ESPN+ Increases Monthly Fee to $5.99

ESPN+ customers will see a bump in their subscription bills come August. The sports streaming service is increasing its monthly fee from $4.99 to $5.99 this summer, with a price change that now makes it the same cost as a basic Hulu subscription, The Verge reports.

The ESPN+ price change will only affect the monthly subscription model, so the yearly $49.99 fee will remain untouched when the cost goes up in August. And the change won’t immediately affect all customers — current customers who are paying $4.99 per month for ESPN+ can stay on the same payment plan for a year before being switched over to the $5.99 per month fee.

Disney‘s ESPN+ is a standalone streaming service, but it’s also offered as part of the Disney+ bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ for $12.99 per month. The bundle saves customers about $5 per month, and the new ESPN+ price will not affect the cost of the Disney+ bundle.

ESPN+ launched in 2018, and features college games and multiple different sports leagues, including Major League Baseball, National Hockey League and Major League Soccer. It does not include some of the more popular leagues, like the National Football League or National Basketball Association.

The ESPN+ price increase comes at a time when live sports are being put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. The streaming service offers both NBA and MLB coverage, and although both leagues are expected to start back up soon, ESPN+ has not confirmed if they will stream the games.

Another streaming service announced a price hike today, but at $15, it’s much larger than ESPN+’s $1 increase. YouTube TV angered customers on Twitter when it revealed plans to increase its monthly fee from $50 to $65 with the addition of eight ViacomCBS channels.

“We don’t take these decisions lightly, and realize how hard this is for our members,” YouTube said in a blog post today. “That said, this new price reflects the rising cost of content and we also believe it reflects the complete value of YouTube TV, from our breadth of content to the features that are changing how we watch live TV.”