One of the first regional sports networks to offer a direct-to-consumer streaming service for live game broadcasts has significantly lowered its price. NESN, the official broadcast home for the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins, will reduce the cost of an annual subscription to its streaming service, NESN 360, by 27%. As stated in a press release from the network on Tuesday morning, the new annual subscription price will be $240, down from $330.
The price reduction took effect on Friday but was only announced on Tuesday, leading to a notable increase in subscribers. NESN president David Wisnia remarked, “Inflation is high. There’s a saturation limit in terms of DTC right now, and we wanted to get into people’s homes and make it as available as we can, while balancing the financials of it and making sure it still makes sense for us.” He revealed that “in the last couple days alone, we’re talking double-digit increases in terms of our sub numbers and sub acquisition.”
However, for fans interested in a monthly subscription, NESN 360 will not offer any discounts; it will continue to be priced at $30 per month, likely to encourage potential subscribers to opt for the annual plan, thus reducing churn. NESN’s pricing is now more aligned with other similar streaming services — for instance, YES Network also charges $240 annually, while MSG Network has a yearly subscription of $270.
While these rates are higher than some team-specific subscriptions, like the Texas Rangers’ offering of all their games for just $100 per year on the Victory+ streaming app, NESN provides 24/7 programming, in contrast to team-specific subscriptions that only include live game broadcasts, pregame, and postgame shows.
