After the Q2 2023 investor call last week where Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive officer David Zaslav shared that the company would be moving out of the regional sports network business, the industry has more clarity on the company’s future plans. The Max streaming service, which was unveiled in May and has approximately 95.8 million subscribers, will introduce a sports tier to its subscribers at a price to be determined.
WBD Sports has all of the digital rights for its key broadcast properties, including the National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and March Madness NCAA basketball tournament. Media rights for national broadcasts of the NBA expire at the conclusion of the 2024-25 regular season, a time when the league could consider expansion.
This tier will reportedly be introduced with the start of the Major League Baseball postseason, which Warner Bros. Discovery Sports covers on TBS. Shortly thereafter, basketball and hockey will make their returns and contribute to an amalgamation of sports content, perhaps compelling fans to sign up for the tier when programming is bundled. Bleacher Report, the company’s digital property targeted towards appealing to millennial sports fans, will brand the tier and utilize its vast content portfolio to enhance the offerings. The enterprise expects highlights and user-generated content to catalyze interest in signing up for the tier and appealing to younger generations of fans.
News of the company’s plans was first reported by CNBC on Monday, which also learned that the pricing for the tier is expected to be higher since sports are included. While the stock price is down for Tuesday, it increased by 2.7% on Monday upon reports of the future plans. The company is also saving several million dollars because of the ongoing strikes by labor unions SAG-AFTRA and WGA against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, but is thriving because of the success of movies such as Barbie and Meg 2: The Trench.
As more consumers hastily cut the cord, large broadcast entities have been trying to keep up and make sure they are present wherever people are consuming content. It is essentially serving as a presage to the networks that the business model is conspicuously changing, expedited by innovations in technology and alterations in consumption habits. Despite losing subscribers last quarter, Max still ranks ahead of many other over-the-top streaming services (OTT), including Hulu, ESPN+ and Paramount+.
The latest Nielsen Gauge Report evinces Max augmenting its market share as streaming consumption continues to eclipse broadcast and cable television. This streaming tier has the potential to resemble B/R Live, which was launched in 2018 and streamed several live events and programming, including The Dan Patrick Show before it partnered with Peacock to simulcast the show.
Max is currently priced at $15.99 per month without advertisements, and $9.99 a month with commercials. For reference, B/R Live cost $9.99 for a monthly pass and $79.99 for an annual pass, giving viewers access to everything from arm wrestling to the UEFA Champions League. The endeavor was eventually dissolved and became a part of the Bleacher Report app, one of the most downloaded sports applications in the United States.
