ESPN Plus is about to get much more costly

As previously reported by Sports Business Journal, ESPN is boosting the price of its standalone ESPN Plus streaming service from $6.99 per month to $9.99 per month, a nearly 43 percent increase, commencing August 23rd. The annual plan pricing is also increasing from $69.99 to $99.99.

However, if you purchase your streaming ESPN service as part of the Disney bundle, which includes Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and ad-supported Hulu for $13.99 per month (adding Hulu without advertising brings the price to $19.99 per month), the price will remain the same. The service’s website and support pages have not yet been updated to reflect the hike, but members will be alerted next week, according to a statement sent over by Disney spokesperson Paul Melvin.

The price increase highlights how even as switching between services and bundles becomes more flexible as we move beyond the typical cable bundle, access is no longer as inexpensive as it previously appeared. ESPN Plus’s price was previously raised (twice) last year, and it has now been raised even further. ESPN notes that the content deals it signs increasingly include ESPN Plus components in addition to the access to editorial content on its website that customers receive.