Business Finance Media Technology Policy Wealth Insights Interviews

Art Art Fairs Art Market Art Reviews Auctions Galleries Museums Interviews

Lifestyle Nightlife & Dining Style Travel Interviews

Power Lists Nightlife & Dining Art A.I. PR

About About Observer Advertise With Us Reprints

Jimmy Pitaro Built ESPN’s Streaming Future. But How Many Fans Are Paying for It?

Jimmy Pitaro is turning ESPN Unlimited into an NFL streaming hub with NFL Network, fantasy football and a Super Bowl, even without every game.

ESPN is getting closer to being the place NFL fans can start without first checking four other apps. Unlimited now puts Monday Night Football and NFL Network under one roof. It still can’t give you the whole season: CBS and FOX own most Sunday afternoons, NBC has Sunday Night Football, and Amazon carries Thursday nights. 

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro spent years deciding when the sports network could afford this. At the Fast Company Innovation Festival last week, Pitaro called the timing of its direct-to-consumer launch “one of the most challenging” decisions of his life. ESPN wanted a direct relationship with viewers without blowing up the pay-TV business that still delivers millions of households. 

NFL Network is inside the ESPN app, and customers of participating pay-TV providers can activate Unlimited without buying a separate ESPN subscription.

Pitaro does not pretend that ESPN can buy every sports right. What he wants instead is for the app to be the “starting point” for sports fans. 

The numbers Disney gives, and the........

© Observer