As part of parent company Walt Disney’s new initiative to shift its main focus to direct-to-consumer products, ESPN will be putting the majority of its premium content behind the ESPN+ paywall starting next month.
First reported by The New York Post, most of the high-profile, feature-type writing and analysis that would normally be available for free will now cost customers $6 per month.
Breaking news stories and investigative pieces will remain outside the paywall, but articles focused on insight and analysis will primarily only be available to ESPN+ subscribers starting on November 9.
“For example, if baseball insider Jeff Passan has a feature, it would be on ESPN+, but if he were to break a big signing, it would remain outside the paywall,” according to The Post.
In a press release, The Worldwide Leader said ESPN+ will “expand its premium written content offering” and add “exclusive written content from more than 20 additional ESPN reporters and analysts.” ESPN+ will also be adding to its streamable daily studio show programming, according to the release.
“The ESPN+ premium editorial content offering continues a long history of subscription-supported editorial content on ESPN digital platforms – dating back to the very beginning of ESPN.com (originally ESPNET SportsZone) more than 25 years ago,” according to ESPN. “The strength of its subscription-supported editorial has been a key component of ESPN developing the broadest, deepest and furthest reaching digital sports offering in the world.”
ESPN writers and reporters who will have some or all of their work go behind the paywall next month include Malika Andrews, Bill Barnwell, Matthew Berry, Dan Graziano, Baxter Holmes, Zach Lowe, Jackie MacMullan, Kevin Seifert, Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst.
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