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

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:

• ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. are putting together a juggernaut sports streaming app
• Disney Plus will start its password-sharing crackdown this summer
• Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film is coming to Disney Plus
• Disney invests $1.5 billion in Epic to create ‘persistent universe’ tied to Fortnite
• Apple TV+ Became HBO Before HBO Could Become Netflix (the Wired story that got a lot of people riled up)

And on the Vision Pro:

• Apple’s Vision Pro launch day photo drop captures eager customers
• It’s been 10 hours
• A new Vision Pro teardown shows Apple’s incredible pixel density
• Apple’s first Vision Pro beta lets you bring virtual items closer
• Could emulators be great in the Vision Pro?
• The Vision Pro’s killer app: Cybertruck clout-chasing accessory
• YouTube says a Vision Pro app is ‘on the roadmap’
• Vision Pro’s Personas look a little crisper after latest beta update

And on Bluesky:

• Bluesky social network drops invite-only signups
• The fediverse, explained: Mastodon, Threads, and the open future of social networking

And for our lightning round:

• Adi Robertson’s pick: Two Texas companies were behind the AI Joe Biden robocalls
• Alex Cranz’s pick: Ford quietly created its own ‘skunkworks’ team to develop low-cost electric vehicles
• David Pierce’s pick: Apple is still working on foldable iPhones and iPads