited" direct-to-consumer experience, the network's vice president of sports products and strategy Brian Marshall told Axios.
Why it matters: Now that ESPN has brokered all of the critical distribution deals needed to make Unlimited widely accessible, it's now focused on making the tier as sticky as possible.
The big picture: Unlimited's launch last year — as chairman Jimmy Pitaro described in a note to employees Thursday — was "one of the biggest business transitions" in ESPN's history.
- That transition has also been critical for parent company Disney.
- Around 80% of ESPN Unlimited plan subscribers access the service through the Disney+, Hulu and ESPN bundle, a spokesperson said, a testament to ESPN Unlimited's unique role in powering a broader and more lucrative flywheel of fandom for Disney.
Catch up quick: ESPN launched a direct-to-consumer service called ESPN+ in 2018, but at the time, bringing live cable programming to streaming services was taboo and unappealing to telecom providers.
- Today, ESPN and other networks have managed to broker deals with pay-TV distributors that they believe benefit everyone. Networks can create their own direct-to-consumer relationships without cannibalizing pay-TV subscriptions. Consumers have more choice.
- "It allows us to think about the space holistically" Marshall said. "We're agnostic to how fans end up subscribing to ESPN."
Between the lines: Striking distribution deals has been critical to ESPN Unlimited's success. Pitaro told employees maximizing access has been a "vital priority."
- The network launched Unlimited last August with most, but not all major pay-TV distributors. It struck deals with Comcast and YouTube TV a few months later.
- As part of those deals, Disney agreed to make ESPN Unlimited free to YouTube TV and Comcast Xfinity subscribers. It also struck a landmark deal with rival Fox to make ESPN Unlimited available via a cheaper value bundle with Fox One, Fox Corp.'s live streaming content offering.
- Ahead of Unlimited's launch, ESPN reached a critical deal with NFL Network, gaining access to exclusive games and content for subscribers in exchange for a 10% stake in the company.
Zoom out: While subscriber gains and contributions to the broader Disney bundle are important, engagement is also critical to ESPN's ability to retain subscribers and sell advertising.
- "As we think about the next phase of sports media, it's not just about putting more games in more places, it's about enhancing interactivity and personalization," Marshall said.
By the numbers: Executives point to early data as evidence that products designed to personalize the ESPN experience are attracting and retaining subscribers.
- Fans using ESPN's interactive TV features during live games watch twice as long as those who don't, according to data provided to Axios.
- Over 5 million fans have used ESPN's "multiview" feature to watch multiple events at once over the past year, resulting in more than 12,000 unique event viewing combinations.
- More than 24 million fans used ESPN's vertical-video product called Verts over the past year, generating more than 1.5 billion minutes of time spent in the ESPN app. Verts account for the majority of user-initiated short-form video starts.
- ESPN has generated more than 40,000 personalized "SportsCenter For You" segments.
What's next: Looking ahead, Marshall's team is exploring ways to ensure ESPN is the digital home for sports fandom, not just another place to stream games.
- That means bringing more ESPN content created elsewhere, like short-form video, original reporting and social media content, into the app.
- He also suggested the network is eyeing more ways to work with content creators to reach fans. He pointed to a new deal struck between Disney and TikTok as an opportunity to lean into short-form video content.
