Monumental Sports Network has announced a new, direct-to-consumer (DTC) subscription service for fans looking in watching live game broadcasts and other programming. Users can sign up to receive access to view Washington Mystics and Washington Wizards basketball, Washington Capitals hockey and other professional sports, in addition to other membership networks. Cable television subscribers can simply log in to the service to access the same benefits and will not need to purchase an additional membership. Those without a pay TV subscription can choose a monthly or annual membership, priced at $19.99 and $199.99 per year, respectively, and can use the app through various digital platforms.
The first game broadcast on the platform takes place on Tuesday, Oct. 10 when the Wizards face Cairns Taipans, a National Basketball League team emanating from Australia, starting at 7 p.m. EST. While the Mystics are currently in the offseason, the Capitals begin the 2023-24 campaign on Monumental Sports Network with a battle against the Calgary Flames on Monday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.
“We are delighted to make our network more accessible to fans without a Pay TV subscription by launching direct-to-consumer memberships,” Zach Leonsis, president of media and new enterprises at Monumental Sports & Entertainment, said in a statement. “Distributing our programming in new and additional ways is critical to our strategy of building the best local media platform in sports.”
This new digital platform grants fans additional viewing capabilities, including multiple camera angles during home games, rewind functionality and personalization features. Moreover, fans will be able to watch shows both live and on demand, along with receiving score alerts, news updates and a network newsletter. Annual memberships allow for fans to stream games on multiple devices, receive discounts on team merchandise, apparel and game tickets, and gain presale access to regular season and playoff matchups. The first 10,000 subscribers will also receive a limited-edition bobblehead set featuring Elena Delle Donne, Kyle Kuzma and Alexander Ovechkin.
Monumental Sports Network worked on the enhancements with ViewLift, which provides distribution solutions through multiple avenues of dissemination for over-the-top (OTT) platforms. Subscribers can tune in to the action on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV, all of which will have Sportradar integrations, an invariable user interface and the ability to link Ticketmaster accounts for a more facile aggregate process.
“We are excited to have built the Monumental Sports Network apps to enable fans of the Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics to watch all the live action and VoD content on desktop, mobile, tablet, and both Apple TV and Fire TV –with more platforms to come,” Rick Allen, chief executive officer of ViewLift, said in a statement. “Sports fans in the D.C. region are some of the most technologically sophisticated anywhere, and these Monumental streaming services continue the company’s leadership in super-serving that fanbase. We’ve been Monumental’s streaming partner for eight years and are particularly proud of this latest version of the Monumental Sports Network.”
Monumental Sports Network joins a handful of other regional sports networks – such as MSG Networks and NESN – in launching a direct-to-consumer offering ahead of the start of the hockey and basketball seasons. The platform rebranded from NBC Sports Washington last month, completing a transition after ownership of the outlet was acquired by Monumental Sports & Entertainment last September.
