YouTube TV subscribers can now finally access ESPN Unlimited

At long last, YouTube TV users that subscribe to a package that includes ESPN will now have access to the full suite of content offered by ESPN at no additional cost.

The news was reported by Cord Cutters on Monday. YouTube TV subscribers can now access ESPN Unlimited content in the platform directly from the app in the sports section. Subscribers can now link their YouTube and ESPN accounts.

While Awful Announcing staffers have yet to experience the ingestion feature, this is likely going to be slowly rolled out to users instead of being readily available all at once. However, Awful Announcing has successfully logged into the ESPN Unlimited platform with a YouTube TV subscription, so the day that has long been awaited is finally arriving.

The linkage was promised following the protracted carriage dispute between YouTube TV and Disney late last year. This will give YouTube TV subscribers access to live content that is exclusive to ESPN Unlimited, like WWE’s premium live events and grand slam tennis tournaments, at no additional cost. ESPN Unlimited also includes all content from ESPN+ (now ESPN Select), like out-of-market NHL games, PGA Tour Live, and any number of college athletics that are not scheduled for ESPN’s linear networks.

When ESPN launched its new app last August, which included the new ESPN Unlimited tier, the network had promised that anyone who accesses ESPN through a pay-TV subscription, be that through a cable, satellite, or digital provider, would receive ESPN Unlimited included in their packages at no additional cost. That quickly proved not to be the case, with major providers like Comcast and YouTube TV waiting many months — and in YouTube TV’s case about a year — before gaining access. As such, folks who already paid for ESPN via a pay-TV subscription that also wanted access to ESPN Unlimited-exclusive content had to pay an additional $30 per month.

Luckily, that is no longer the case, with YouTube TV being the last major provider to come on board.

The great news for YouTube TV subscribers is that they will not even need to launch a separate app in order to access all of the live content ESPN Unlimited has to offer. As was announced when Disney and YouTube TV reached a new carriage agreement last year, live programming from the ESPN app will be integrated directly into the YouTube TV interface. That means YouTube TV users can, for instance, find a college baseball game on ESPN+ without ever needing to leave YouTube TV.

Comcast came to a similar agreement with YouTube TV last year to include Peacock-exclusive programming on the platform via the relaunch of NBCSN.

Monday’s rollout brings to a close the nearly year-long saga of ESPN Unlimited’s accessibility issues. While the bumpy launch and poor messaging around who would and would not be able to access the app’s Unlimited tier caused headaches for fans and bad publicity for ESPN, the network has ultimately delivered on its promise. Now, it can claim with sincerity that it is agnostic to how a user purchases ESPN. Bundle or a la carte, everyone is getting the same product.

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