If you like to stream live sports over the internet, then the announcement of a new sports streaming service should perk your ears. Venu Sports is set to be a nice big player in the market when it launches later this year.
Venu Sports is an aggregate streaming service that combines coverage from two Disney-owned companies, ESPN and Fox, with everything broadcast by Warner Bros. Discovery on its various channels.
In short, it could soon become your go-to sports streaming service for when you want to live stream a big tournament or individual game, catch a new documentary on your favorite team or check out highlights for a range of events.
For more details, here's everything we know so far about Venu Sports, which we'll update regularly as new information is announced.
Venu Sports potential release date
The Venu Sports release date hasn't been confirmed just yet, but a Warner Bros. Discovery press release places the launch in "the fall of 2024", which roughly points to anywhere from September to November.
We could see Venu Sports launch at the same time as another collaboration between Disney and Warner Bros.: the announced but as-yet-unnamed Disney Plus, Hulu and Max bundle.
That release date suggests Venu Sports will come out just after the busy 2024 summer of sports is over with the likes of the 2024 Olympics, soccer Euros all ending before then.
However Venu Sports could launch in time for the tennis US Open (which begins on August 26 and ends in September) and several PGA Tour fixtures, which also fall in mid to late August, and the ESPN and Fox's coverage of the NFL, college football and MLB playoffs begins in earnest.
Plenty more sports events take place in the latter months of the year, so Venu Sports will likely have some big tournaments straight away.
Venu Sports price
Unlike the release date, we do know the price for Venu: it'll cost you back a princely $42.99 every month.
As a reminder for how that compares to other services, ESPN Plus (which comes included in Venu) costs $10.99 per month while Max starts at $9.99 per month and goes up to $15.99 or $19.99 for ad-free or higher-resolution videos.
Multiple Venu Sports bundles have already been confirmed: you'll be able to combine a subscription with Disney Plus, Hulu or Max, if you also want to watch non-sports content. No price has been announced for these bundles.
What sports will Venu Sports show?
So far, Venu Sports hasn't announced what it has the rights to, but it could potentially air all sports that Disney or Warner Bros. Discovery currently have the rights to.
Warner Bros. Discovery owns the rights to stream soccer, baseball, basketball and a few other sports, with the likes of MLB and NBA streaming on Max or the media company's various channels.
ESPN airs loads of sports including the NFL's Monday Night Football, Formula 1, tennis Grand Slams, PGA Tour, NHL, NBA and lots of college games. It also hosts loads of documentaries, highlights shows and sports analysis programming. The company has specified that Venu Sports will get both ESPN's cable coverage and ESPN Plus coverage of sports, the latter of which is a little more comprehensive for certain tournaments.
Fox also has loads of sports including regional sports, NFL, NBA and more. It's set to air the next Super Bowl in 2025, so Venu Sports could stream that too, though it's not been confirmed.
Venu Sports technical details
At the moment, Venu Sports hasn't detailed the technical side of its service.
Regarding resolution, it's likely that the streaming service will offer 4K resolution, as both ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery offer live streams of events in this crystal-clear resolution (though it's worth noting that much of ESPN's 4K broadcasts are upscaled, rather than native 4K).
We also don't know which devices will support Venu Sports but it's likely that most smart TVs, streaming sticks, mobile devices and computers will be able to download the Venu Sports app. That's because these all support ESPN Plus and Max.
We'll also have to wait to find out about any handy features offered by Venu Sports like simultaneous game streams, picture-in-picture, live functions like results or sports betting odds, a feature ESPN currently hosts on its website.
