In an NBA first, the Los Angeles Clippers are providing fans with a wide range of options for watching games without cable, several news outlets report.
The team’s new OTT offering, ClipperVision, fulfills a long-time goal of owner Steve Ballmer and is a potential glimpse into the future of local sports media.
The localized streaming service will offer six different streams, including Spanish-language and Korean-language coverage of live games, the standard telecast, an augmented reality stream and BallerVision, akin to ManningCast, where former players will commentate.
All 74 local in-market games, along with the first round of the playoffs, are included in the $199.99 season price of the subscription.
“I have wanted to create a product like ClipperVision since the day I came to the Clippers,” Ballmer said in a statement. “Years of effort, hard work and development have led up to its launch.”
The NBA franchise, like other traditional broadcasters, leagues and teams, is trying to increase access to its game broadcasts regardless of how viewers like to consume them, and the new service is a part of a larger shift in media strategy for the NBA organization, according to Sportico.
NESN was the first regional sports network (RSN) to launch a direct-to-consumer platform, while Bally Sports+ allows fans of any of its more than 20 RSNs to purchase subscriptions to watch their local teams online.
According to Ballmer, the key to retaining the interest of the following generation of fans is to bring Clippers games into the future of streaming, per Variety.
“We do have a bunch of young people who are cord-cutters or cord-nevers. They can’t be Clipper fans today,” Ballmer said. “If they’re lucky enough, they may go to game a year. But they can’t watch our games. And so the notion of both having a product that would be more available and being able to do new things in it, those were the things that got me fired up.”