Disney loses its bid to block Sling TV’s one-day streaming passes

Will this open up the door for Sling’s right to push its one-day streaming passes?

by Emmanuel Umahi

Updated November 20, 2025

Streaming used to be the escape route from expensive long-term cable contracts. Now, platforms are slowly starting to look like cable again: pricey bundles, year-long commitments, and a lot of stuff you don’t watch. That’s why Sling TV’s new experiment caught people’s attention: live TV you can buy for just a day.

Disney didn’t like that idea one bit. When Sling introduced one-day live TV passes starting at $4.99, Disney immediately sued. The offer included several Disney-owned channels, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and Disney Channel, and Disney argued that the move violated its contract with Sling, which it claimed required channels to be packaged only through monthly subscriptions.

But a federal judge in New York didn’t see a problem. On Tuesday, US District Judge Arun Subramanian ruled that Disney failed to show any “irreparable harm”, meaning there wasn’t enough evidence that Sling’s temporary passes hurt Disney’s business or reputation. He also pointed out something important: the contract never specified a minimum subscription length. A one-day customer is still a subscriber.

Disney tried to argue that the passes might steal users away from ESPN Unlimited, its new standalone sports streaming service. The judge dismissed that too, saying Disney couldn’t prove it had lost customers to Sling. To celebrate, Sling immediately dropped the one-day pass to just $1.

The takeaway

This ruling doesn’t end the lawsuit, but it sends a strong message: streaming companies can’t keep pretending we still live in the cable era. If Sling’s short-term subscription model sticks, it could spark a shift toward micro-access streaming, cheaper, flexible, pay-for-what-you-need viewing.

For everyday users tired of being forced into bulky monthly bundles, this could be the start of a more consumer-friendly era. For companies like Disney, it’s a warning shot: you can’t lock people into old business models forever.

Sling wants to make TV more affordable and flexible, while Disney is trying to protect long-standing revenue structures. With lawsuits and new pricing tests shaking things up, will we see streaming shift from one big monthly subscription to a pay-for-what-you-want model? Time will tell.