ESPN Is Raising Its Streaming Prices — But Most Subscribers Won't Pay More
ESPN will raise prices on its standalone streaming subscriptions and some Disney Plus bundles starting September 17. This is the first price increase since ESPN launched its streaming service on August 21, 2025. The Verge
The cheaper ad-supported plan, called Select, goes from $12.99 to $13.99 per month. The yearly Select plan rises from $129.99 to $139.99. The ad-free plan, called Unlimited, increases from $29.99 to $31.99 per month, with the yearly version going from $299.99 to $319.99. The Verge
Some Disney Plus bundles that include ESPN Select are also going up. The version with ads, which combines Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Select, increases from $20 to $22 per month. The ad-free version of that same bundle rises from $30 to $33. Media Play News
But bundles that pair Disney Plus with ESPN Unlimited are not part of the increase. That matters because about 80 percent of ESPN Unlimited subscribers signed up through a bundle with Disney Plus and Hulu. The vast majority of Unlimited customers will see no price change at all. The Verge
ESPN's pricing setup has several layers. The standalone streaming service launched at $29.99 per month or $299.99 per year for the Unlimited plan. A launch promotion offered the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Unlimited bundle at $29.99 per month for the first 12 months, below the standard $35.99 monthly rate. ESPN Pressroom Separately, an ESPN and FOX One bundle was made available at $39.99 per month. ESPN Pressroom And the Venu Sports joint venture, a separate product from ESPN's streaming service, was confirmed at $42.99 per month at its launch pricing. ESPN Pressroom
The September 17 increase comes about thirteen months after the service went live. For standalone Unlimited subscribers, the increase is $2 per month. For Select subscribers, it is $1 per month. Over a full year, that means paying $10 more for Select or $20 more for Unlimited.
Raising prices on standalone plans and Select bundles while leaving Unlimited bundles untouched creates a structure that clearly favors the bundle. A standalone Unlimited subscriber will pay $31.99 per month. A bundled subscriber on the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Unlimited tier continues to pay $35.99 at standard pricing, or just $29.99 if still within the promotional first 12 months. Adding Disney Plus and Hulu to an ESPN Unlimited subscription now costs under $4 per month extra at standard rates, and during the promotional window the bundle is actually cheaper than subscribing to ESPN alone.
This is a pattern we have seen before in streaming. Companies bundle multiple services together at a combined price that is lower than buying each one separately. This lets them bring in more money per user without causing people to cancel, because the bundle still feels like a good deal even as standalone prices climb. Since 80 percent of Unlimited subscribers are already in a bundle, the revenue impact of this increase falls mostly on Select subscribers and the 20 percent of Unlimited customers who subscribe on their own.
For standalone ESPN subscribers paying month to month, the September 17 change adds between $12 and $24 to their yearly cost, depending on the plan. Whether that is enough to make people cancel or switch to a bundle is the question ESPN will be watching closely.
The broader context here is that ESPN's streaming service is still in its first year, and this is the first real test of whether subscribers will accept higher prices on a product Disney has called the future of sports viewing. The company priced aggressively at launch, coming in below the Venu Sports joint venture and below what a typical cable bill costs. A first-year increase of this size, applied to standalone and lower-tier plans while protecting the most popular bundle, suggests ESPN sees its bundle subscribers as the customers it wants to keep happy and its standalone subscribers as the ones more willing to pay. Whether that assumption is correct will show up in the next quarter's subscriber numbers.
