Digital streaming is a game changer for sports – CNBC

Now MLB’s Bowman is applying his digital expertise to an ambitious new venture: He’s bidding on a range of sports rights to build a new kind of digital version of ESPN, and he’s hoping to launch within a few months.

“We’ve been trying to cobble together rights with an eye towards building an app, a first-class app, streaming high quality and putting it on the device (consumers) want best,” said Bowman. Unlike ESPN (owned by Disney), NBC Sports or Fox Sports 1, he doesn’t want his consumers to have to sign into a pay TV service to access the content. This is designed for cord cutters or cord nevers. “Direct to consumer. I think it’s going to be a fast- and deep-growing business, and that’s why we’re in it,” said Bowman. “Whether or not we’ll win it, time will tell.”

In contrast, ESPN says it does not have plans to launch a stand-alone streaming service anytime soon, but it is making its content available to subscribers on any device. “We have authenticated television. All of our content is available on any device,” said ESPN President John Skipper.