Breaking: Warner Bros. Discovery Eyes MLB Playoffs for Debut of Sports on Max; New Tier to Have Bleacher Report Branding
Well, that didn’t take long! Just days after Warner Bros. Discovery representatives promised to reveal more about the company's plans regarding live sports on Max, CNBC is reporting new details about when users can expect to see a major league sporting event on the platform.
Max is hoping launch a new sports streaming tier by October, when the Major League Baseball playoffs roll around. Current discussions are centered around a simulcast of MLB playoff games on Max and TBS, but the tier will also feature NBA basketball games, NHL hockey games, and NCAA College Basketball Tournament contests as well.
The new tier will also feature content from WBD’s sports and culture website Bleacher Report, which will lend extensive branding to the plan as well. The goal will be to attract younger viewers who would normally skip legacy pay-TV channels to the platform using the Bleacher Report brand.
There were no details forthcoming about what such a plan might cost, as CNBC’s report said Max is still finalizing the price tag. Max currently offers three subscription tiers: its ad-supported plan for $9.99 per month, the ad-free tier for $15.99 per month, and its Ultimate plan for $19.99 per month. It seems safe to assume that the sports streaming tier will be at least $24.99 per month, and likely more considering how much WBD pays for its live sports rights.
No games from leagues like MLB or the NBA will be Max exclusives, at least initially. Sports leagues have asked WBD to only stream games that will simultaneously appear on its cable channels, so that ratings don’t take a nosedive. Max-exclusive NBA games could be built into the next broadcasting deal between the league and WBD should they continue to stay in business with each other; the league’s current contract with its TV partners is up after the 2024-25 season.
The Streamable conjectured that a higher-priced tier would be the most likely option to house live sports on Max, as it would allow WBD to keep users more fully engaged by offering live sports and content from HBO and its other video brands on one platform. Such a model will also help reduce churn, as there won’t be a rash of cancelations from customers who don’t want to watch live sports on Max but are suddenly stuck paying for them anyway. It’s also the method WBD has experience with, as discovery+ has a similar tiered pricing system for its live sports offerings in Europe.
WBD executives have stated several times that there were always plans to put more live sports content on Max once the combined streaming service was up and running. Deploying the NHL, MLB, NBA and NCAA tournament on the service will instantly give Max one of the top live sports lineups of any subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platform on the market. Since the games featured on the service will be simultaneous streams of contests shown nationally, users won’t have to worry about local blackouts either.
The MLB playoffs in October is an ambitious timeline for WBD to set for launching a sports tier of Max, suggesting that they’ve been working behind-the-scenes for a while to ensure they have a reasonable chance of meeting that goal. The company could also bring live news content from CNN to Max this year, though it has promised that such a rollout will occur in international markets before it takes place domestically.
Max
Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library, along with exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Thanks to the B/R Sports add-on, users can watch NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.