Max subscribers signed up to the ad-supported tier have lost access to live sports and the CNN Max live news feed. Ad-supported subscribers wanting to regain access to live sports or news will now need to consider upgrading to one of the two ad-free plans, starting at $16.99 a month.
For reference, the Sports tab still shows for ad-supported subscribers in the app and on the Max website, and some sports programming is still available to watch without upgrading. However, all live sports, including full replays, are now locked, and the Watch button has been replaced with a Switch Plans button.
Clicking on Switch Plans redirects the subscriber to the account page where they can then upgrade to one of the more expensive ad-free tiers.
While the loss of sports may come as a surprise to some, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed the change last month. Previously, Warner Bros. Discovery had planned to charge all Max subscribers an additional monthly fee for the BR Sports Add-on.
However, as part of the announced changes last month, the company abandoned the plan to charge subscribers, opting instead to provide ad-free subscribers with permanent access to live sports, and removing access for ad-supported subscribers.
As Warner Bros. Discovery no longer offers a dedicated sports add-on, there is no way for ad-supported subscribers to pay extra for sports content while remaining on the ‘with ads’ tier. Instead, the only option is to upgrade to an ad-free tier.
Considering the original plan was to charge an additional $9.99 a month for the BR Sports Add-On, upgrading to the cheapest Standard ad-free tier at $16.99 a month is a cheaper option than paying for the add-on on top of the cost of the Basic With Ads tier. In addition to sports, upgrading will also result in the removal of ads.
The other, and more expensive, option is to upgrade to the $20.99/mo Premium ad-free tier. Compared to the Standard ad-free plan, Premium also unlocks access to 4K Ultra video quality (where available) and Dolby Atmos support.
Although the Premium ad-free tier also increases the number of devices that can stream at the same time to four, it is worth noting that live sports content can only be streamed on two devices at the same time. This is the same general limitation for Standard ad-free subscribers.
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