Why it matters: If I had to venture a guess, I'd say that the upcoming college football season had a lot to do with ESPN's timing. After a year where many sports were paused and others had abbreviated seasons, the worldwide leader in sports is no doubt looking to maximize revenue in the latter part of 2021.
Disney is raising the price of its ESPN+ streaming subscription service for the second time this year.
A spokesperson for ESPN+ confirmed to The Verge that the monthly rate will go from $6 to $7 starting August 13. Those on an annual billing rate, meanwhile, will see the price increase from $60 to $70.
Disney's bundle, which includes access to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, will remain unchanged at $13 per month. That's still an excellent value, so long as you'd utilize each service. The cost of UFC pay-per-view events, which moved to ESPN's platform exclusively a bit back, will also stay the same at $69.99.
As mentioned, this is the second time ESPN+ has seen a price bump in 2021. Early this year, the annual rate for ESPN+ jumped to $59.99.
Price hikes of this caliber are par for the course when it comes to streaming subscription services, but it's a bit tougher to swallow when they are pushed so close together like this.