ESPN Plus Review 2024: Price, Sports, and More

Live sporting events are moving to streaming services each year at an increasing rate. Of all the services out there, ESPN+ is the best one for sports. Its low cost and wide sports coverage make it one of the premier streaming destinations.

Of course, any streaming service is only as good as its content. Keep reading as we break down what comes with ESPN+ and how it relates to the traditional ESPN networks.

Jump to:

• Deals and promotions
• Plans and pricing
• ESPN+ vs. the competition
• Shows and movies
• Specs and features

What is ESPN Plus?

ESPN+ is an on-demand sports streaming service that also features live events. As the name suggests, ESPN+ expands on the type of content the traditional ESPN networks deliver. You’ll get on-demand ESPN series like 30 for 30 and E:60 while also having access to ESPN+ exclusive live games and originals like UFC events and out-of-market NHL games.

While you can access some normal ESPN programming, ESPN+ is like its own channel. Therefore, you’ll need a separate TV subscription that includes the traditional ESPN networks in order to watch all your ESPN content.

Is ESPN Plus good?

ESPN+ is good if you already have ESPN through a cable, satellite, or live TV streaming service. On its own, though, ESPN+ might not satisfy all sports fans. The emphasis of ESPN+ is on the “+” part: It’s a feature-packed addition to, but not a streaming replacement for, ESPN.

That said, ESPN+ does give fans of soccer, baseball, hockey, UFC MMA, boxing, golf, and college sports—and, to a lesser extent, football and basketball—a whole lot of live sports action for around 10 bucks a month. There’s also access to ESPN’s deep bench of award-winning original shows and films.

Just don’t expect to see, brace yourself, SportsCenter or other popular ESPN shows without a cable login. ESPN+ is best for sports fans who already get ESPN through a cable, satellite, or live TV streaming service. After all, teamwork makes the stream work.

ESPN Plus pros and cons

• Inexpensive pricing
• Rich on-demand library
• Plenty of live soccer, MMA, and college sports

• Limited NFL and no NBA games
• Limited popular ESPN shows
• Regional blackouts

ESPN Plus deals and promotions

Unfortunately, ESPN+ doesn’t offer a free trial. But that’s pretty consistent with a lot of the best streaming services nowadays.

However, the streaming service does offer ways for subscribers to save money. By signing up for a full year of ESPN+ at $109.99, you can save $21.89 annually over the month-to-month rate.

You can also bundle ESPN+ with Hulu and Disney+. This streaming service team up starts at $14.99 per month, for a monthly savings of $11.98 compared to getting the services separately.

If you prefer Hulu + Live TV over the basic Hulu plan, both its ad-supported ($76.99 a month) and ad-free plans ($89.99 a month) already include ESPN+ (regularly $10.99 a month) and Disney+ (regularly $7.99 a month) bundled at no extra charge. That means you’ll get ESPN+, Disney+, and Hulu original content in addition to over 70 live channels—including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, and ESPNU.

ESPN Plus plans and pricing

ESPN+ costs $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year. We recommend going with the annual subscription to save $22 if you stream sports year-round like us. Another great deal is bundling ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney+ for $14.99.

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

ESPN+ is great on its own, but it’s even better when it’s supplementing a TV service. That’s why we recommend a live TV streaming service to go with your ESPN+ subscription.

Later on, we’ll discuss combining ESPN+ with other services, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, Fubo, Sling TV, or Vidgo—all of which carry regular ESPN.

ESPN Plus vs. the competition

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

ESPN+ is different from other on-demand streaming services in that it’s strictly sports, and it also features live events. The others dabble in sports (like Amazon Prime Video’s exclusive Thursday Night Football deal with the NFL), but ESPN+ is all about that ballin’ life.

As mentioned previously, ESPN+ works best in tandem with access to ESPN through a cable (like Xfinity or Spectrum), satellite (like DIRECTV or DISH), or live TV streaming provider (like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV).

ESPN Plus on-demand shows and movies

For sports geeks who want to dig in further than just live events, ESPN+’s rich on-demand archives would make a solid case for being the “Netflix for sports”—if rival streamer Fubo hadn’t already claimed the term.

The entirety of ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series can be found here, in addition to the E:60 sports-mag show and ESPN films like the Oscar-winning O.J.: Made in America.

But you can’t watch ESPN staples like SportsCenter, Around the Horn, or Pardon the Interruption without a cable, satellite, or live TV streaming provider login. The same goes for most Monday Night Football and NBA Friday matchups.

ESPN+ doesn’t feature just ESPN leftovers—like every other upstart platform, ESPN+ also produces original streaming content. Keep scrolling to see what you can watch on ESPN+.

