ESPN’s direct-to-consumer service launches Thursday. Here’s what Philly sports fans need to know.

In what is being described as the next phase of the streaming wars, ESPN is launching its much-hyped direct-to-consumer product Thursday with a simple name — ESPN.

That means for the first time, sports fans in Philadelphia and elsewhere can subscribe to ESPN without needing a cable subscription or a so-called skinny bundle.

From a fan’s perspective, it means being able to stream Phillies games on Sunday Night Baseball or Eagles games on Monday Night Football without carrying a costly cable subscription. That’s especially true now that NBC Sports Philadelphia is also available without a cable subscription through Peacock.

That might sound good on paper, but a Phillies fan living in or around Philly looking to completely cut the cord would have to shell out nearly $85 a month to stream every game across multiple platforms, according to an Inquirer analysis of current subscription costs. For Eagles fans, the cost would be about $79 a month, and that’s not including Netflix, which is streaming two NFL games on Christmas this season.

Apart from its impact on sports fans, the move is a big deal in the cable television world, where ESPN is paid more per subscriber than any other network.

That lucrative business peaked in 2010 when ESPN reached more than 100 million households, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars each month before selling a single commercial. But thanks to the combined trends of cord-cutting and “cord nevers” (young people who never signed up for a cable subscription), ESPN is down to about 61 million households and dropping every quarter.

In May, streaming services drew more viewers than traditional networks for the first time, according to Nielsen, making it the ideal time for ESPN to pivot fully into the streaming world.

“We thought [direct-to-consumer] was the right thing to do for the sports fan because the trends were not slowing down,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro told The Athletic. “If anything, they were accelerating.”

The service won’t only include games. Studio shows, documentaries, alternative broadcasts — if it airs on one of ESPN’s linear networks, it will also be available for subscribers to stream on its app. There will also be tighter integration with ESPN Bet and its various fantasy sports games.

Here’s everything you should know about ESPN’s new streaming service.

The launch price is $29.99 a month or $299.99 a year (which comes out to $24.99 a month). That includes everything that airs on ESPN and access to exclusive content on ESPN+.

Disney is offering a special promo at launch for the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Unlimited bundle for $29.99 a month for the first 12 months, essentially giving sports fans Disney+ and Hulu (both with ads) free for a year.

As part of the launch, ESPN+ customers will automatically become “Select” tier members in the new direct-to-consumer service. That includes those who get ESPN+ through a bundle.

So the only thing that will change for ESPN+ subscribers is the app you open.

The Select tier runs $11.99 a month or $119.99 a year, the current cost for ESPN+.

ESPN+ will continue to exist for now due to contractual obligations with certain leagues, including UFC and La Liga, Spain’s top professional soccer league. But ultimately it will sunset into ESPN’s main app.

On Tuesday, ESPN pulled a Week 7 NFL game between the Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks out of an exclusive ESPN+ window and put it back on its normal TV schedule.

It’s unclear what the launch means for NHL games set to exclusively stream on ESPN+ this season. An ESPN spokesperson said they were finalizing the exclusive game schedule with the NHL.

Yes.

Every sporting event that airs on ABC will also be available to stream on ESPN’s new app.

That also goes for games on any of ESPN’s linear networks: ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network, and ACC Network.

According to ESPN, that amounts to about 47,000 live sporting events a year.

Despite ESPN agreeing to purchase the NFL Network and other league media assets, the network won’t be available on the new service at launch.

ESPN’s deal to purchase the NFL Network and rights to launch new RedZone properties faces federal regulatory approval and might not close until late 2026.

In the meantime, ESPN is bundling its new direct-to-consumer service with NFL+ Premium, which includes both the NFL Network and NFL RedZone, for $39.99 a month, a savings of $5 a month. That bundle is set to launch Sept. 3.

Not right away.

ESPN has agreements with several cable TV distributors to provide full access to the new app on launch through authentication, including Charter, Verizon, and DirecTV. Hulu + Live TV and Fubo, both now owned by Disney, will also provide access to ESPN’s new service for no additional charge.

Comcast is still within its negotiating window with ESPN on a new carriage deal, though it’s unclear if or when an agreement might be hashed out. Xfinity subscribers will still have access to ESPN’s linear networks, but won’t be able to watch exclusive content made for its new app.

Other distributors not offering access to ESPN’s new app at launch include YouTube TV, Dish, Sling, and Cox.

Disney hopes to have deals with all distributors by the end of the year.

ESPN will also offer a bundle that pairs its direct-to-consumer product with Fox One, which also launches Thursday with content from Fox Sports and Fox News for $19.99 a month.

The new bundle will be available Oct. 2 and cost $39.99 a month, a savings of $10 a month.