MSG+ Launches This Weekend as First US-Based RSN Streamer to Offer Single-Game Purchases
New York-area sports fans are getting a brand-new way to watch the Knicks, Rangers and more local sports. MSG is officially rolling out its MSG+ streaming service on Sept. 24, after soft-launching the service in June.
Depending on where in New York a user lives, MSG+ will offer live games from the Knicks, Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils and [Buffalo Sabers]. Users who get MSG with their cable subscription will be able to access the service for free using their TV Everywhere credentials, and those who don’t can pay $29.99 per month or $309.99 per year to get full access to the streamer and all of its live games in their area.
“This is an exciting time for MSG Networks and fans of our teams,” MSG Networks president and CEO Andrea Greenberg said. “MSG+ is a game-changer for fans who do not subscribe to a traditional, bundled pay television subscription and a win for our subscribers of participating traditional distribution partners who will have free access to this robust streaming service.”
One of the innovations that fans will love most about MSG+ is that they can sign up for the service to watch just one game if they choose. Individual game broadcasts will cost $9.99 each, and MSG+ is the first streamer from a regional sports network in the United States to make a single-game option available.
But why don’t other streamers and teams offer single-game plans? It’s a complex question, and a full answer would involve combing through voluminous broadcast contracts between leagues and networks to see what’s allowable and what isn’t. But the short answer is that sports leagues distribute their local and national broadcasting rights in different ways. For example, the NFL eschews the RSN model altogether, keeping all of its games on nationally-broadcast networks. The league itself could possibly choose to offer single-game streaming plans on NFL+, but it wants customers to think of its product as a national one, not regional.
The MLB, NBA, and NHL are a bit different, not only because they still use RSNs to distribute their games in local markets, but because there are so many more games per season in those leagues. That decreases the value of a single game to broadcasters, which means it’s less of a disruption to their revenue streams to offer a single-game package. Other RSN-afflliated streamers like NESN 360 or the YES App could theoretically jump on single-game offerings in the future; and if MSG’s experiment proves to be successful, they probably will.
The Knicks open their season on Oct. 25 against the Boston Celtics, and the Rangers play the Sabers on Oct. 12 to start their season. The former game will be nationally broadcast, but the latter will be available on MSG+ to subscribers who sign up monthly, annually, or just for a single game.
MSG+
MSG+ is a streaming service for sports in the New York/New Jersey area. Subscribers get live coverage of games from the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres (depending on your market), along with 24/7 live feeds of MSG Network and MSG SportsNet.