The sports streaming game has a new player: DirecTV.
The TV provider is launching MySports, a sports subscription streaming service with 40 channels including ESPN, Fox Sports, and the NFL Network. The service launches Tuesday in 24 major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
The new service is the first of several smaller streaming bundles DirecTV said it plans to create — with a mix of live and on-demand content — targeting consumers who may not want a full live TV programming package.
“The introduction of MySports from DirecTV delivers consumers greater choice, flexibility, and control to select the type of content they want to watch at the right value,” said DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow in a statement. “This is the first of several genre-based options we plan to launch over the coming months on our path towards a brighter TV future for consumers.”
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MySports kicks off amid a bustling time for the sports streaming category. Fewer U.S. homes subscribe to full live TV packages — about 71 million, down from 92 million in 2018, according to Leichtman Research.
But viewers continue to tune in to live sports. Spending on sports rights is expected to rise from an estimated $14.64 billion in 2015 to nearly $35 billion by 2027, S&P Global Market Intelligence estimates.
That’s driven lots of industry action. Netflix began streaming WWE’s Monday Night Raw after reaching a reported $5 billion, 10-year deal. The streaming service also streamed its first NFL game on Christmas and has at least one coming in the next two holiday seasons.
Amazon, which began streaming NFL games in 2017, will stream NBA games starting next season.
Sports-centric streaming service Fubo TV and the Walt Disney Co. recently announced plans to merge Fubo’s live TV service with Disney-owned Hulu + Live TV service.
That deal put to rest Fubo’s legal challenge to block a plan by Walt Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros Discovery to launch Venu Sports, a new sports streaming platform with ABC, the ESPN networks, Fox and its sports networks, TNT, TBS, truTV and more.
Days later, Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery announced it was dropping its plans for Venu Sports. “In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels,” the companies said in a statement.
Disney does have a standalone flagship ESPN streaming service expected to launch this fall, Disney CEO Robert Iger told CNBC last year.
You can try MySports with a five-day free trial; just visit the website for more information.
Sign up before Feb. 28 and get MySports for $49.99 monthly for the first three months. After that, you pay $69.99 monthly (you can cancel anytime).
MySports plans to expand into more markets in the future, but here are the initial cities where the service is available now:
Among the channels available on MySports:
Some markets will have local ABC, Fox, and NBC stations with additional stations coming online soon, DirecTV said.Additional sports content can be found on the recently launched MyFree DirecTV service, which has free streaming video content with commercials. Channels include ACC Digital Network, Big 12, Fight Network, Fuel TV, Origin Sports, Pickleball TV, and Women’s Sports Network.
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