Verizon signs exclusive NBA streaming deal, to offer League Pass at half price
After its extensive NFL deal, Verizon is now striking gold with the NBA, too, entering into a multi-year agreement over games streaming and exclusive content creation, topping it off with AR and VR experiences for basketball aficionados.
Big Red will offer the League Pass for half-price compared to traditional cable TV subscriptions, via its Yahoo Sports subsidiary. Those $99 a season will get you access to the more than 1100 games played for the period, plus the aforementioned exclusive Verizon content and AR shenanigans. The kicker is that against the rumored $400 million partnership with NBA, the carrier will gain exclusivity on mobile, and even current League Pass subscribers will only be able to access their content through Yahoo Sports.
As for the AR and VR part, Verizon will be leveraging the bandwidth of its upcoming 5G network upgrade to handle these buzzwords, and you will even be able to choose an artificially intelligent manager for your fantasy team roster that will engage in day-to-day operational activities while you are sleeping.
The first of the exclusive content that Verizon plans to co-create is called NBA Daily Pass, and will reportedly make a cameo later this year. "It’s our mission to be the first screen that customers go to for sports," said Verizon's VP Brian Angiolet, and we can't blame him for nabbing NBA in the roster, given how NFL's ratings are going down these days. As an added incentive, Yahoo users will be able to stream eight games of their choice for free during the season, too.
source: WSJ (paywall)
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