The Indiana Fever franchise of US women’s basketball’s elite WNBA has partnered with the Endeavor Streaming entertainment technology firm to launch its own direct-to-consumer OTT service, Fever Direct.
Built on Endeavor Streaming’s Vesper platform, an end-to-end streaming solution, Fever Direct will host as many as 18 of the team's home regular season games each season live, as well as delayed on demand.
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The service, costing $29.99 annually for a season pass, will be available to fans living in the Fever’s designated market area of Indiana and select surrounding areas.
Fever Direct’s first live broadcast will take place on Tuesday (May 20) when the team, spearheaded by high-profile star Caitlin Clark, will take on the Atlanta Dream.
The partnership was brokered by Range Sports, consultancy partners of Fever owner Pacers Sports & Entertainment.
Endeavor Streaming already provides similar services for a host of the world’s most prominent sports properties and organizations, including European soccer’s UEFA body, rugby union’s World Rugby governing body, and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.
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By GlobalDataIn 2024, men’s NBA basketball franchise the Dallas Mavericks launched its own DTC platform with Endeavor streaming, indicating the increasing prevalence of DTC consumption among basketball franchises contrasted with the growing fragility of linear broadcast contracts with regional sports networks, and cord cutting among the US public who wish to eschew traditional costly pay-TV packages in favor of streamlined streaming bundles.
Speaking on the deal, Fever president of basketball and business operations Kelly Krauskopf alluded to this, saying: “Fever Direct is another great option for our fans to watch our team, particularly those who have cut the cord.”
Endeavor streaming president Fred Santarpia added: “Direct-to-consumer streaming represents a significant opportunity for teams like the Indiana Fever to not just serve existing fans in new ways, but to also reach new fans by offering frictionless experiences on the device of their choice.”
Prior to the launch of MavsTV, the Mavericks also opted into a multi-year local broadcast deal with media business Tegna, which this week also expanded its broadcast deal with the Fever to 11 new markets.
Eleven new broadcast markets across the US Midwest will showcase the 18 games per year that Tegna holds the rights for, free and over-the-air.
Added markets include Iowa with the WOI station Des Moines and the WQAD station in Davenport. Iowa is Clark’s home state, and with the Iowa Cyclones her college Alma Mater, she naturally boasts a major fanbase in the area.
