WarnerMedia’s HBO Max streaming service is officially entering the live sports business as part of an eight-year deal with the United States Soccer League.
Agreement, that Sports Business Magazine pegged at more than $200 million, will see TNT/TBS and HBO Max air 20 games of the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams annually starting in 2023. About half of those games will stream. streaming on HBO Max and broadcast on TV, with the rest dedicated to the streaming platform.
The deal also includes digital rights and bookmarks to Turner’s Bleacher Report, as well as ancillary content like alternative broadcast feeds (think ESPN’s “Manningcast”) or programming like series behind-the-scenes documents.
“This is an important milestone for Turner Sports and WarnerMedia, further demonstrating our commitment to delivering premium live sports content on HBO Max, while advancing our entertainment, resource and entertainment networks. our leading social and digital assets,” said Lenny Daniels, president of Turner Sports, in a statement. “We are delighted to be eyeing one of the most popular Women’s teams in the world, along with the rising Men’s National Team, in the eight years of this deal. This partnership gives us the opportunity to interact with their passionate, young and diverse fan base through all of our Turner Sports and Bleacher Report platforms. ”
HBO Max becomes the latest mainstream streaming service to use sports to attract subscribers. Paramount’s Paramount + streams NFL games, PGA golf, college football and March Madness basketball, and soccer, among other sports; meanwhile, NBCUniversal’s Peacock streams Premier League, Olympic and WWE football events, among others; Of course, Disney’s ESPN+ has an extensive list of sports to stream, while Hulu has exclusives to some NHL hockey games.
Speaking of NHL, Turner Sports’ seven-year deal, announced last year, gave the company the option to bring some NHL games to HBO Max, though the company has yet to do so, because of those rights. will not take effect until deeper into the rights agreement.
