Monumental Sports Network releases new digital subscription format

Monumental Sports announced on Thursday that Monumental Sports Network will launch a subscription based format for a significant amount of its content.

Here are are some of the highlights and you can read everything here:

• The subscription is $12.99/month or $107.88/year (pro-rated at $8.99/month). That said, season ticket holders for the Wizards, Capitals, Mystics and/or Valor will get theirs included with their season tickets — starting in 2017-18.
• Two Monumental teams: the Mystics and the Valor will have all of their games broadcast live on the network.
• The Capitals’ AHL and ECHL affiliates: the Hershey Bears and South Carolina Stingrays respectively will have their games broadcast live as well.
• You will also get to see more smaller-scale sports on the network. This includes high school sports, the co-ed National Pro Grid League, and United Social Sports.
• The Wizards and Capitals will have their in-season documentaries, along with pregame shows without segmented interruptions.
• You can also watch a number of original sports documentaries on basketball and the Arena Football League.
• You can watch the content on Apple iOS, Android, Roku, Amazon Fire and online.

The network will also have a live midday show.

This is an ambitious project since Monumental will now start monetizing its streaming content. I get that season ticket holders will get complimentary subscriptions, but here are some things that I have questions or opinions on.

• Why is there no subscription for a single team? It is not a bad thing to see that the network has an “All-Inclusive” option. But do hockey-first fans in Hershey, PA really have a connection with the Washington area? Do they want to see the Mystics, the Valor, or the Wizards for that matter?
• It’s nice to see that Monumental is promoting the distribution of content around non “Big Four” sports leagues. But it still does not involve the inclusion of all Wizards and Capitals content — including live games via streaming app. Part of that is because the Monumental agreed to extend its partnership with CSN Mid-Atlantic to air their games on television through at least 2030, according to Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post.
• And speaking about non-Big Four league teams, the Mystics and the Valor are certainly looking for any way to increase their reach. Assuming that their streaming content is only available online — and via an internet subscription — it’s going to be harder for them to get recognized more.

How do you all feel about the subscription-based plans for Monumental Sports Network? In short, I think that this day was coming for sure, but I’m not sure if the subscription price is warranted for sports fans who are only interested in one or a few of the smaller sport leagues. Let us know what you think in the comments below.