Question for you Mr. Laura.
The vast majority of NHL games are carried by ESPN+
Not exclusively but the vast majority.
How does this affect ESPN+ in the coming season and for how long?
Are there any other probabilities?
- GeoffY
It depends on how you watch. For me, most of the games I watch are on Bally and ESPN + is a rebroadcast of RSNs. When ESPN actually broadcasts you have their crew/desk/pregame etc. when they make the rebroadcast a pass through you have the local setup. The complication is 2 part. If all ESPN properties are in the stand alone DTC it becomes a separate subscription for even the content that would be broadcast as ESPN proper and available through your subscription. The RSNs now need a new home. Bally plus stand alone is being pushed for MLB but it’s a property that will lose their parent co. With a VPN viewers have overcome the local blackouts and are using ESPN +. Unfortunately it looks more and more like the entire ESPN family will be stand alone with rates at the 30 to 50 dollar mark and only available streaming with RSNs now needing a new home that looks to
Be streaming only. It doesn’t seem like just a subscription to ESPN + will give the same access if the parent company loses the PSF of the broadcast platforms. The replacement, integration, and monetary setup are all in flux. Until those solutions are presented the ESPN hub will go up in price to account for lost broadcast revenue after departing from those platforms. That still leaves the questions of who will own the streaming rights for more than a dozen markets and if they will make it available to ESPN. Amazon has been in the mix for those broadcasts.
