New ESPN App and FOX One Add 1 Million Sign-Ups in First 10 Days

It seems an awful lot of people were just dying to break free of the big channel package. According to analytics firm Antenna, ESPN’s new app and FOX One combined for 1 million new sign-ups in their first 10 days.

We didn’t get the numbers for each service, but Antenna reports ESPN was responsible for “the lion’s share of that number.” Both services launched August 21.

Antenna underlines that this number refers to entirely new subscribers, not people switching from another Disney service or activating a free subscription through their live TV credentials.

As we often see with streamers, the bundle option is a huge driver of sign-ups. Antenna says 4 in 5 new ESPN subscribers chose the bundle with Disney+ and Hulu. Since the bundle costs the same as standalone ESPN Unlimited, it’s a slam-dunk offer.

These numbers don’t factor in the option to add NFL+ to ESPN Unlimited. Football fans only gained that option on Sept. 2, so it’s possible the numbers will climb even higher when September’s stats are tallied.

Antenna also highlighted that Fox’s partnership with Amazon was a wise choice as 60% of FOX One subscribers are choosing to add it as a Prime Video channel. For now, none of Disney’s streaming products, including ESPN, is available through Prime Video.

We also see that ESPN subscribers are taking advantage of the annual discount. One in 10 new subscribers is choosing to grab ESPN for the full year. That is significantly better than other cord-cutters choosing annual plans during that same stretch of time.

If you have the money upfront, an annual plan is always an excellent way to save money. The trick is to make sure it’s a streamer you’ll use year ’round. In the case of ESPN, choosing an annual plan gives you 10 months for the price of 12, saving you $24-60, depending on whether you choose ESPN Select or Unlimited.

We still don’t know how subscriptions will be impacted when ESPN and FOX One release their discounted bundle on Oct. 2, but the trends are clear: when people have the option to bundle and save, they’re more likely to sign up and less likely to churn.