The Walt Disney Company announced this week that it agreed to acquire majority ownership of BAMTech, LLC.
The Company will launch its ESPN-branded multi-sport video streaming service next year and will also launch a Disney-branded direct-to-consumer streaming service in 2019.
This mean that Disney’s current agreement with Netflix will end with the 2019 calendar year theatrical slate.
Disney will pay $1.58 billion to acquire an additional 42% stake in BAMTech. The company is a leader in direct-to-consumer streaming technology.
The ESPN-branded service debuting in 2018 will feature an “array” of sports programming including about 10,000 live, regional, national, and international games a year. The sports that will be broadcast include Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, Grand Slam tennis, and college sports.
Viewers will access the new service through the ESPN app.
The new Disney-branded service will “become the exclusive home in the U.S. for subscription-video-on-demand viewing of the newest live action and animated movies from Disney and Pixar” according to a press release from Disney. Viewers will be able to watch movies starting with the 2019 slate that includes Toy Story 4, Frozen 2, and the live-action The Lion King.
