Following the launch of ESPN+ on Hulu in March, the streaming company announced last week the addition of pay-per-view events, starting with UFC 262.
UFC fans can make the purchase via The Disney Bundle subscription or the ESPN+ Hulu add-on. The former costs $13.99 per month while the latter costs $5.99 per month. The event itself will cost an additional one-time fee of $69.99.
Once purchased, subscribers who are directly billed by Hulu can access the telecast by going to the “Purchases” tab and selecting “My Stuff.” Those billed by Disney can purchase and access the match through ESPN.com or the ESPN app.
The addition of PPV, with the larger rollout of ESPN+, fortifies Disney and Hulu’s streaming portfolio and adds to larger industry efforts to capture sports fan’s dollars in streaming.
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According to Hulu, nearly 60% of all its subscribers identify as sports fans, and in addition to UFC, golf and hockey are some of the most popular sports among its viewers.
In conjunction with launching ESPN+ in March, The Walt Disney Company, owner of ESPN and Hulu, announced a deal with the National Hockey League, part of which secured exclusive rights to stream 75 regular season games each season on ESPN+. Moreover, ESPN+ will absorb the NHL-owned NHL.TV, giving fans access to more than 1,000 games that are not televised in their area.
While this is a strong win for Hulu, there have been recent moves by its competitors to grow the streaming services’ sports vertical.
Amazon recently made headlines after securing exclusive NFL rights to stream Thursday night football games on Prime Video for the next 11 years, starting with the 2022 season. Moreover, Peacock, who initially planned to launch with the Summer 2020 Olympics, has focused on spotlighting existing sports programming like Premier League soccer matches and content from the recently acquired WWE Network.