Great news, NBA fans!
In a world of rising streaming service costs, the NBA is doing your wallet a little favor this year.
Ahead of the 2022-23 season, the league is dropping its NBA League Pass subscription packages from top to bottom, as reported first by Jacob Feldman of Sportico.
The standard package will now reportedly be offered for $99 annually, which is down from its $230 price tag last season. And the premium package also drops from $280 last season to $129.99.
A price cut comes as a bit of a surprise as the NBA League Pass subscriptions increased significantly during the 2021-22 season.
Streamable’s Matt Tamanini explains the reasoning behind the decision:
Despite seeing a 30% increase in subscriptions last season, League Pass is seemingly lowering its price in order to stay more in line with other streaming services. ESPN+ upped its subscription rates by 43% earlier this month, but still only comes in at $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually.
In addition to keeping up with the competition, I can’t help but think about this move from a sports betting angle.
Perhaps it wasn’t the NBA’s motive, but more affordable prices will only further grow the number of subscribers. More subscribers mean more engagement, which could mean more participation in gambling, something that the league has continued to push publicly in recent years.
I know I’ll be tuning in to track my NBA futures bets. But even if you’re not a gambling person, the service becoming more affordable is a huge win for fans everywhere.
Good move, NBA.
