You must pay for Max’s B/R Sports add-on from March Madness – IndieWire
I hope you enjoy fall/winter sports! We finally learned some details about Max’s plan to stream live sports. Initial reports that the additional package was free were correct – but only for a limited time.
The Max Live Bleacher Report (B/R) sport tier launches in the US on October 5th and is free for exactly 148 days. (Without the coming leap year there would be 147.)
The starting point is set to give Max subscribers two days to download and install the add-on before Major League Baseball’s National League Division Series begins on October 7th. The NHL regular season begins three days later and the NBA returns two weeks after that.
Starting March 1, 2024, the sports add-on will cost $9.99 per month, just in time for the live streams of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament, which features March the Lamb in March the Lions, transformed. Yes, it’s crazy.
Max will also live stream US soccer events, the NHL Winter Classic, the NBA’s All-Star Weekend, Turner’s popular golf event “The Match” and “24 Hours of Le Mans” – all in all “more than 300 premium live streams each.” games”. Year,” per Max, plus live pre- and post-game coverage and library material. All live sports on Max will continue to air on TNT, TBS and even truTV.
Conspicuously missing from the plan is AEW, also known as All Elite Wrestling, which is owned and operated by Tony Khan, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars. IndieWire reached out to both Warner Bros. Discovery Corporate and Khan about the cease-and-desist letter, but we did not immediately receive a response.
Unsurprisingly, Dana White’s controversial (read: stupid) power slap league wasn’t mentioned either. None of these properties are technically part of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports.
Currently, Apple’s only comparable streaming products come with its Major League Soccer package (available as an Apple TV+ extension or as a standalone product) and “Friday Night Baseball,” which features exclusive Major League Baseball games and requires an Apple TV+ subscription .
“We’re excited to bring WBD’s incredible portfolio of premier live US sports – including simulcasts of our must-see MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA and US Soccer events – as part of B/R’s broad lineup Sports Add-On to offer compelling multi-sports content on Max,” said JB Perrette, CEO and president of WBD’s global streaming and games, in a statement on Tuesday. “The largest collection of entertainment, news and now sports in one place…making Max the most comprehensive streaming service for consumers and confirming why Max is truly The One To Watch.”
Cool slogan plug, JB. The news Perrette is referring to is CNN Max, the latest attempt to stream CNN, which launches September 27th. We hope this works better than CNN+. It really can’t be worse.