Comcast Bundles Sports and News Into a $70/mo Package

Today, Comcast announced a new subscription bundle featuring more than 50 live news, sports, and broadcast channels in exchange for a low flat monthly price. However, you need to be an Xfinity internet customer to access it.

The new Sports & News TV bundle also includes 300 hours of cloud DVR storage, a Peacock subscription (8,000+ hours of live sports), and over a hundred free streaming channels (American Crimes, E! Keeping Up, Fox Sports, Telemundo Al Dia, Today All Day, and Sky News). It costs $70 when paired with Xfinity Internet, with no contract required.

Comcast pointed out its bundle costs less than YouTube TV, which is $83/month. “Save $150/year over YouTube TV on our new ultimate entertainment experience,” reads the landing page for the Sports & News TV bundle. Local news channels like ABC, CBS, CNN, CNBC, FOX News, MSNBC, NBC, Telemundo, and Univision are all included in the bundle. Sports content and 8,000+ hours of live sports come from ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, FS1, GOLF Channel, MLB, NBA, NCAA, NFL, NHL, and SEC Network. Live sports include NFL football, Premier League soccer, and WWE, with NBA basketball “coming soon.”

Xfinity customers can purchase add-ons like More Sports & Entertainment with NFL RedZone, NFL Network, MLB Network, NBA TV, and NHL Network for an extra $9.95/month. The Xfinity StreamSaver add-on brings Netflix with ads and Apple TV+ for an additional $15/month.

The bundle is available to new and existing Xfinity internet broadband subscribers through the Xfinity Stream app on iPhone, Android, Apple TV, Roku, and other smart TV platforms. An X1 set-top box isn’t required, but having one enables additional capabilities such as enhanced 4K streaming, multiview, voice search with the Xfinity remote, and Odds Zone, a feature that displays odds provided by DraftKings and FanDuel alongside the game.

Other streamers provide similar packages that combine sports and news content. For example, DirecTV recently rolled out a similar $70/month sports streaming package, dubbed MySports. However, it’s currently restricted to 24 metro areas in the US and 40 sports and broadcast channels with no local CBS content. Disney’s Hulu + Live TV package costs $82/month but for live TV only.

Unfortunately, a dedicated sports streaming service with a comprehensive channel selection remains a pipe dream. Many individual sports channels, and even individual games, are often spread across several different services. Even Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery couldn’t agree on terms for its live sports streaming service, dubbed Venu Sports, and had killed it before it even had a chance to get off the ground.

Source: Comcast