As streaming services go, ESPN+ has quickly become a fan favorite way for cord cutters to get their sports fix. With thousands of live games, on-demand replays, sports news programs and more, ESPN+ brings a wealth of excellent sports entertainment to your living room.
And when paired with one of Samsung‘s impressive smart TVs, the combination promises an exceptional viewing experience that any sports lover can appreciate.
But how exactly can you get ESPN+ running on your compatible Samsung television? This comprehensive 2500+ word guide will walk you through everything you need to know, from signing up for ESPN+ to troubleshooting tips and beyond. Whether you‘re a streaming novice or a tech expert, let‘s get your Samsung smart TV playing ESPN+ like a pro.
Overview of the ESPN+ Streaming Service
Since launching in 2018, ESPN+ has experienced rapid subscriber growth, reaching over 22.8 million members as of October 2022. The appeal comes the solid streaming quality, intuitive apps, and most importantly – the bevy of live sports for just $9.99 per month.
Let‘s explore some highlights of what you can watch:
Live Sports
The main draw of ESPN+ is unquestionably the selection of live games and events. We‘re talking hundreds of MLB, NHL and MLS matchups, tons PGA Tour golf events, Grand Slam tennis tournaments, top-level boxing matches, hundreds of football and basketball college games, LaLiga, Bundesliga, FA Cup and Carabao Cup soccer and much more.
You also gain access to exclusive ESPN+ events, including MLB and NHL out-of-market broadcasts. Plus 30+ UFC Fight Night cards per year that were previously only on pay-per-view.
Add it all up and ESPN+ airs over 1,000 live games and events per year – making it an incredible value compared to the monthly cost.
On-Demand Replays & Originals
If you happen to miss any of the action live, ESPN+ has you covered there as well. An extensive on-demand library allows you to watch replays of ESPN+ events from the past year.
You also gain access to a wealth of ESPN+ original programming, sports documentaries and specialty content. This includes sports talk shows like Detail, ESPN FC, Max on Boxing and signature ESPN documentary series 30 for 30 and Man in the Arena covering iconic sports moments and athletes. Plus daily sports news programs including SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt and Fantasy Focus Live.
So while ESPN+ doesn‘t provide access to ESPN‘s own TV channels, you certainly don‘t miss out on content. Frankly, with the thousands of hours of live games and on-demand programming, you‘d be hard pressed to watch it all!
Now, with the ESPN+ service clearly offering tons of quality sports entertainment, let‘s shift our focus to setting it up on compatible Samsung TVs.
Excellent Streaming Performance Powered by Cutting-Edge Technology
Providing reliable, high-quality streams across a growing subscriber base requires immense technical infrastructure and innovation behind the scenes.
Both Samsung and ESPN have engineered state-of-the-art platforms to deliver buttery smooth streaming at scale. Let‘s geek out on some details powering your viewing experience!
Samsung‘s Impressive Tizen Smart TV Platform
Samsung smart TVs have run their Linux-based Tizen operating system since 2014, offering a powerful platform for streaming apps and excellent compatibility.
Built using web technologies like JavaScript and CSS, Tizen provides an excellent development framework that makes porting apps from mobile platforms very straightforward. This vibrant developer ecosystem brings streamlined access to top streaming providers right to your living room.
Tizen also enables key technical features that improve streaming quality, such as support for the latest video codecs like H.265 which reduces bandwidth by 50% while maintaining picture quality.
Combined with high performance CPUs/GPUs and premium display panels in Samsung TV hardware, Tizen delivers one of the most refined smart TV experiences on the market.
ESPN‘s Rock-Solid Streaming Infrastructure
On the ESPN side, their apps take advantage of a robust content delivery infrastructure designed for smooth, low-latency video streaming.
Using a global network of edge servers, ESPN minimizes lag by placing streams as physically close as possible to your location. Your video traffic then travels shorter distances across the web to arrive quicker.
In tandem, they leverage cutting-edge compression like H.264 and H.265 to optimize video files to smaller sizes. This allows higher quality 1080p and 4K streams to be delivered reliably across the internet.
Authentication functions like logging into the app are backed by OAuth and OpenID frameworks. By offloading identity management to trusted platforms, this heightens security without compromising convenience via your single ESPN account login.
The combination of Tizen‘s versatile app support with ESPN‘s tech investments pays dividends through a wonderfully responsive viewing experience as you indulge in sports to your heart‘s content!
Compatible Samsung Smart TVs Models (2016-2023)
ESPN+ is well supported across a wide range Samsung‘s smart TV lineup going back over half a decade:
- 2016 Samsung smart TVs and newer can install the ESPN app to directly access ESPN+
- 2018 Samsung smart TVs and newer also allow ESPN+ streaming via Apple AirPlay from iOS/Android devices
So unless you have an older 2015 or prior model, you should have no issues getting ESPN+ functioning on your Samsung television!
You can reference Samsung‘s support page to check your specific TV model for compatibility. But again, most mid-range to high-end Samsung 4K UHD and 8K QLED televisions produced from 2016 forward offer full support.
This table summarizes compatibility for Samsung TVs by model year:
| Samsung TV Model Year | Native ESPN App Supported | AirPlay Supported |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 and newer | Yes | No |
| 2018 and newer | Yes | Yes |
| 2015 and earlier | No | No |
And now without further ado, let‘s dive into getting ESPN+ actively running on your supported television!
Downloading and Installing the ESPN App
If you own a 2016 or newer Samsung smart TV, gaining access to ESPN+ is breeze thanks to the pre-installed ESPN app.
Here is the quick process to download the ESPN app and add it to your Samsung TV‘s home screen:
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Using your Samsung TV remote, press the Home button to bring up the main smart TV menu.
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Scroll down and select the Apps icon, typically represented by 9 small boxes in a grid.
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This will launch the TV‘s app library. In the search bar at the top, type in "ESPN".
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The ESPN app should appear as the first search result. Highlight it and press select.
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Choose "Add to Home" to add the ESPN app icon your Samsung TV‘s home area.
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After installation completes, press the Home button again to return to the main menu with the ESPN app now visible.
Nice work! With just those few simple steps, the ESPN app is installed and ready for setup on your Samsung television.
Signing up for your ESPN+ subscription happens through their website, so let‘s tackle that next.
How to Sign Up for an ESPN+ Subscription
Signing up for ESPN+ takes just minutes, allowing you to access thousands of live sports events and on-demand entertainment for a reasonable $9.99 monthly fee.
Here is the quick process to register for ESPN+ access:
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On any laptop or computer, visit espn.com/watch/espnplus in your web browser.
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Click the gold "Get Started" button followed by "Select" for either the monthly or annual subscription plan.
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You will be prompted to log in with your ESPN account. If you don‘t have one already, click "create one now" link below the sign in boxes to set one up in seconds.
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On the payment page, enter your credit card or Paypal account details to purchase your subscription plan.
Once your payment processes successfully, your ESPN+ membership will instantly activate, granting you full access! Remember to write down your new ESPN login email and password for safekeeping.
Now we‘re ready login into the ESPN app on your television. Let‘s get watching!
Logging into the ESPN App and Streaming ESPN+
With both the ESPN app downloaded on your Samsung TV and an active ESPN+ subscription tied to your ESPN account, we‘re in the home stretch. Just follow these last steps to login and start streaming:
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From your Samsung TV‘s Home screen, launch the ESPN app.
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Select "Log In to ESPN Account" when prompted.
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Input the email and password associated with your ESPN account that has the ESPN+ membership enabled.
Once successfully logged in, you now have full access to all of ESPN+ live games, on demand content and original programs!
Use your remote to browse featured content tiles or search for specific leagues and teams. Click/select any tile then press play to start watching. It‘s super intuitive from there.
Sit back, customize your watchlist favorites, and enjoy unlimited ESPN+ entertainment on your brilliant Samsung TV!
Accessing ESPN+ via AirPlay on Newer Samsung Smart TVs
In addition to the native ESPN app, owners of 2018 or newer Samsung smart TV models can take advantage of AirPlay streaming.
AirPlay allows you to wirelessly push video and audio from Apple devices like an iPhone, iPad or Mac to your television.
Setting up AirPlay with ESPN+ is just as seamless:
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Download the ESPN app on your iPhone, iPad or MacBook
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Ensure both devices connect to the same WiFi network
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Open ESPN app and play a video
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Swipe down from the top on iOS devices or click the AirPlay icon on MacOS
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Select your Samsung TV from the list of available devices
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Stream away! Video and audio now play directly from your Apple device to TV
Using AirPlay makes beaming ESPN+ to your television effortless. Your Apple device essentially acts as the streaming server. Just make sure to keep it powered on and connected while streaming.
And that covers all the essentials to watching the sports goodness of ESPN+ on your compatible Samsung smart television!
Picture Quality & Streaming Reliability: Evaluating the Pros and Cons
Streaming over internet connections introduces some inherent drawbacks compared to cable and satellite television. But today‘s high speed broadband paired with technical innovation by ESPN and Samsung provide a viewing experience that stacks up nicely versus traditional pay TV.
Let‘s examine streaming on Samsung TVs through the lens of technical performance criteria:
Picture Quality
Modern compression formats enable stunning picture quality even at reduced file sizes. While not quite matching full uncompressed quality, compression artifacts are rarely noticeable at ESPN‘s typical 5-8 Mbps bitrates.
That said, cable/satellite broadcasts peak at higher 10-15 Mbps rates by minimizing reuse. This gives them a slight edge to capture fine visual details during fast motion scenes. Still, streaming achieves excellent quality suitable even for large 4K screens.
Responsiveness
Streaming does introduce slightly more latency given content travels greater distances over the internet before appearing on your screen. Delays typically land in the 45-60 second range. So you may notice score updates hit social media just before plays on your TV.
However ESPN relentlessly optimizes latency by positioning streams geographically closer through infrastructure investments. Plus building efficient decoding into app software and TV hardware accelerates rendering video frames. So while not absolutely real-time, delays are rarely disruptive.
Reliability
Robust content delivery networks provide incredible reliability – ESPN has delivered well over a billion streaming hours with minimal issues. Stream failures occur a couple times a year at most.
And onboard storage within the ESPN app can temporarily cache content to smooth over brief network drops. Compare that to weather disruptions that can affect satellite television reliability much more frequently.
While room for improvement remains, streaming has reached superb levels of performance that satisfy even discerning sports viewers. When weighted across all criteria, pairing ESPN+ with Samsung TVs checks every box. You‘ll be thrilled by consistent HD quality, smooth motion and always-on reliability as you catch every big play!
Comparing ESPN+ Pricing and Bundles Over Time
As a streaming provider, ESPN has explored different pricing models for ESPN+ to drive value and subscriber growth. Currently, here are available plans to access ESPN+:
Monthly Subscription
- $9.99 per month
- Cancel anytime
- Access full content catalog
- Concurrent streams: 3
Annual Subscription
- $99.99 per year
- Equivalent to $8.33 per month (16% savings)
- Paid yearly in advance
- Full content access
- Concurrent streams: 3
The Disney Bundle
- $13.99 per month
- Includes: Disney+ / Hulu (ad-supported) / ESPN+
- 40% savings compared purchasing services separately
- Full content access
- Concurrent streams: 4
Based historical moves, we can the trajectory of ESPN+ pricing over time:
| Launch Year | Monthly Rate | Annual Rate | Disney Bundle Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | $4.99 | None | None |
| 2019 | $4.99 | $49.99 | $12.99 |
| 2020 | $5.99 | None | $12.99 |
| 2021 | $6.99 | None | $13.99 |
| 2022 | $9.99 | $99.99 | $13.99 |
Rising content licensing costs and additional sports rights acquisitions have driven up pricing. However, the Disney Bundle remains a stellar deal stacking 3 services. Look for continued smaller increments absent any major distribution shakeups.
And now, let‘s move onto actually watching ESPN+ on your television!
Logging into the ESPN App and Streaming ESPN+
With both the ESPN app downloaded on your Samsung TV and an active ESPN+ subscription tied to your ESPN account, we‘re in the home stretch. Just follow these last steps to login and start streaming:
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From your Samsung TV‘s Home screen, launch the ESPN app.
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Select "Log In to ESPN Account" when prompted.
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Input the email and password associated with your ESPN account that has the ESPN+ membership enabled.
Once successfully logged in, you now have full access to all of ESPN+ live games, on demand content and original programs!
Use your remote to browse featured content tiles or search for specific leagues and teams. Click/select any tile then press play to start watching. It‘s super intuitive from there.
Sit back, customize your watchlist favorites, and enjoy unlimited ESPN+ entertainment on your brilliant Samsung TV!
Pros and Cons of Watching ESPN+ on a Samsung Smart TV
If you‘re still evaluating devices to stream ESPN+ on, how does performance stack up watching on a Samsung smart TV versus other options?
Overall, Samsung televisions deliver excellent playback coupled with intuitive controls through the Tizen platform. But let‘s break down some specific pros and cons:
Pros
- Excellent 4K/8K display quality showcasing sports in stunning detail
- Built-in app access avoids needing an external streaming box
- Snappy performance with no lag navigating menus or switching streams
- Support for AirPlay streaming from Apple devices
- Intuitive point-and-click remote perfect for casual viewing
Cons
- Maximum of 2-3 concurrent ESPN+ streams per account
- No access to core ESPN cable channels
- Missing some Regional Sports Networks (RSNs)
- Can‘t download shows offline for mobile viewing
Again, no solution is completely perfect. But the sheer simplicity sitting back watching ESPN+ on your Samsung big screen makes it a go-to option for sports fans.
Closing Thoughts
And with that sports fans, we‘ve crossed the finish line! We covered everything from detailing ESPN+ features, signing up for an account, downloading and logging into the app, AirPlay streaming, picture performance and pricing comparisons.
The bottom line: Watching ESPN+ on modern Samsung televisions is an absolute pleasure thanks robust hardware and software on both platforms. Streamlining access to thousands of high quality live events without any set top box makes it easier than ever to cut the cord.
So whether you love the NHL, NBA, MLB, college football, UFC and more – Samsung and ESPN+ has you covered. Just kick back with your favorite snacks and cheer on your beloved teams.
Let me know if have any other questions down below in the comments – enjoy the games!