ESPN+ original shows and documentaries

• 30 for 30 film series
• 30 for 30 Shorts
• Abby’s Places
• After TUF
• America’s Caddie
• Backstory with Don Van Natta Jr.
• Bart & Hahn
• Bettor Days
• The Chael Sonnen Show
• Chiney & Golic Jr.
• College Football 150
• Detail
• E:60
• ESPN FC
• The Fantasy Show
• Fuera de Juego
• Fútbol Américas
• Greeny
• The Harder Way
• In the Crease

• Inside 30 for 30
• Inside the College Football Playoff
• Jorge Ramos y su Banda
• Man in the Arena: Tom Brady
• More Than an Athlete
• NFL Primetime
• O.J.: Made in America
• Our Time: Oklahoma State
• Peyton’s Places
• PFL Presents: The Randy Couture Story
• Player 54: Chasing the XFL Dream
• Quest for the Stanley Cup
• Rowdy’s Places
• Saturdays in the South
• SportsNation
• Stephen A’s World
• The Bracketology Show
• The Ultimate Fighter
• Up Close
• Why Not Us: North Carolina Central Basketball

ESPN+ live sports

An ESPN+ subscription gives you access to thousands of live college games, as well as live boxing, MMA, golf, tennis, cricket, lacrosse, rugby, and more.

You can also watch every UFL matchup, several Formula One races, and select MLB regular-season games through ESPN+. Soccer and hockey fans, however, are the big winners here, with live access to many pro fútbol leagues and out-of-market NHL matchups—cue the vuvuzelas and glow sticks!

Speaking of soccer, ESPN+ is the home of Spain’s La Liga and the German Bundesliga. It’s no wonder we’ve ranked ESPN+ as one of the top services for soccer fans.

But, you can’t win ‘em all. You can only view a limited number of NFL games, and not a single NBA game is on ESPN+. For more NFL and any NBA action, you’ll need a traditional ESPN login. But it’s not like football and basketball are that popular, right?

Oh, and regional blackouts on certain local MLB and NHL games apply to ESPN+ just as they do to ESPN proper. Steee-rike!

ESPN+ channel add-ons

When it comes to ESPN+ add-ons, you can combine your streaming subscription with MLB.TV to get every live out-of-market MLB regular season game.

ESPN+ also offers Top Rank Boxing and UFC pay-per-view (PPV) events. Most boxing PPVs cost $49.99 per event, while main card UFC fights are usually $74.99 per event with your ESPN+ membership.

Combine ESPN Plus with another service

If ESPN+ doesn’t give you everything you want, try pairing it with another streaming service to fill in the blanks—you’ll probably still save money over a cable or satellite subscription.

It’s also important to note that Hulu + Live TV already includes ESPN+ at no additional charge.

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

ESPN Plus specs and features

Simultaneous streams

Data effective as of post date.

ESPN+ allows up to three simultaneous streams. That’s on par with most streaming services, but still good news if your household is full of sports fans.

Just make sure your internet connection can keep up. As with any other streaming service, the amount of buffering and pixelation you’ll experience with ESPN+ depends mostly on your internet connection.

A note on internet: For live TV streaming, anything less than 25 Mbps of internet speed will probably result in missed plays and screaming at your screen—more screaming than usual, that is. If your connection is dragging, it might be time to trade up to a new internet provider.

Compatible devices

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Currently, there’s no dedicated ESPN+ app. The service resides within the ESPN app and at ESPN.com. Just look for the gold “E+” tab.

You can purchase an ESPN+ subscription through either the app or the website. After that, you’ll be prompted to create a new account or log in with an already-established ESPN or Disney account.

ESPN+ video and audio quality

ESPN+ streams in 1080p HD at 60 frames per second, which is the tech way of saying the HD looks as sharp as Netflix, Hulu, and most upper-tier streaming services. For example, if your local sports bar switched from satellite ESPN to streaming ESPN+ between hot wing orders, you probably wouldn’t notice the picture difference.

Audio-wise, ESPN+ streams in standard 2.0 stereo. Dolby Digital 5.1 stereo, like 4K Ultra HD video, isn’t yet available from the service—not even those mountains of Disney money can make that big of an update happen overnight.

Is ESPN Plus worth it?

Ultimately, if you’re a sports fan looking to supercharge your ESPN experience, ESPN+ is a content-stuffed teammate for your existing ESPN-carrying cable, satellite, or live TV streaming service. With a price tag of $10.99 a month, ESPN+ gives you plenty to watch as a standalone streamer. But it really shines when paired up with ESPN proper.

Soccer, MMA, and college sports fans would especially be wise to check out ESPN+. Though, we recommend bundling the service with Disney+ and Hulu for the most rounded streaming setup.

ESPN Plus FAQ

Methodology

Our experts employed over 40 hours of hands-on testing and crunched the numbers, rating ESPN+ on value, reliability, features, and customer satisfaction. Then we matched up streaming services head to head to give a clearer picture of their strengths and weaknesses. For more information on our methodology, check out our How We Rank page.