Fans in 18 markets across the country are about to receive an intriguing offer through DirecTV MYSports.
DirecTV’s MySports skinny bundle is reportedly adding regional sports networks in select markets with a MyHome Team add-on, per a report by Jason Clinkscales in Sportico. The areas covered include any market with a FanDuel Sports Network, the Chicago Sports Network, the Chicago Cubs’ Marquee Sports Network, and Altitude Sports in Denver. The add-on will run customers an additional $19.99 per month on top of the $69.99 per month cost of the MySports package.
While $90 per month is a steep price, not much cheaper than traditional cable and satellite subscriptions that include entertainment channels, the add-on price is in line with what regional sports networks are charging for their direct-to-consumer products. And as more regional sports networks get shifted to higher, more expensive tiers on traditional cable and satellite packages, $90 per month begins to look like a bargain price for a sports fan that wants to receive all of the national sports channels in addition to their local sports channels.
The add-on gives DirecTV a distinct advantage over a service like YouTube TV, which does not include regional sports networks in most markets (and none of the markets that DirecTV is offering). And as a sweetener, MySports includes ESPN+ content for subscribers as well.
Speaking with Sportico, DirecTV’s head of communications Jon Greer said, “We designed these [bundles] to reach an entirely new market, and a little bit more [direct-to-consumer] friendly price points. What we’ve seen in our sales and sign-up flow is that we are doing just that. We’re hitting a new market without slowing down the growth of the DirecTV signature packages.”
That’s the key for these new skinny bundles; attract a new segment of customers, generally people that have never subscribed to a cable bundle or have already cut the cord, without killing the golden goose that is traditional pay TV.
“Maybe some who are had DirecTV before and are considering, ‘OK, what does this look like to come back?'” Greer told Sportico. “Or maybe they’ve tried other virtual multi-video distributors and seen that their experience and their interface isn’t as robust as ours, particularly for a sports fan.”
Slowly but surely, more options are coming to market that can satisfy a wide-ranging swath of sports fans. And while not everyone will be willing to pay $90 per month for this specific offering, the mere existence of new bundling options for sports fans is a positive. As more companies enter the market, the more competitive the segment will get, which hopefully means more attractive options for the consumer.
