Live sports can keep Disney+ alive ‣ Diverse Daily

Sports have become a major part of the Disney+ streaming scene, and the House of Mouse is preparing to make it even bigger. According to Jacob Feldman of Sportico, the Walt Disney Company announced to shareholders that it will expand its selection of sports content available on streaming.

“The strategy is to bring more live sports to more users and drive greater engagement on Disney+ and greater upsell to our trio bundle, which includes ESPN Unlimited,” the company added.

More ESPN college football simulcasts will arrive on Disney+ in Fall 2026. At the same time, Disney+ will continue to simulcast the long-running program College GameDay. With these changes, Disney said that it will “continue to bolster ESPN’s place as the front door for sports fans,” transforming it into a “marketplace of sports” and a “single destination for fans” on its streaming service. Disney already has business partnerships with the NFL, MLB, FOX One, and the CW Network, giving the company a large stake in sports streaming.

Since Disney+ introduced live sports to its lineup in 2024, ESPN has, unsurprisingly, proven to be a key factor in Disney’s streaming success. S&P Technology found that 74% of Americans watch live sports, while just over half the country’s population watches football, and Disney+’s sports streaming reaches fans in 100 markets worldwide. So as the Disney+ sports segment continues to grow, the platform’s profits should rise as well.

ESPN+ supported Disney+ in its early years

Disney+ faced heavy losses at the beginning

Credit: Disney

Before Disney launched its flagship streaming service, the company offered sports separately on ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN+, which covered MLB, NHL, MLS, and college sporting events. After Disney+ launched in 2019, the streaming service struggled for years, even though it offered a bundle with Hulu and ESPN+.

The streaming platform failed to turn a profit as it tried to attract subscribers with low membership costs and big-budget original content. It wasn’t until mid-2024 that Disney+ finally turned a quarterly profit for the first time since its launch. The profits from ESPN+ helped offset a $19 million loss for Disney, according to Front Office Sports.

Once Disney+ started profiting, its success continued to grow, thanks in part to the ESPN hub and tile it introduced in December 2024. Subscribers could access a selection of ESPN content within the app, including live sports, studio shows, and ESPN films. With the ESPN hub and tile, Disney+ gave sports fans an incentive to pay for a standalone subscription. Since then, the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN bundle has offered users even more sports content to stream.

ESPN’s Live Sports Can Help Disney+ Even More

Sports Remain Central to Disney’s Success

disney-espn-feature-image — Disney / Pocket-lint

The expansion of sports content on Disney+ comes at a good time for its parent company. Cord Cutter News reported that Disney+’s operating profits more than doubled in the third quarter of 2026, going from $329 million to $712 million since 2025. At the same time, ESPN generated $4.5 billion in revenue, a 4% rise, during this year’s third quarter.

Broadband TV News did report “mixed” results for ESPN, as the latter’s operating income also fell 17% to $858 million due to higher programming and production costs. Regardless, ESPN has continued to achieve great success on the streaming side of its shared business with Disney, and the inclusion of live sports content on Disney+ has proven beneficial for both parties.

Disney has shown it is committed to making sports a bigger part of its vast streaming empire. Given Disney+’s success sharing ESPN’s content so far, adding more live sports to its digital library should continue to attract fans and keep existing subscribers tuning in for the big games.