The cable television vs. streaming service battle has a new entrant and it’s an intriguing one. On Wednesday, NESN (New England Sports Network) launched a standalone streaming subscription option that does not need a cable television subscription.
The option will allow people to sign up and watch live games featuring the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins. The service, called NESN 360, is only available to residents of the New England area.
The service is the first of it’s kind from a regional sports network. “We believe the direct subscription option will build on NESN’s reach in the region,” said Sean McGrail, NESN’s president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
NESN 360 will offer an introductory price of $1 for the first month of service followed by a $29.99 per month charge. That’s a far cry from other streaming services that have become popular like Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max. NESN 360 hopes the lure of live sports will be enough to bring consumers to the table. Regional sports networks have to charge a significantly higher price for an out-of-cable service because of their agreements with cable TV providers. Cable providers have agreed to pay NESN a flat monthly fee based on estimates about viewership.
A major hiccup might come when the Red Sox head on the road. MLB owns out-of-market streaming rights for its MLB TV platform. The Red Sox are at home on Wednesday and travel to Oakland on Friday.
This will also give NESN consumers another option to receive their area’s MLB and NHL home games. NESN is amongst many regional sports networks that have had their battles with cable and satellite providers about carriage and rights fees.
