#Disney hikes price of ESPN+, Hulu bundle cost remains unchanged

Disney is increasing the price of ESPN+ by a dollar a month to $6.99 after inking a slew of new sports rights deals this year.

Beginning Aug. 13, subscribers to the sports streaming service will pay $69.99 a year instead of $59.99 a year. Disney began informing customers of the price increase Monday.

The change won’t affect the pricing for its $13.99-a-month bundle that includes ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+. Pay-per-view prices for Ultimate Fighting Championship matches that run exclusively on ESPN+ also will not change.

This is the second time Disney raised the monthly subscription cost of ESPN+. Last August, Disney upped the service’s monthly price by a buck to $5.99 a month.

The most recent price jump comes after ESPN unveiled a series of sports rights deals that will bring new and archival content to the streaming service. For example, Disney’s new pact with the National Hockey League will make 75 games available exclusively to ESPN+.

The service also inked a deal with the All-England Lawn and Tennis Club for the rights to the Wimbledon tennis tournament. That deal will give ESPN+ the ability to livestream matches on all courts during the tournament and it will be the only outlet to feature all matches. It will also house archival footage, including classic matches and interviews.

The push to hike ESPN+’s price will likely help Disney sell its higher-priced Hulu-Disney+-ESPN+ bundle, giving the company stronger footing against rivals like Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video, and a more attractive option for advertisers.

Disney said in May that ESPN+ has garnered nearly 14 million subscribers.

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