ESPN announced Wednesday that ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service and its “enhanced” ESPN App will arrive on August 21.

The launch of ESPN DTC coincides with the start of the college football and NFL seasons, US Open tennis, international soccer, women’s college soccer, volleyball, field hockey, and more – with the start of the WNBA playoffs, PLL playoffs, and NBA and NHL seasons, as well as UFC and WWE events just around the corner.

ESPN DTC will offer two plans, including an unlimited plan for $29.99/month that gives fans access to all of ESPN’s linear networks, covering 47,000 live events each year, on-demand replays, studio shows, original programming and more.

Bundling opportunities for the ESPN unlimited plan with Disney+ and Hulu include an offer at launch for $29.99/month for the first 12 months.

All subscribers to ESPN’s unlimited plan – either through ESPN DTC or a traditional Pay TV provider – will have live and on-demand access to all of ESPN’s leading studio shows plus a robust, on-demand library featuring 30 for 30 films, ESPN Originals, replays, and more.

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The enhanced ESPN App will include updated multiview options, integrated game stats, betting information, fantasy sports and commerce.

ESPN joins with WWE; to stream WrestleMania beginning in 2026

WrestleMania will be part of ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service starting in 2026 thanks to an agreement between World Wrestling Entertainment and ESPN.

The deal, also announced Wednesday, includes two-night events such as WrestleMania and SummerSlam, plus other WWE premium live events including Royal Rumble, Survivor Series and Money in the Bank. WWE will produce the events for ESPN platforms, which will serve as their exclusive U.S. domestic home.

“WWE has an immense, devoted and passionate fan base that we’re excited to super-serve on our new ESPN DTC platform,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said. “This agreement, which features the most significant WWE events of the year, bolsters our unprecedented content portfolio and helps drive our streaming future.”

Also included is the opportunity for ESPN to stream WWE’s pre- and post-event shows for all premium live events.

The announcement comes a day after ESPN, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, announced on Tuesday that it will officially acquire the National Football League (NFL) Network in a landmark agreement.

The deal — which gives the NFL a 10% equity stake in ESPN — includes the NFL’s linear RedZone Channel and NFL Fantasy.

ESPN contributed to this report.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ESPN and this ABC station.