It will soon cost more to watch live sports on Max. Plus: Noah Eagle has been officially announced as a play-by-play voice for the new edition of the NBA on NBC; ABC has added the game in which Alex Ovechkin could set the all-time goals record; Fox to air the MLB season opener from Tokyo.
Max will not charge extra fee, but still raising price for live sports
The Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service Max has abandoned plans to charge an additional $10/mo fee for access to its “B/R Sports” add-on — which includes live streams of all sporting events on TNT, TBS and truTV — but is nonetheless raising the price by restricting access to its $17/mo “standard” and $21/mo “premium” tiers.
Currently, the B/R Sports included in all Max subscriptions, including the $10/mo “basic” tier. The change will go into effect March 30, the day after TNT Sports concludes its coverage of the upcoming NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Eagle officially announced as NBC NBA voice
NBC Sports announced Tuesday that Noah Eagle will serve as a play-by-play voice on its NBA coverage that begins next season, a move that had been widely expected. Eagle is expected to call at least one game a week starting in October. His new role will not affect his position as NBC’s lead college football voice.
Eagle is the fourth official member of the new “NBA on NBC” cast, joining lead play-by-play voice Mike Tirico and analysts Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford. During its original run, NBC’s “B” team featured play-by-play luminaries Mike Breen, Tom Hammond, Greg Gumbel and Dick Enberg.
While Eagle has called any number of high-profile sporting events in his career — including a Nickelodeon simulcast of the Super Bowl — the NBA is his first regular national major league gig.
Possible Ovechkin record-setter added to ABC
The April 12 Capitals-Blue Jackets NHL regular season game — in which Capitals RW Alex Ovechkin would break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record for career goals if he keeps his current pace — has been added to ABC, it was announced Tuesday. The network was previously slated to carry Islanders-Flyers.
Capitals-Wild on March 27 has also been added to national TV, albeit as a streaming exclusive on ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu.
Fox to air Dodgers-Cubs games from Tokyo
Fox Sports will carry the season-opening Dodgers-Cubs Major League Baseball series from the Tokyo Dome, it was announced Tuesday. Game one is set to air on the FOX broadcast network March 18, with game two on FS1 the following day. Both games are set to begin at 6 AM ET.
The two previous overseas openers — Dodgers-Padres in Seoul last year and Mariners-A’s in Tokyo in 2019 — aired on ESPN. In 2014, a season-opening Dodgers-Diamondbacks series in Australia aired on MLB Network.
