Today, Monumental Sports & Entertainment announced that it will stream all 17 home games for the Washington Mystics for free through Monumental Network. The Mystics which are owned by one of the largest ownership groups in the WNBA, are the first team to air games exclusively through its own online platform.
In a statement, owner Ted Leonsis said this about the announcement:
We have seen Monumental Network continue to grow and establish itself as a top source for local sports information and programming, and the addition of live games is the logical next step for us. We are also pleased that our first foray into live game broadcasting will allow us to feature the Mystics and provide a platform for both them and the WNBA.
The free viewing through Monumental Network only applies for people who live within 75 miles of Washington, DC. With locals now able to watch Mystics home games online for free, LiveAccess will be blacking them out. But for those who do live outside of the DC area. they can still watch games on LiveAccess.
This doesn't come as any surprise to me because Monumental Sports has already archived the Mystics' preseason game vs. Brazil on May 15. In addition, Leonsis has been pretty open about trying to increase revenues for Monumental Sports, and having a platform like Monumental Network allows that to happen.
Though this is speculation on my part, it also wouldn't surprise me if Washington Wizards basketball and Washington Capitals hockey home games will also be available for live streaming through Monumental Network at some point. It should be noted that the team documentaries for the teams: Caps Red Line, Wizards Magazine, and Mystics Magazine used to be aired on TV through Comcast SportsNet but now are only on Monumental Network.