ESPN+ ended 2024 by losing 700,000 subscribers as the streaming service continues to struggle to maintain growth over a longer period of time. The loss in subscribers comes just as the exclusive negotiating window with the UFC on a new broadcast rights deal started in January.

On Wednesday, Disney released financial information for the fourth quarter in 2024 with ESPN+ losing three percent of subscribers, which totaled out to 700,000. ESPN+ now boasts 24.9 million subscribers overall. Disney’s entire sports division, which is led by ESPN, saw revenue stay flat quarter over quarter at $4.85 billion, but the segment operating income reversed from a loss in the same period in 2023 to a gain of $247 million in 2024.

It’s still a tough trend for ESPN+, especially after the streaming service enjoyed consistent periods of growth after first launching before running into tougher times in recent years. Back in May 2024, ESPN+ saw a loss in overall subscribers in three out of four quarters with the total number of subscribers sitting at 24.8 million.

ESPN+ currently sits a little higher at 24.9 million, but that’s not a huge amount of growth year to year, not to mention ESPN is also planning on launching a new streaming service by Fall 2025 that features the network’s flagship linear channels such as ESPN and ESPN2.

While the UFC airs across all of the ESPN family of networks, the majority of the promotion’s content lives on ESPN+.

“The goal all along with ESPN is to make it as accessible as possible, and in as many ways as possible,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said during a financial call with investors Wednesday. “Some will want to consume it just through an app, some as part of the more traditional expanded basic bundle, and some will migrate in the direction of skinnier bundles, or sports bundles only. We plan to take advantage of the emergence of these bundles.”

ESPN+ struggling to find significant growth undoubtedly becomes a concern as the UFC prepares to embark on a new broadcast rights deal. The MMA promotion has an exclusive deal with ESPN that runs through the end of 2025.

As it stands, ESPN maintains exclusive negotiating rights with the UFC through April 15, but it’s highly unlikely the two sides reach a new deal before that window closes. After that April 15 deadline, other potential suitors can get involved in the bidding and then the UFC can decide where the next broadcast deal lands.

Major players like Netflix and Amazon are rumored to get involved with the UFC reportedly seeking over $1 billion per year for the new broadcast rights deal.

Netflix, which no longer plans to reveal subscriber numbers in 2025, closed out this past year with more than 301 million subscribers — an addition of 13.12 million subscribers from the third quarter to the fourth quarter in the year. Netflix also recently inked a massive five-year, $10 billion deal for the rights to WWE’s flagship series Monday Night Raw.

That deal was negotiated by TKO Group Holdings’ CEO Ari Emanuel and company president and chief operating officer Mark Shapiro — the same people expected to handle UFC negotiations this year.