Max will reportedly start offering free sports later this year – The Verge

By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.
Max, the streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, could soon offer sports that you can watch for free during a limited period of time, according to a report from Bloomberg. The promotion will reportedly start later this year, with Warner Bros. Discovery hoping to attract more viewers by showing live basketball, baseball, and hockey games.
You may only get to watch free sports for a few months, though, as sources tell Bloomberg that it will make viewers start paying in February or March next year. Warner Bros. Discovery currently owns the media rights for several major sports, including the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), and others.
The company is reportedly considering using the March Madness college basketball games, which it airs on its linear TV channels, as a selling point. That tracks with last month’s report from CNBC, which suggests that Max will launch a new sports streaming tier around the same time that MLB playoffs begin in October. Warner Bros. Discovery also plans on incorporating highlights and interviews from its sports outlet, Bleacher Report, CNBC reports. Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment.
In addition to Max, major streamers have begun turning to live sports as a way to draw in more viewers. While Paramount Plus offers live football through CBS, Amazon Prime Video exclusively airs Thursday Night Football, and Apple has launched its own Major League Soccer season pass. There’s also football and soccer on Peacock, along with the ESPN Plus streaming service offered by Disney.
Update September 6th, 2:13PM ET: Added that WBD declined to comment.
/ Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we’ve tested sent to your inbox daily.
The Verge is a vox media network
© 2023 Vox Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved

source

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back To Top