For those without traditional NESN, there are two plans for $29.99 per month. There’s a month-to-month option with a $1 promotional offer for the first month, while the $329.99 prepaid annual plan comes with eight Red Sox tickets for a limited time.
NESN President and CEO Sean McGrail described the streaming app as “a companion product” to what the network currently offers and a product that will continue to evolve in the years to come.
“This is another opportunity for us to ensure fans have the opportunity to see the teams they love,” said McGrail. “There’s a shift in the media landscape, no question, and this is one way we’re responding to that to make sure we have unidirectional access for all of New England and that all the people who are fans of our teams get access to these products.”
Eighty percent of NESN is owned by Fenway Sports Group, parent company of the Red Sox, with the remainder owned by the Bruins.
Like its fiber, satellite dish, or cable cousins, a NESN 360 user can stream content only if their phone, computer, smart TV, Apple TV, or Roku device is located in the six states of New England, minus Fairfield County in Connecticut.
Once downloaded, a non-NESN customer would select the monthly or yearly plan, while a NESN subscriber would link their app to their existing contributor account.
Open the app and a home page will appear, with the top two clickable options being whatever is currently on the NESN or NESN+. Scroll down and there will be a library of various video on demand features such as: B. recently produced David Ortiz, Jerry Remy or Bruins specials, as well as full retransmissions of past Red Sox games, including nationally televised games.
There will also be content unique to the streaming app that won’t air on the old-school NESN.
Loyal Red Sox fan Jared Carrabis will have his own “Beyond Fenway with Jared Carrabis” show which will feature social visits with Red Sox players.
The “Pitching Ninja”, also known as Rob Friedman, offers insight into the pitching of the Red Sox. For example, the video aired today shows the ninja breaking down what has and hasn’t worked for the club’s staff over the first two months of the season.
Collaborations with other content providers, including The Globe, are in the works.
Later this summer, NESN plans to bring ultra-high definition broadcasting to the app, make the streaming content available on Fire TV and Google TV apps, and maybe bring a live feed of Red Sox betting practices home bring.
This variety of choices is one of three components that went into the network’s considerations when it settled on the $30-per-month price point, said Ahmed Darwish, NESN’s chief marketing officer.
“What we’re offering is a unique offering that no one else on the market offers, 220 live games from the Red Sox and Bruins, two of the top franchises in all esports, plus additional content that we create specifically for the service,” said darwish
According to Darwish, the price also factors in the promotional value of a $1 first month option for monthly users and the $450 value of Red Sox tickets. A Bruins promotional card offer will be offered in the fall.
The network thinks the $1 per day average cost of receiving multiple games per week is fair.
With the “360” in the name, NESN is attempting to position NESN 360 as more than just a live stream content provider.
Sports betting is legal in half of New England – Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire – but significantly not in Massachusetts. Still, Darwish said on NESN 360 that “there is a way to bring sports betting into the future.”
FSG’s ownership of a significant stake in SpringHill Entertainment, owned by FSG partners LeBron James and Maverick Carter, represents another potential avenue for integrating NESN 360 into the FSG family of companies.
Michael Silverman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @MikeSilvermanBB.
