About WatchESPN

Features, Price, Plans, Packages, Add-ons, Availability

WatchESPN is an Internet television website and mobile application operated by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications. The service provides streaming simulcasts of ESPN channels for select cable television subscribers in the United States; it is also the exclusive platform for broadcasts from ESPN3, which until 2011, had operated as a separate website with a similar functionality to WatchESPN.

The service is only available to subscribers of participating cable, IPTV and satellite television providers, and is not offered as a standalone internet-only subscription service available to those who do not have a pay television subscription. The pay television providers include AT&T U-verse, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, Dish Network (including subsidiary Sling TV), Google Fiber, Grande Communications, Midcontinent Communications, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS and Xfinity TV (formerly Comcast Digital Cable).

The two major IPTV providers, Sling TV and PlayStation Vue, also offer authentication to WatchESPN; the two services, however, offer the same feeds of the ESPN networks that are carried on the WatchESPN platform, as opposed as the cable/satellite versions of each respective ESPN channel.

Website

The WatchESPN.com website allows fans to view and switch between among up to 20 events in a main viewing window, which can exceed the amount of bandwidth that can be handled by most broadband subscribers. Events available on the service that have recently been completed are archived and available for on-demand replay. The WatchESPN player additionally features four modules: Featured Events (which shows viewers highlights of live and upcoming events available on WatchESPN), Stats (which features statistics from the streamed event), the Chat 140 section (which allows fans to discussion the events with other fans), and Facebook connect (which connects fans to their Facebook profile and allows them to both post about the event that they are watching on their wall and discuss the event with other Facebook fans).

Mobile devices
WatchESPN is available through the ESPN app for Android and iOS, and the WatchESPN app for Windows Phone. In December 2015, WatchESPN's streaming features were integrated directly into the main ESPN app for Android and iOS, with the standalone WatchESPN app discontinued on these platforms.

Due to Verizon Wireless's exclusive rights to stream NFL games on mobile devices to its subscribers, NFL telecasts are not available on the app.

Digital media players
On June 19, 2013, the service became available through Apple TV. WatchESPN became available on Roku streaming players on November 12, 2013. Chromecast support was added to the Android and iOS apps as part of an update released on June 3, 2014.

Windows 8/10
The WatchESPN app became available for download for compatible Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 devices from the Windows Store in February 2014, a version also compatible with Windows 10. Support for the app was withdrawn on June 30, 2017, and currently within the app for those who still have it, any ESPN video links redirect to a browser window.

Video game systems
The WatchESPN service is available for download for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The ESPN app for Xbox 360 was discontinued on March 23, 2016.