ESPN’s streaming service now has 1 million paid subscribers.
The Walt Disney-owned sports network announced its ESPN+ streaming service subscriber count Thursday. Although streaming services like Netflix and Hulu dwarf the ESPN video service, the fact that ESPN+ debuted in April shows that it’s growing fast and appeals to sports fans.
Netflix currently has about 130 million subscribers worldwide, while Hulu has roughly 20 million U.S. Subscribers.
“Combining sports, technology and the ESPN brand is a very powerful combination, and we are just getting started,” ESPN president and co-chair of Disney Media Networks Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “Very quickly, a wide range of sports fans have seen the value of ESPN+.”
ESPN’s new streaming service currently costs $4.99 a month and features original shows and live games from Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, college football, and boxing and UFC fights. The service does not live stream games or shows from the conventional ESPN cable channel.
Notable omissions from ESPN+ include the National Basketball League and the National Football League.
In January, Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey left Walt Disney’s board due to business conflicts. Both Facebook and Twitter have increasingly been signing deals with sports leagues like the NFL (Twitter only) and MLB to livestream games on their respective platforms.
Get Data Sheet, Coins2Day’s technology newsletter.
Disney also intends to premiere its own streaming service in 2019 that will feature Disney movies and television shows.
Walt Disney shares are up nearly 2% to $111.94 in midday trading on Thursday.