Disney’s big bets on sports, streaming, and Fortnite

Image: Alex Parkin / The VergeStop me if you’ve heard this one before: Disney, in an effort to work in a complicated new media era, is partnering with its competitors in the hopes of creating a single destination where...

Disney’s big bets on sports, streaming, and Fortnite

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On The Vergecast: Hulu for sports, the Vision Pro, Bluesky opens up, and a lot of feelings about the metaverse.

By David Pierce, editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.

Feb 9, 2024, 2:20 PM UTC

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An image of Bob Iger on top of a screenshot from The Vergecast.

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Disney, in an effort to work in a complicated new media era, is partnering with its competitors in the hopes of creating a single destination where viewers can watch everything they want.

You’re shouting “Hulu!” at your screen, right? Well, Disney’s back at it again, launching a sports-specific streaming hub later this year that will combine all the channels and games of ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros.

On this episode of The Vergecast, we dig into why these companies need to band together, why sports still rule TV, and why it took so long to get the one-stop sports shop fans have been looking for for years. Then we get into the other Disney news, including the company’s $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games.

After that, we talk about the early vibes on the Vision Pro, a week after Apple’s headset went on sale. And speaking of vibes: Bluesky, and its many vibes, is now open to the public! We’ll see how that goes. It’s a lot of vibes on this Vergecast.

There’s also a bit of housekeeping: starting next week, The Vergecast is moving to The Verge’s YouTube channel! We’ll still have clips and extras and fun stuff on the Vergecast channel, but for full episodes, smash that subscribe button.

If you want to read more on any of the subjects we discussed, here are some links, starting with all the goings-on at Disney:

And on the Vision Pro:

And on Bluesky:

And for our lightning round: