NBA fans will pay more for ESPN streaming this season

NBA fans who rely on ESPN’s standalone streaming service are about to pay a little more to watch games.

According to Variety, ESPN will raise prices for both of its direct-to-consumer plans beginning Sept. 17, just before the start of the NBA season and the busiest stretch of the sports calendar.

ESPN Unlimited will increase from $29.99 to $31.99 per month, while the annual plan will rise from $299.99 to $319.99.

That’s the important one for NBA viewers. Unlimited includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN on ABC, meaning it carries the network’s traditional NBA broadcasts. ESPN Select, which does not include those linear channels, will rise from $12.99 to $13.99 per month and from $129.99 to $139.99 annually.

So if you cut the cord and use ESPN’s standalone service specifically to watch the NBA, the price is going up.

The increase comes almost exactly one year after ESPN launched the service. In an internal memo obtained by Variety, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro called the first year a success.

“Early on, we have delivered,” Pitaro wrote, adding that the company is moving forward with “absolute confidence in where we are headed.”

ESPN still has not disclosed how many subscribers are paying for the standalone plans.

The network has continued expanding its sports inventory, including NFL Network content and a five-year, $1.6 billion WWE agreement.

For NBA fans, though, the bottom line is simpler. Same ESPN games. Slightly higher bill.