ESPN Plus costs: prices, bundles, and other features explained

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If you want to watch basically any sport possible, with very few exceptions, ESPN Plus is the way to go. Between its two tiers, it has a vast treasure trove of live and on-demand sports streams, as well as factual programming and talk shows.

Naturally, a wealth of content like that doesn't come cheap, and the ESPN Plus prices can get pretty high, especially if you pick up a bundle. The costs also change infrequently, with a major reshuffle in late 2025 resulting in the two-tier structure you're about to read about below.

ESPN Plus price and bundles

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ESPN Plus tiers and prices

There are two different tiers for ESPN Plus, if you want the standalone streaming service. First up is the more affordable one, Select, which costs $12.99 per month or $129.99 per year, and there's also Unlimited bumping you up to $29.99 per month or $299.99 annually.

ESPN Plus Select is the 'standard' mode of the streaming service, which resembles the sole tier it used to have. You can stream live sports, watching on-demand programming and keep on top of results.

Then there's Unlimited. This, of course, includes everything that Select offers, and on top of that you get plenty of access to all the other ESPN-broadcast sports and streams of the live channels.

So you can watch NBA, HFL, MLB, tennis, golf, WWE, Big 12 and everything from ESPN, ESPNU, ESPNews, SECN, ACCN and plenty more. Perfect for the sports fan who needs to see everything.

ESPN Plus bundles

A popular way to sign up for ESPN Plus, is to get it in a bundle with other streaming services. People who've read our best Disney Plus bundles guide will be familiar with plenty of these, as they're all for combinations of streamers owned by Disney.

Naturally, bundles won't be the cheapest way to sign up for ESPN Plus. But if you want access to the movies and TV show platforms Disney hosts, it'll save you loads of money over subscribing individually.

What content does ESPN Plus offer?

The ESPN logo surrounded by various sporting logos, on a red, dusty splash background

(Image credit: ESPN)

Perhaps the main draw to ESPN Plus is the live programming. The streaming service shows loads of live events as they happen, and loads more if you watch using the ESPN Unlimited tier. But you can also watch these games, and classic ones, on demand.

ESPN Plus broadcasts in HD, and you can stream on up to three devices at once. The streaming service is compatible with a number of smart TVs, streaming sticks, gaming consoles, and mobile devices. Note that an ESPN Plus Select subscription will not enable you to stream content from the ESPN cable network.

ESPN Plus live sports

You can use ESPN Plus Select to broadcast regular-season MLB and NHL games, as well as NCAA basketball and various football match-ups. Current-season NBA and NFL is only for Unlimited subscribers though.

Plenty of global soccer is shown on the platform including English FA Cup, US MLS, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and various others.

Other sports featured on ESPN Plus include PGA golf and certain Grand Slam tennis, with the likes of cricket and rugby also available to stream live. It really is a varied lineup for sports fans.

ESPN Plus on-demand content

There's a big library of on-demand content on ESPN Plus. If you're subscribing for the live sports, the biggest draw to the library will be older events.

However there's a lot more, including plenty of classic ESPN creations. The entire run of the beloved 30 for 30 library is there, including the Oscar-winning OJ Simpson: Made in America.

The exclusive content on ESPN Plus is worth checking out, too. Noteworthy titles include NBA Rooks, Peyton’s Places, and Last Train to Russia. If you like to wax nostalgic you’ll be pleased to find hours upon hours of archival footage such as NFL’s Greatest Games and Ali vs. Frazier III: The Thrilla in Manila.

Just like its terrestrial counterpart, ESPN Plus also offers up-to-the-minute news and stats too.

ESPN Plus FAQs

Is there an ESPN Plus free trial?

Unfortunately, there's no ESPN Plus free trial; it was removed quite a while ago, and it'd be almost unprecedent for a streaming service to reinstate a free trial it previously removed.

But just like the also removed Disney Plus free trial and HBO Max free trial, the service is cheap enough to give it a go for a few bucks for a month to see if you're into it.

If you do want some free TV for a month , the Hulu free trial and Funimation free trials are still very much up and running.

Is ESPN Plus worth it?

If you're a fan of sports that ESPN Plus shows like European soccer, tennis and UFC, the answer is an easy yes. You'll get to enjoy live and PPV events as well as all the behind-the-scenes content that gives the proceedings context.

Beyond that, it depends on which sports you most closely follow. NHL and MLB fans, you’ll have plenty of live regular-season matchups to keep up with every night. Fans of more niche sports will also have their pick of live matches to choose from. Unfortunately, if you strictly follow current NBA or NFL games, then you may find ESPN Plus to be lacking.

ESPN Plus is much deeper than its live sports though. It provides on-demand access to some of the most compelling original sports content ever created. That alone may be worth the cost.

ESPN Plus isn’t an ESPN replacement, but it’s a worthy supplement. Bundling it with Disney Plus and Hulu will save you money while expanding your library of streamable content — which isn’t too shabby, either.

How to watch ESPN Plus from anywhere

Since ESPN Plus isn't available in that many countries around the world, people who are abroad might find that they're not able to stream a certain show or live event. That's where a VPN (Virtual Private Network) comes in, as this is a tool which lets you change your IP address. You can use this to log into streaming services from back home, to stream from ESPN Plus.

Our go-to is NordVPN and we've tested many of the best VPNs for gaming.

Disclaimer

We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

We're also rounding up the best Disney Plus bundles and best Hulu prices around should you want a deeper dive into what's included in The Disney Bundle at present.

Aleksha McLoughlin served as the Hardware Editor for GamesRadar from June 2021 until August 2022. Her main area of expertise was the PC gaming platform, which comprised buying guides, features, reviews, and news coverage on components and prebuilt machines. She was also responsible for gaming chairs and storage. She now works on a freelance basis while studying to become a university lecturer specializing in English for foreign territories. Prior to joining GamesRadar, she wrote for the likes of Expert Reviews, The Rory Peck Trust, No Clean Singing, Vinyl Chapters, and Tech Spark while also working with the BBC.

With contributions from

Tom BedfordContributing Writer

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