ESPN Plus is about to get even more expensive

ESPN is increasing the price of its standalone ESPN Plus streaming service from $6.99 a month to $9.99 a month, a roughly 43 percent increase starting August 23, as previously reported by Sports Business Journal. The price of the annual plan is also increasing from $69.99 to $99.99.

If you get your streaming ESPN service as part of a Disney bundle, however, which packages Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and ad-supported Hulu for $13.99 per month (the price including Hulu without ads is $19.99). Is). per month), it will remain at the same price as before. The service's website and support page have yet to be updated to reflect the increase, but a statement sent out by Disney spokesman Paul Melvin indicates that customers will be notified next week.

The change in prices suggests that while moving beyond traditional cable bundles as well as becoming more flexible when moving between services and packages, access is not as cheap as it once seemed. ESPN Plus already raised its price (twice) last year, and now there's an even sharper increase. ESPN points out that content deals are increasingly indicated that include ESPN Plus components as well as access to editorial content on its website that subscribers receive.

Still, if your dream is unfettered access to standalone sports streaming, it's closer and farther than ever because Disney's pricing encourages bundle picking — even if that's not what you're really looking for. are. I want.