Q: What is Bleacher Report Live?

A: Bleacher Report Live is a brand-new legal streaming service that will broadcast sports to consumers in the United States. Bleacher Report Live, or B/R Live, will be a subscription service (pricing to be announced).

Q: Why should soccer fans be aware of it?

A: Beginning with the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League and Europa League seasons, Turner Sports will be the exclusive rights holder to the competitions in the United States. With Turner Sports owning Bleacher Report (who they bought for a reported $175 million in 2012), Turner has decided to stream most of the Champions League and Europa League games.

Every single game of the UEFA Europa League will be on B/R Live except for the final on TBS or TNT. Approximately half of the UEFA Champions League games will be available exclusively on B/R Live.

Q: What happened to FOX? Why won’t they have coverage?

A: FOX Sports lost the rights to the UEFA Champions League for the 2018/19 to 2020/21 seasons. FOX’s 2017/18 season will be their last as the broadcaster for the Champions League and Europa League in the United States.

Q: When will B/R Live launch?

A: It’s expected to launch in early April 2018. The UEFA Champions League and Europa League coverage will begin in late July or early August.

Q: What details have been revealed regarding the commentators and talent that Turner Sports plans on hiring to broadcast the Champions League and Europa League to viewers in the US?

A: As of press time, the only announcement has been that former NBA star Steve Nash will be one of the soccer analysts.

Q: What other sports, leagues or competitions will B/R Live include?

A: There are no other soccer properties. But the Bleacher Report Live paid service will also include NBA League Pass games, 65 NCAA Championships, PGA Championship, National Lacrosse League, The Spring League, Red Bull Global Rallycross, World Arm Wrestling League and more to be announced.

NBA League Pass, in particular, will provide an innovative, first-of-its-kind experience that will allow fans to purchase and watch live NBA games in progress at a reduced price. Available on B/R Live, the NBA App and NBA.com, the new offering for all NBA League Pass games will debut for the 2018-19 regular season.

There’s always a chance that Bleacher Report Live may try to acquire other soccer properties such as the FA Cup and Serie A as well as other leagues/competitions.

Q: What’s the URL for B/R Live?

A: It’s at live.bleacherreport.com

Q: Which streaming services will compete with Bleacher Report Live?

A: Many of the media companies are beginning to launch their own streaming services. In addition to B/R Live, there is ESPN+ (to launch in late April or early May), NBC Sports Gold, FOX Sports Go, beIN SPORTS Connect and others.

Q: What will the price be?

A: No announcement has been made regarding the price, but the Bleacher Report Live will be free until June. At that time, the service will move to a paid subscription plan.

Bleacher Report Live will give consumers the option to subscribe to live games on an individual or subscription basis.

Interestingly, basketball fans on B/R Live will able to pay as little as 99 cents for five minutes of live action according to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Q: What are the goals of the new B/R Live service?

A: According to Turner Sports, the new B/R Live streaming platform will provide three core services: (1) Find and watch live sports with the ability to scroll through a feed of real-time sporting events, (2) Personalization features which aggregate live sports content that is the best fit for each fan and (3) A modern approach to live sports discovery, giving fans the tools to locate and watch their favorite games.

Q: ESPN+ will be powered by BAMTech. What will B/R Live be powered by?

A: B/R Live is powered by Turner’s iStreamPlanet, the streaming-infrastructure provider the company acquired in 2015.

Q: What devices will B/R Live be accessible on?

A: Initially, it’ll be launching on iOS, web and Android devices. In the summer, it will launch on TV-connected devices (presumably Roku and AppleTV).

If you have any questions about Bleacher Report Live, let us know in the comments section below and we’ll do our best to answer them for you.