ESPN, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery mentioned on Tuesday they’re becoming a member of forces to launch a streaming sports activities service. 

The platform will embrace choices from not less than 15 networks and all 4 main skilled sports activities leagues. The paid service is scheduled to debut this fall by way of a brand new app, though subscribers will be capable of bundle it with Disney+, Hulu and Max, in keeping with a statement from Warner Bros. Discovery. 

Each firm will personal a one-third stake within the three way partnership, the assertion mentioned.

The plans come amid elevated competitors within the enterprise of streaming sporting occasions, with business giants together with Amazon and Netflix recently striking deals so as to add sports activities content material for his or her streaming prospects. In asserting the brand new enterprise, Walt Disney-owned ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. mentioned the brand new platform would offer entry to 1000’s of high-profile sporting occasions, from NFL video games to Formula 1 racing. 

With viewers’ attentions cut up between TV, cable, streaming providers and social media platforms, sports activities programming stays a draw, consultants word.

“Sports rights remain the only investment that guarantees a steady supply of must-see content and will therefore likely remain a key part of any streamer’s growth strategy,” analysts with funding advisory agency MoffettNathanson Research mentioned in a latest report.

The new platform will embrace video games from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, WNBA, NASCAR and school sports activities, together with the boys’s and ladies’s NCAA basketball Tournament, in addition to golf, tennis and the FIFA World Cup. It will embrace choices from 15 TV and cable networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, TNT, TBS and truTV.

“The launch of this new streaming sports service is a significant moment for Disney and ESPN, a major win for sports fans and an important step forward for the media business,” Disney CEO Bob Iger mentioned in an announcement. “This means the full suite of ESPN channels will be available to consumers alongside the sports programming of other industry leaders as part of a differentiated sports-centric service.”

The announcement of the bundle additionally comes as ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery are making ready to enter negotiations to resume their NBA rights, which expire on the finish of subsequent season. ESPN has additionally been trying to find strategic companions because it prepares to launch a direct-to-consumer product within the subsequent yr or two.

The firms mentioned that extra particulars could be launched later, together with pricing.

—With reporting by the Associated Press.