LOS ANGELES—Venu Sports, the upcoming standalone streaming service backed by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, has announced that it will launch at $42.99 a month, with a seven day free trial. The service has yet to unveil an exact launch date, though the joint venture is hoping to launch it before the start of the NFL season.
The hefty price tag for the service reflects the fact that its backers are targeting sports fans outside the traditional pay TV bundle and are hoping that it will not compete with or interfere with their ability to continue to extract hefty carriage fees from pay TV operations. Some research has cast doubt on that strategy, prompting some analysts to claim it may in fact accelerate cord cutting.
The service could still face some regulatory hurdles and TNT's loss of NBA rights after the upcoming season could also impact its prospects.
The service announced that anyone signing up for Venu's launch price will be able to receive the service for that same price for 12-months from time of sign-up, with the ability to cancel at any time.
At launch, Venu will offer thousands of live sports events from all the major professional sports leagues and top college conferences. The streaming service will provide access to 14 live sports channels and an expansive library of on-demand content from the collective companies' portfolios of sports networks and ESPN+.
"With an impressive portfolio of sports programming, Venu will provide sports fans in the U.S. with a single destination for watching many of the most sought-after games and events," said Pete Distad, CEO of the upcoming Venu Sports service. "We're building Venu from the ground up for fans who want seamless access to watch the sports they love, and we will launch at a compelling price point that will appeal to the cord cutter and cord-never fans currently not served by existing pay TV packages."
Subscribers to Venu will have access to linear sports networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV, as well as ESPN+. Programming will include three key pillars of content in the service:
- Extensive Live Games and Event Coverage of the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, WNBA, NCAA Division I football and basketball, U.S. and international soccer, combat sports, Grand Slam tennis, championship golf, INDYCAR, NASCAR and F1 auto racing, and more.
- Iconic Sports Studio Shows and Pre/Post Game Programming with ESPN's SportsCenter, First Take, Get Up!, College GameDay and The Pat McAfee Show, FOX's NFL Sunday, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, First Things First, and TNT's Inside the NBA to name a few.
- Robust Library of On-Demand Sports Content with programming that celebrates sports culture and fandom, including ESPN's 30 for 30 library, ESPN+ Originals, ESPN Films, documentary programming from Fox Sports Films, and more.
More specifically, the live events and games on Venu will include:
- Championship Golf: Year-round coverage of professional golf with select rounds from the Masters Tournament, extensive coverage of the PGA Championship and PGA TOUR LIVE, which brings golf fans more than 4,300 hours of live coverage from 35 tournaments a year.
- College Sports: Thousands of games and events across multiple sports from the biggest college conferences, including SEC, ACC, the Big East, Big Ten and Big 12, with extensive coverage of NCAA Football, including the College Football Playoffs, along with NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball, including March Madness.
- Combat Sports: A robust slate of boxing and MMA fight coverage throughout the year, including events from UFC, Top Rank Boxing, PFL, and Bellator.
- Grand Slam Tennis: Complete coverage of all four of the annual Grand Slam tournaments, including the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open.
- MLB: Comprehensive coverage with over 700 games throughout the regular season, along with postseason National League and American League Series coverage, in addition to full coverage of the World Series. (Blackouts apply.)
- Motorsports: Coverage throughout the season of the biggest auto racing events, including all NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, NASCAR's Daytona 500 and Championship Race, and all Formula 1 events.
- NBA: Extensive coverage of the NBA with 165 regular season games, plus postseason coverage with playoff games, conference finals, and the NBA Finals, along with access to the biggest studio shows, including Inside the NBA from TNT Sports, along with ESPN's NBA Today and NBA Countdown. (Blackouts apply.)
- NFL: Broad NFL coverage provided by ESPN/ABC and FOX, with over 120 regular season, Wild Card and Divisional round playoff games, the NFC Championship game,Super Bowl LIX in February 2025, and Super Bowl LXI in February 2027.* Venu will also have ESPN's Emmy Award-Winning Monday Night Football with Peyton & Eli, along with FOX NFL Kickoff and FOX NFL Sunday.
- NHL: Extensive coverage of the NHL 2024-25 season with over 1,200 regular season games and all postseason playoff games, All-Star Game, and Stanley Cup Finals, with access to NHL studio programming, including NHL on TNT Face Off and ESPN's NHL studio show, The Point. (Blackouts apply.)
- U.S. and International Soccer: Home for extensive men's and women's soccer coverage with some of the biggest leagues and tournaments worldwide, including the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Football Championship, FA Cup, CONMEBOL Copa América, and MLS Cup Championship, along with MLS and NWSL regular season and playoff game coverage, in addition to Bundesliga, Eredivisie, and LALIGA coverage.
- WNBA: Regular season coverage of the WNBA and full postseason coverage with every playoff game.
- UFL: Complete coverage of the United Football League, which just wrapped its inaugural season broadcast across FOX Sports and ESPN and Disney properties.
- Venu will also offer the world's biggest cycling events, every game of the Premiere Lacrosse League, coverage of Major League Rugby, all three of horse racing's Triple Crown events, and more.
Fans can find updates on the latest news and information about Venu Sports at www.venu.com.
