THE STREAM TEAMS
MSG’s new way to view its clubs
Cord-cutting fans of the Knicks and Rangers will now be able to stream their favorite teams — at $10 per game.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment announced on Wednesday that it will offer streaming viewers a stand-alone platform that includes access to Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils and Buffalo Sabres games.
The new service, MSG+, will bundle all of the live sports action across MSG Networks platforms.
The service, which is limited to regions whose cable operators carry the Madison Square Garden Network, will be available on a direct-to-consumer basis for a monthly cost of $29.99 — or an annual rate of $309.99.
Fans who prefer to pay for individual games will be charged $9.99 per contest.
“MSG Networks is delighted to be able to offer fans more ways to watch our compelling and awardwinning content,” MSG Network President and CEO Andrea Greenberg said in a statement.
“The introduction of MSG+ this summer will be a significant milestone for our company and will offer a mix of subscription options for fans who do not subscribe to a traditional, bundled pay television subscription,” Greenberg said.
The company also announced it had unveiled MSG SportsZone, a free, adsupported streaming offering whose content is primarily focused around sports betting and classic games. There is no live programming of sports games on MSG SportsZone.
New $$ source
Greenberg told analysts last year that MSG Networks was planning to launch its own app for cordcutters.
Before Wednesday’s announcement, MSG Networks was only available through the FuboTV and the DirecTV Stream platforms.
Linear cable has seen a steady decline of viewers in recent years as subscribers have cut the cord and migrated to direct-to-consumer streaming offerings such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, FuboTV, AppleTV, Amazon Prime, and others.
Part of MSG Network’s reason to offer a direct-toconsumer product may be to help the company create a new source of revenue as it faces a roughly $900 million principal payment in October 2024.
The proliferation of streaming services has dried up the customer base for cable companies — with devastating consequences for regional sports networks.
As exclusively reported by The Post, Diamond Sports Group — which operates 21 Bally Sportsbranded regional sports networks, or RSNs, that account for more than half the local broadcast markets around the country — has been in talks since last fall to sell itself to the sports leagues for as much as $3 billion including debt.