An analysis by Dataxis, highlights how the company is strengthening its sports offering in Europe and Oceania through new partnerships, ESPN integration, and the expansion of its sports portfolio across more than 50 markets.
Disney continues to deepen its strategy of making sports one of the main growth drivers for Disney+ outside North America. According to an analysis by Guillaume Perrin, Principal Analyst at Dataxis, the company is expanding its presence across Europe and Oceania through new partnerships and by integrating ESPN content directly into its streaming platform.
The latest move came last week in France, where Disney signed an agreement with sports media group L’Équipe to introduce, for the first time in the country, a live linear channel as part of the Disney+ subscription. Through this partnership, subscribers will gain access to La Chaîne L’Équipe, featuring live coverage of motorsports, athletics, winter sports, daily sports talk shows, and sports documentaries.
According to Perrin, the deal is part of a broader strategy aimed at strengthening Disney+’s sports proposition without launching a standalone direct-to-consumer version of ESPN in international markets.
Australia and New Zealand served as the first testing grounds for this approach in 2025, when Disney launched an ESPN hub directly within the Disney+ interface. The integration gave subscribers access to thousands of hours of live sports, ESPN and ESPN2 linear channels, highlights, documentaries, and flagship studio programming.
The analyst notes that both markets were particularly attractive because Disney already controlled ESPN’s sports rights portfolio in the region, including the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, college sports, and several international competitions.
Through this strategy, Disney aims to strengthen Disney+’s competitive position against sports-focused services such as Kayo and Stan Sport, while also differentiating itself from broader entertainment platforms such as Netflix and Prime Video, both of which have increased their investments in sports content.
The strategy continues to gain momentum. Two months ago, Disney announced the expansion of ESPN on Disney+ across more than 50 countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific, underscoring the growing importance of sports within the platform’s global strategy and its role in driving subscriber acquisition and retention in international markets.
