The Predators will launch a new direct-to-consumer streaming service for their in-market telecasts under a multiyear agreement, making ViewLift their technology provider. The team-owned subscription platform will be available in addition to free, over-the-air broadcasts on Scripps stations in the club’s broadcast territory, including WNPX-TV in Nashville.
The Predators have not yet announced pricing details for the streaming service, but other NHL teams with ViewLift-powered services have typically charged around $70 for a full season. The platform will be available through web browsers, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku TV, Fire TV and Android TV.
ViewLift’s agreement with the Predators follows the firm’s acquisition by DAZN that closed last week. The combined firm’s client roster for local telecasts now includes 18 professional sports teams and six regional sports networks in the U.S. ViewLift CEO Rick Allen explained that, following the DAZN acquisition, there are three business models that the combined company can offer teams for local streaming.
The Predators opted for ViewLift’s “classic” model, under which the club pays the firm a fee to operate a team-owned service that is separate from DAZN’s own subscription platform. Under this model, the club receives no minimum revenue guarantee and is entirely responsible for acquiring and retaining subscribers.
Typically, these teams share some portion of subscription revenue with their linear partner, which in the Predators’ case is Scripps Sports. The Predators and Scripps will determine how ad sales responsibilities are divided, with ViewLift serving the ads on the platform.
On the opposite end of the spectrum from ViewLift’s classic model is a DAZN exclusive deal, such as the ones signed by the NBA’s T’Wolves and Pacers. In these arrangements, the teams are licensing their local broadcast rights exclusively for DAZN to distribute directly through its own platform. In exchange, the team receives a minimum revenue guarantee, or rights fee, and a share of subscription revenue beyond that threshold. In these cases, the teams do not have a linear partner, meaning DAZN is the only place local telecasts are available in their home markets.
“That’s the perfect model for someone who says, ‘I cannot be operating a media company right now. I’m looking at my on-ice product. I may have a massive real estate development project adjacent to my arena. I got more than enough to do. Let’s hand it over to these guys and have them run it,’” Allen said.
The middle-ground option is a DAZN digital-only deal, which involves a team or regional sports network licensing streaming rights for direct distribution through DAZN while maintaining a presence on linear TV through a separate deal. MSG and YES Networks signed this type of deal, which makes Yankees, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Devils, Islanders and Sabres games available to stream on DAZN.
Alternatively, RSNs can also arrange to have DAZN carry their streaming products non-exclusively through its channel store. This is best illustrated by Monumental Sports’ deal to offer Monumental+, which carries Capitals, Wizards and Mystics games, as an additional subscription through DAZN while maintaining its owned-and-operated service.
“What we want to do with DAZN is be able to satisfy any team’s needs,” Allen said. “With the combination of these three principal products and then the ability to also treat DAZN as a channel store on top of it, we’ve got a model that should work with every team and every team owner.”