• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 25, 2025

Walt Disney's big streaming effort is coming in the fall-- ESPN "Flagship" direct-to-consumer (D2C) platform. Can it hit the ground running?

Probably just a power walk would be good enough to start.

This is a major, and necessary, ESPN transformation -- due to linear TV significantly declining subscribers, as cord-cutting continues to tug and pull down all legacy TV businesses.

Richard Greenfield, managing director/media analyst at Lightshed Ventures, says the challenge for Disney is the continued question about not knowing much about their viewers in this space -- except from what knowledge they have gained from Hulu and ESPN+.

Specifically, the concern is whether consumers -- of all types --will dramatically change their behaviors, including simply opening the app.

Greenfield says one key piece of the puzzle is adding in "short-form" video content that exists in many other digital platforms -- TikTok, YouTube, Reels, X. This is something younger consumers are already comfortable with.

The focus here comes down to what many loyal and deep sports consumers and a bigger group of casual sports viewers really want: highlights. This has long been a main pull of ESPN’s longtime “SportsCenter” franchise.

Watching entire live games/sports activity is important but "highlights" have been a quick way to play catch-up amid other daily media distractions.

Short-form content can also act as a strong on-platform promotional tool for the whole operation.

Not just that. But Disney needs to find ways to increase the time spent overall with all things ESPN, eventually and then specifically growing this time on the streaming app.

Greenfield estimates by the end of 2025 -- after the "ESPN Flagship" steaming platform launched in the fall -- the platform will have 2 million “standalone” subscribers.

Is that a good start? Consider that streaming platform will also be available for free for those long-time TV consumers already paying for legacy pay TV services to get the cable TV network ESPN.

Two for the price of one -- that helps in the transition of things. A gradual, slow acceptance of a new sports viewing platform is coming. Can ESPN avoid any unforeseen disruptions in getting to its big streaming score?