Under the terms of US Soccer’s 8-year contract with Turner Sports, US Soccer’s national team opener will debut on HBO Max this January.
The US Women’s National Team (USWNT) kicks off the Turner Sports era on January 17 in a friendly down. It will be the first US national team game to be broadcast by Turner Sports in a deal that runs through 2030. Previously, FOX Sports, Univision and ESPN shared rights to US national team games.
The US game against New Zealand will be the first soccer game to air on WarnerMedia’s HBO Max streaming service in the United States. Outside of this country, HBO Max broadcasts soccer from around the world. For example, HBO Max broadcasts the UEFA Champions League throughout Mexico.
HBO Max’s debut on US Soccer kicks off a new deal
The US Soccer-Turner Sports rights deal marks the first time US Soccer has sold rights without bundling them with Major League Soccer (MLS). The estimated $200 million deal is for US Soccer to keep rather than share the money with Soccer United Marketing and MLS.
The 8-year deal includes all men’s and women’s national team friendlies, the US Open Cup, She Believes Cup, and 2030 World Cup qualification. 2026 World Cup qualification would also be included , but the men’s team is expected to automatically qualify for the tournament by virtue of co-hosting with Canada and Mexico. But there has been no official news from FIFA yet.
In general, we can expect 20+ games per year at the various Turner Sports outlets.
So where exactly will the matches show up?
Turner Sports has said that approximately 10 games will be broadcast on Turner’s cable stations TBS and TNT each year. But every game, whether it airs on TBS/TNT or not, appears to be airing on HBO Max, the streaming service of WarnerMedia (Turner’s parent company). It’s worth noting that Bleacher Report also falls under the WarnerMedia umbrella, another online destination that could be used to show less popular matches.
However, this is where the confusion arises. Don’t get too used to the name HBO Max, as WarnerMedia (which owns HBO and Turner Sports) merged with Discovery in April 2022 to create a new company under the Warner Bros Discovery name.
The new company has announced plans to launch a new streaming service that will include all the content the newly merged company owns, including HBO Max. The new streaming service will compete directly with Netflix and Disney+.
Plans are to launch the new streaming service sometime in the spring of 2023. At that point, HBO Max will be gone unless Warner Bros. Discovery makes more u-turns.
The football television landscape can be tricky
These days, we know it’s not easy being a football fan. Not only in the United States, but all over the world it is the same as streaming services interrupt the traditional television model.
In the US, the Premier League is on Comcast’s NBC/Peacock service. La Liga and the Bundesliga are on ESPN+ from Disney. Serie A, the UEFA Champions League and other European Cup competitions are on CBS’s Paramount+.
Meanwhile, several other leagues are scattered across a variety of different streaming services. And now, USMNT and USWNT have a new home at Warner Bros-Discovery.
One thing is certain. We will continue to keep you posted on where to watch the games.
