Washington, DC–area RSN Officially Rebrands to Monumental Sports Network on Wednesday
The former NBC Sports Washington was acquired by Monumental Sports & Entertainment in 2022
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It’s a big day in the RSN business and the DMV area as Monumental Sports Network officially launched on Wednesday.
The DC-area regional sports network NBC Sports Washington officially rebranded to Monumental Sports Network on Wednesday.
The new RSN is the final rebranding of the former NBC Sports Washington, which parent company Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), acquired back in 2022. The plans for the rebrand had been announced in June. Fans in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia are can access the network on the same channel number where NBC Sports Washington existed on their Pay TV cable provider.
“Since acquiring NBC Sports Washington one year ago to the day, we have spent every day since building what we believe will be the best local media experience for the greatest fans in all of sports,” Zach Leonsis, President of Media & New Enterprises at Monumental Sports & Entertainment said in an official release. “Our fans deserve the best experience possible, so we challenged ourselves to push every standard and deliver an extraordinary media platform. We’re excited to begin the network’s transformation this month with additional plans to unveil several significant upgrades throughout the course of the Capitals and Wizards regular seasons.”
Monumental Sports Network will serve as the new regional live rightsholder of the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, the NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go, and the NBA 2K League’s Wizards District Gaming.
Two big new features to be out on the look for are a new studio set which will debut in December and a robust digital experience for streaming of live games.
Monumental Sports Network plans to open a new production facility near Capital One Arena in early 2024. Here is a rendering of one of the main studios that are being built in the ST-2110 facility. (Courtesy: Monumental Sports & Entertainment)
Monumental Sports Network is currently in the process of building out a new production facility and broadcast studio – located right next to Capital One Arena – that is expected to open in the early part of 2024. It will be a SMPTE 2110 facility with two studios for live game shoulder programming and other purposes. The facility is expected to also host two insert studios and five control rooms to enable the production of multiple events simultaneously.
When the production facility opens, Monumental Sports Network plans to upgrade its video quality to to 1080p at 60 frames per second (fps) – the network currently delivers 1080i at 30fps. Plans for the facility are said to be future-proofed to allow for the network to upgrade to 4K when it sees fit.
“While the local media ecosystem continues to evolve, we seek to build the exemplar local media platform in all of sports,” added Leonsis. “The value of live sports rights continues to grow, which is why we are so confident in making these significant investments back into our local rights. We will do more with our live rights than ever before, upgrading the existing live experience, and producing more programming to the benefit of our fans and business partners. We look forward to debuting many more additional upgrades and enhancements throughout the NBA and NHL regular seasons.”
Among the many planned additional features on the Monumental Sports streaming product is the ability access alternate angles during the live game.
As for the live streaming product, users can access Monumental Sports Network on desktop, mobile, tablet, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV. Users will need to authenticate using their Pay TV credentials to stream live content. Users who had the previous Monumental Sports Network app downloaded on their digital devices will receive a new version of the app via a standard app update.
In an official release, Monumental Sports Network outlined the following features of its new digital experience:
- Access to multiple camera angles during live games with additional functionality including the ability to rewind and watch in slow motion.
- Personalization features that tailor a user’s experience towards their favorite teams and players.
- Access to hundreds of hours of original behind-the-scenes programming, new shows including Hometown with Rachel Nichols and much more.
- Ability to watch Monumental Sports Network’s live, 24/7 linear feed on-the-go on multiple devices.
- Opt-in ability to receive score alerts, team and player updates, as well as a new Monumental Sports Network newsletter.
- Daily editorial and video clips covering the Capitals, Wizards, Mystics, and Go-Go which can be saved to a user’s list for later viewing.
- Sportradar integrations providing users with advanced, real-time sports data and betting analytics.
- Ticketmaster integration for ticket management and account linking.
- Consistent look and feel across all platforms, allowing for an intuitive experience across all devices.
Monumental Sports Network partnered on these enhancements with ViewLift, an end-to-end digital platform developer providing OTT distribution solutions for content owners across multiple device platforms, including web, mobile, connected TV devices, smart TVs and gaming consoles, to design and develop the brand-new digital experience.
