ESPN Unlimited Streaming App Goes Live with AI Voice That Sounds like the ‘Boom Goes the Dynamite’ Guy

The ESPN streaming app is live today. While the content is great, the user interface is still pretty awful. This service will be a great add-on for live TV subscribers who have ESPN as part of their normal channel lineup, but I don’t recommend subscribing to the standalone ESPN app unless you have a very specific need.

What Are the Pros and Cons of ESPN’s Streaming App?

What Sports Can You Watch with ESPN’s Streaming App?

Bear in mind you will get more sports with ESPN Unlimited over ESPN Select. Here’s what you can watch.

• Football, including NFL
• Baseball, including MLB
• Basketball, including NBA
• Hockey, including NHL with 1,000+ out-of-market games
• MMA, but it’s losing UFC rights next year
• NCAA sports including 40 NCAA championships
• Soccer
• Golf, including The Masters, PGA Championship, PGA TOUR, and TGL
• Tennis, including Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open
• Little League World Series baseball and softball
• Softball
• Lacrosse
• Motor Sports
• Boxing
• Cricket
• Fishing
• Starting Sept. 20: WWE premium live events at no extra cost

What TV Shows Can You Watch with ESPN Unlimited?

ESPN Unlimited includes all the TV shows you’d get from the ESPN family of networks. Here are some of the highlights.

• SportsCenter
• Get Up
• First Take
• NFL Live
• The Pat McAfee Show
• Pardon the Interruption
• College GameDay
• NBA Today
• Inside the NBA
• The Rich Eisen Show
• 30 for 30 films
• ESPN Originals

What Channels Are Available on ESPN’s Streaming App?

If you choose ESPN Select, there are live events from ESPN+, but no true linear channels.

ESPN Unlimited includes:

• ESPN
• ESPN2
• ESPNU
• SECN
• ACCN
• ESPNEWS
• ESPN Deportes
• ESPN on ABC (aka ESPN3)
• ESPN+
• SECN+
• ACCNX
• NFL Network (eventually)

What Does ESPN’s Streaming App Cost?

Users can choose ESPN Select (which is currently called ESPN+) for $11.99/month or $119.99/year or ESPN Unlimited for $29.99/month or $299.99/year.

You can also access a special bundle offer of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Unlimited for $29.99/month for the first year with ads or $38.99/month to go ad-free. (ESPN will still have ads on that plan, however.) This deal is a 39% discount over the face value of each service individually.

Just remember, you can sign up for Hulu + Live TV and you’d get free ESPN Unlimited, Disney+, and Hulu on-demand, plus tons of live TV channels and a free DVR. You can sample that service free for 3 days. This is the best entertainment value overall.

Starting Oct. 2, you can choose to bundle ESPN Unlimited with Fox One. That will cost $39.99/month.

You will also be able to bundle the ESPN app with NFL+ Premium, which includes NFL RedZone for $39.99/month. You can sign up on Sept. 3.

What Is the Difference Between ESPN Select and ESPN Unlimited?

ESPN Select (ESPN+) has more than 32,000 live sports events annually, a library of exclusive studio shows, on-demand replays, original content, and more. It’s particularly great for the NHL with 1,000 out-of-market games per season.

ESPN Unlimited includes all the ESPN-affiliated linear channels and ESPN Select for a total of 47,000 live events.

The ESPN Unlimited plan will also have NFL Network, which Disney acquired. NFL Network is missing as of today, however.

Are There Commercials on ESPN’s Streaming App?

Yes, you will see ads, though some on-demand content does not have commercials

Can You Watch ESPN Unlimited for Free?

There is no free trial for ESPN Unlimited, but you can watch for free if you subscribe to three live TV streaming providers, each of which offers a free trial.

Which Live TV Providers Include Free ESPN Unlimited?

At launch, you can access ESPN Unlimited for free as long as you subscribe to a live TV plan that includes ESPN. The service providers that offer this benefit are Spectrum, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and DIRECTV.

You cannot log in with YouTube TV or Sling TV right now, but ESPN promises more providers will be coming.

• For Spectrum, click here to activate 
• For Fubo, click here to activate 
• For Hulu + Live TV, log in to the ESPN App using your MyDisney account to activate
• For DIRECTV (streaming only), click here to activate 

What Are the Unique Features on the ESPN Unlimited Mobile App?

If you connect your ESPN Unlimited account through the mobile app, you’ll see a new feed called Verts (short for “vertical videos”). That includes a personalized “SportsCenter for You,” which includes show clips about the teams you’ve favorited.

The Verts section also includes an AI-voiced “SC For You” video and the AI voice is so bad. It’s the most boring, fake-sounding voice with zero enthusiasm.

Remember all the great catchphrases and vocal excitement you used to get from SportsCenter anchors? There’s none of that here. It sounds like a more emotionally stable “Boom Goes the Dynamite” Guy.

Watch these two videos and tell me if there’s any difference.

Should You Sign Up for ESPN Select or ESPN Unlimited?

For most sports fans, even ESPN Unlimited isn’t enough to provide quality coverage. You’ll still miss all the events on NBC/Peacock, Prime Video, and CBS/Paramount+. It leaves large gaps in coverage of the NFL, NBA, and MLB, among other sports.

The upcoming bundles with NFL+ Premium and Fox One will help this to a degree, although Fox One is just an awful streaming app.

If you love the NHL, ESPN Select (ESPN+) makes sense because you’ll get nearly all the out-of-market games.

I think the best choice is to choose Hulu + Live TV or DIRECTV, depending on the other channels you need. Then you’ll be able to get ESPN Unlimited for free. Hulu + Live TV is better if you want an overall entertainment package (Disney+ for the kids, Hulu for the grown-ups). DIRECTV is better if you need a regional sports network because it offers all of them except NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Another good reason to sign up is if you have an antenna. I use my antenna to watch ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX for free forever. Thanks to my HDHomeRun box, I can stream those channels to all the devices in my home. And because I have a lifetime subscription to Plex Pass, I can even record and save sports and shows forever on my computer’s hard drive.

Since I can’t get ESPN, NFL Network, or NFL RedZone with my antenna, ESPN Unlimited may be my go-to solution for the NFL season. Paired with my antenna, $39.99/month for every game except Prime Video exclusives or the Netflix Christmas games is a pretty good deal.