ESPN may soon take its flagship channel directly to consumers via a standalone streaming service.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that executives at ESPN and its parent, Disney, are “actively preparing” to sell the ESPN channel and the rest of its linear networks directly to consumers as an alternative to cable packages or even over-the-top streamers like YouTube TV. There is no “firm” timeline for when such a move would occur, per the report. The WSJ also noted that ESPN would continue to offer the TV channel after launching its streaming option.

From the WSJ report, which cited several unnamed sources:

ESPN has begun securing flexibility in its deals with cable providers to offer the channel directly to consumers, the people said. The financial terms of those deals couldn’t be learned. The company is having similar discussions with pro sports leagues as those rights deals come up and has secured the same flexibility from at least two major leagues, the people said.

ESPN journeyed into the streaming space in 2018 with the launch of ESPN+. The monthly streaming service carries live programming like golf, select MLB games, select Big 12 athletics, and others. According to WSJ, it currently has 25.3 million subscribers.

But when an initial round of layoffs at ESPN and other divisions began last month, the man who oversaw the ESPN+ streaming service, Russell Wolff, was among those who left the company. When Bob Iger came out of retirement to take over the reins once again as Disney’s chief executive, he said the company was charting a course to slash $5.5 billion in costs.

ESPN has been, in some respects, operating in a cost-cutting mode. The network was boxed out of the Big Ten’s latest media rights deal and has been said to be negotiating over the Pac-12’s next TV deal for months with the two sides far apart.

At the same time, the Worldwide Leader is looking for more profitability in the streaming space. It recently came to an agreement with Pat McAfee to bring the sports entertainer and his YouTube mammoth “Pat McAfee Show” aboard. McAfee walked away from a 4-year, $120 million deal with FanDuel, meaning ESPN paid a nice chunk of change to have him completely in the fold.

ESPN+ doesn’t offer access to the ESPN channel. It is currently priced at $9.99 a month or $99.99 for a year. In March, Iger called a move that would steer the whole operation toward streaming “inevitable.”

Per WSJ, ESPN gets a $9.42 slice of the average cable TV bill, but the number of Americans with traditional cable packages is dwindling. What a DTC ESPN subscription price would look like remains to be seen.

When Sinclair launched its Bally Sports service last year, it did so with a $20/month price tag. The YES Network (Yankees, Nets, etc.) debuted their own service earlier this year at $24.99 a month. MSG’s new streaming service (Knicks) was priced at $30 a month at launch.