ESPN and Fox's new streaming bundle could replace your cable — for half the price

ESPN and Fox One logos superimposed on a TV screen

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide/ESPN/Fox/Shutterstock)

Remember Venu Sports? The potential cable-killing sports streaming service that was supposed to combine all the sports offerings from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery? It died earlier this year, but now, it looks like two of those companies are teaming up for a streaming services bundle that might actually replace your cable or live TV streaming services.

ESPN (owned by Disney) and Fox announced yesterday (August 11) that they would be bundling their two new streaming services together at one low price. For $39.99, you'd get the ESPN streaming service, set to launch on Aug. 21, and Fox One streaming service, set to launch on — you guessed it — Aug. 21. Separately, these streaming services cost $29.99 and $19.99 a month, respectively, so you'd be saving $10 a month versus subscribing to each a la carte.

But more importantly, you'd only be paying $40 for a lot of channels. Here's everything you get for ESPN unlimited, the premium tier of ESPN's new streaming service:

ESPN
ESPN on ABC
ESPN Plus
ESPN2
ESPN3
ESPNU
ESPNews
ESPN Deportes
SEC Network
SEC Network Plus
Longhorn Network
ACC Network
ACC Network Extra
ESPN Goal Line
ESPN Bases Loaded
ESPN Plus content

On top of all those networks, ESPN will also be adding WWE Premium Live Events to the platform next year and just agreed to acquire NFL Network, which is tipped to be added to ESPN at no cost once that deal is finalized.

Fox One, meanwhile, offers just one tier, though it does offer separate bundles and add-ons from this newly announced ESPN bundle. Here's what you get from Fox One:

FOX News Channel
FOX Business
FOX Weather
FOX Sports
FS1
FS2
FOX Deportes
B1G
FOX Local Stations
FOX Network

I've long though a live streaming service bundle at the right price could dethrone Netflix and cable and it looks like this bundle could come as close as anyone ever has. If you're a sports fan, there's a real chance that this package would give you everything you need, and even for the average view, there's a ton of news, sports and entertainment in these combined services.

That said, it's not quite perfect. We don't know how NFL RedZone fits into all of this, and based on the ESPN's deal with the NFL, RedZone is likely only to be offered as a premium add-on to ESPN, rather than included in the streaming service. It's also missing a Disney streaming service that would have taken this bundle to another level, appealing to a much broader audience.

Where is Disney Plus in this bundle?

For some reason, Disney Plus and Hulu (which will cease to be a standalone app and become a tile in the Disney Plus app starting next year) are missing from this bundle. It's beyond frustrating, because you can add Disney Plus and Hulu for $5 to ESPN, but you can't add it to this bundle with Fox One.

This feels like a head-scratching misstep by Disney, but if they're leaving Disney Plus out of this bundle, they must have landed on some internal reason that this is best to reach the broadest subscriber base. Either that, or there's some legal reason they can't through in Disney Plus and Hulu. But given that you can currently bundle both services with Max, that seems unlikely to be the cause.

Maybe Disney will see the error of their ways and for $45 offer a bundle that includes ESPN, Disney Plus, Hulu and Fox One, which would rival any live TV streaming service in terms of value and have a lot of people replacing their cable package. But until then, this bundle is impressive, but not quite perfect.

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Malcolm McMillan

Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made.

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