UPDATE 8/26/17: Sling TV will carry the Mayweather-McGregor fight live on PPV. Click here to get the fight now.
If you needed any more proof that streaming services are disrupting the traditional cable industry, here it is. Sling TV announced today that they’re taking on one of cable’s last strongholds: the pay per view.
Sling TV will offer their very first pay per view event this Saturday, July 29 – UFC 214: Corimier vs. Jones 2. Fans will need to pony up $59.99 to watch, and can order the event by signing on to Sling.com and clicking on the UFC banner.
Of course, this begs the question: what’s next? While Sling hasn’t announced any further plans for pay per view events, the bout that’s on everyone’s mind is coming up in just a month. Will Sling offer the Mayweather vs McGregor Megafight as a pay per view option?
The timing of their first offering is certainly curious. Could UFC 214 be a test run of sorts for Sling to make sure all the bugs are worked out? You can bet that if Sling TV has the ability at all to offer the Mayweather vs McGregor fight, they’ll certainly do it. Regardless of how unmatched many people feel the competitors are, Mayweather-McGregor is going to be one of the most watched bouts in some time.
We reached out to Sling TV for a comment about the possibility of carrying the superfight, and they sent the following in response:
“We are looking forward to our first pay-per-view event this weekend, and although we haven’t announced specific plans to offer other fights, we will carry additional pay-per-view events in the future,” said Ankit Bishnoi, director of content acquisition and strategy at Sling TV.
In addition to the PPV announcement, Sling also had some more good news for current subscribers – they’re adding EPIX Drive-In to Sling Orange and Sling Blue, rolling out a new EPIX Premium add on and launching REELZ in their Hollywood Extra package.
EPIX Drive-in, according to the site, is “full of classic films and original documentaries.” The channel is being added at no extra cost, and will automatically appear in the guide. EPIX Premium (including EPIX, EPIX 2 and EPIX Hits) are now available for just $5 a month extra to base subscribers. REELZ (available for Sling Orange and Sling Blue customers) “brings more movies, specials and shows like The Kennedys and Autopsy: The Last Hours Of…”
You can see the official announcement over at Sling TV’s blog.
