SiriusXM, ESPN Plus Partner on Free Trial Subscriptions

Premium radio provider SiriusXM is partnering with the Walt Disney Company’s ESPN Plus sports streaming service to offer trial subscriptions to both products to each other’s subscribers, the companies announced Tuesday.

Starting this week, subscribers to SiriusXM’s “VIP Platinum” package are eligible to receive a special offer that unlocks access to ESPN Plus for six months, effectively offering sports fans an extended free trial of the service, the companies said. Other SiriusXM subscribers will receive the same offer in the coming weeks.

Later this month, ESPN Plus subscribers will get a six-month trial to the streaming version of SiriusXM’s radio service, which includes commercial-free music streams and unlocks access to pro- and college-level sports on a play-by-play basis. , as well as three ESPN-branded radio feeds – ESPN Radio, ESPN Podcasts and ESPN Xtra.

The partnership comes as both brands join together on ESPN Radio’s College Campus Tour, which features ESPN Radio and SiriusXM College Sports Radio programs broadcast live from colleges and universities across the country. The radio channels utilize a custom Airstream trailer to broadcast live programs from tailgating experiences, the companies said.

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“Collaborating with SiriusXM on this offering will not only provide ESPN Plus subscribers access to its vast entertainment offerings, but will also open the door for SiriusXM customers to experience our premium sports content on ESPN Plus,” said Sean Breen, vice-president. executive president. of Platform Distribution at Disney Entertainment and ESPN. “This agreement underscores our commitment to providing consumers with unparalleled access to best-in-class programming spanning all genres and interests.”

“ESPN and SiriusXM are powerhouses in sports news and entertainment and we are excited to expand our long-standing relationship with this new agreement,” said Jeff Dallesandro, senior vice president of streaming distribution partnerships at SiriusXM. “Designed to bring listeners and viewers closer to the personalities, players, teams and leagues they love by combining live sports programming from SiriusXM and ESPN Plus, exclusive analytics and extensive on-demand content, this collaboration will deliver value to fans while time, potentially driving growth for each brand.”

The partnership could help both subscription-based products grow their customer base as sports fans look for new ways to interact with live and on-demand programming. ESPN Plus has about 25 million subscribers, while SiriusXM has between 32 million and 33 million free and paid trial customers.

SiriusXM and ESPN said offers promoting each other’s streaming products will be emailed to eligible subscribers who opt-in to receive marketing messages. Of course, customers don’t have to wait for those emails to take advantage of the two companies’ different offerings: Sports fans who want access to ESPN Plus can start streaming live sports and on-demand programming when they sign up for a plan by clicking or tapping here. Likewise, radio fans can sign up for an extended trial of SiriusXM’s radio streaming plan by clicking or tapping here.