How Sports Fans are Streaming ESPN Content Like Never Before | The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific
It’s always fun to make history! And that’s exactly what happened in Q1 2025, when the ESPN tile launched for all Disney+ subscribers in Australia and New Zealand, the first English-speaking markets outside of North America to bring the tile to the platform. This new addition is bringing more than 14,000 hours of live sports events from the best US leagues to Disney+ each year, plus an enormous catalogue of on-demand replays, “minis” (match highlights), studio shows, documentaries and other sports content, much of it exclusive in Australia and New Zealand to Disney+.
Innovative work like this takes the hard work of many talented and passionate individuals. Hear from five employees at The Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) on how they supported this game-changing idea into reality for sports fans in the region.
What was your role in bringing the ESPN tile to Disney+ in Australia and New Zealand?
Jemma, Marketing Manager, ESPN
"I acted as the key liaison between ESPN and the Disney+ team, guiding the project SteerCo through the details of ESPN’s sports rights, content priorities, and league relationships. I provided support to ensure ESPN’s brand positioning, tone, and guidelines were accurately reflected across all Disney+ touchpoints - both on and off platform.
My role was instrumental in bringing the ‘Turn It On’ launch campaign to life - acting as the conduit between Disney+ Marketing, the Creative Services team, ESPN US Marketing, and key league partners to deliver a cohesive and impactful awareness campaign across Australia and New Zealand."
Disney+ is constantly creating new ways for audiences to enjoy content on our streaming platform. How does it feel to contribute to this innovative launch?
Kathryn, Programme Manager, Disney+
"It feels pretty cool. Seeing how content travels from a stadium to someone’s living room is seriously impressive - there’s so much coordination and tech behind the scenes that most people never get to see. The teamwork to bring this to life was next level.
Everyone rallied with real energy and passion, and you could tell how much people cared about getting it right.
My partner is a massive ice hockey fan and hearing him and his friends rave about being able to stream every NHL game on Disney+ was a real ‘we nailed it’ moment."
How did you collaborate with other teams during this project?
"Collaboration was everything. I was right in the middle of a truly cross-functional and cross-business effort. We brought together teams from Disney+, ESPN, Advertising, and Product & Engineering - spanning APAC, the US, and LATAM. Everyone navigated the time zone differences and made it work; it was a global push from all sides. Everyone brought their A-game to make sure the ESPN tile felt like a seamless part of the Disney+ experience. We also made sure to have fun while doing it, which made a few late nights and early mornings totally worth it."
What was a key milestone you were proud to reach?
Mimi, Senior Manager, Programming & Content Curation, Disney+
"We needed to hire new team members, provide training, and then build the ESPN Brand Page in a very short amount of time, as well as develop new ways of working across the business with this new catalogue of content. It was great to see the hard work these new team members put in. We would say throughout the launch, it felt a bit like building a plane as we flew it! I am incredibly proud of our team and their positive drive in getting the job done in a very tight time frame."
What is one thing you learned during this project that you wish more people knew about?
Peter, Manager, Programming & Content Curation, Disney+
"I was struck by how many teams from around the world were involved in standing up a launch like this, from engineering teams to local creative, it was truly a global collaborative effort. We collaborated with so many local and global teams on operational and creative functions like content priority, communication timelines, escalation processes, and on-platform content strategies."
What were you most excited to stream with the ESPN tile on Disney+?
Tessa, Manager, Programming & Content Curation, Disney+
"I was most excited to see all the amazing ESPN content alongside our strong General Entertainment and Disney+ slate. It makes me so proud to see all that incredible content together on the service. From a sports perspective, having the Australian tour of the West Indies, and with a lot of passionate cricket fans in my life, that felt like quite a pinch-me moment."
Interested in joining this winning team? Visit DisneyCareers.com to explore the possibilities of roles with The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific.
