After Warner Bros. Discovery’s new streaming service, Max, lost 1.8 million subscribers in the last quarter, the company is looking to leverage its sports properties to augment its direct-to-consumer endeavors by offering live game broadcasts for free on the service. At the moment, the service with advertisements costs $10 a month, while the ad-free version is priced at $16, but plans to initially offer these services for free.
By the time the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League enter their playoffs, fans will need to pay extra to watch the games on the app, according to a report from Bloomberg. The same premise would apply for NCAA March Madness, entering a year where the network will televise the semifinals and championship game. The tier is expected to be branded using Bleacher Report, the company’s sports and highlights subsidiary with a foothold on younger demographics.
David Zaslav, chief executive officer of Warner Bros. Discovery, revealed last month that the company has digital rights to all of the sporting properties within its portfolio. The launch of the sports tier comes with two seasons to go in the NBA’s existing national media rights deal and on the heels of Association Commissioner Adam Silver conveying assimilating digital platforms into the next contract.
Fans are expected to have the capability to watch live sports using the over-the-top service starting this fall, aligning with the National Football League and anticipated introduction of ESPN BET to market. There has not yet been a price point set for what the tier would cost after the moratorium period concludes, nor information on if it will be sold separately or as a component to a larger package. Zaslav has publicly advocated for streaming services to bundle benefits together in past discussions, something that could become distinctly apropos as the content ecosystem continues to diffuse across platforms.
Over the years, fans have been able to watch programming from WBD Sports on linear channels including TNT, TBS and truTV among others. Aside from the broadcasts of the contests themselves, the company has been extolled for its informative and entertaining studio programming, headlined by Inside the NBA with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Shaquille O’Neal.
The national sports entity served as the home of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final last season, marking the first time the games were exclusively on cable since 1994. Additionally, TBS airs Major League Baseball games every Tuesday night in the second year of a seven-year contract worth a reported $3.7 billion.
