Turner Bowing Live Sports Streaming Service
March 27, 2018
As expected, Turner Sports will launch a live-sports streaming service in April. Dubbed, “Bleacher Report Live,” after the B/R online sports information platform, the service will initially be free, with “flexible” pricing plans to be rolled out later.
The platform reportedly will bow April 7 streaming “Spring League” football with Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.
The service – which is powered by Turner’s iStreamPlanet – is slated to carry UEFA Champions and Europa League soccer, NBA League Pass, PGA Championship, NCAA championship events (excluding football and basketball), lacrosse, rally racing and arm wrestling, among other sports.
“B/R Live” comes as Disney readies “ESPN Plus,” a $4.99 monthly SVOD service powered by BAMTech targeting cord-cutters, millennials and other non-pay-TV subscribers.
Notable to B/R Live – subscribers can acquire access on a per-game basis.
“That’s very important,” Lenny Daniels, president of Turner Sports, said March 27 at a press event.
Indeed, consumers will also be able to acquire “micro-transaction” access, which includes minutes of live action to a sporting event.
“When you have a two-and-a-half-hour event, some fans know they don’t have time to watch [a whole NBA game],” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver. “To me, it’s a logical evolution of where we’ve gone [with NBA Pass].”