If you live in Italy, Canada, or the US, at least some of the matches of the International Swimming League’s third season in 2021 will be available via local broadcasters.
But what about the rest of the matches, that aren’t being picked up by CBS? And what about the rest of the world?
A dramatically pared-back broadcaster list, and only partial schedules for those broadcasters who have aired it, will push more viewers to ISL’s in-house subscription service, which charges a fee to watch the season.
The subscription fee is different for different parts of the world. Some will pay as low as $27 for the full season, while others will pay as much as $45.
ISL Subscription Costs, United States:
- Full season – $36
- Regular Season Only – $24.80
- Playoffs Only – $27.60
- Single Regular Season Match – $4.00
- Single Play-Off Match – $6.00
- Final Match – $10.00
There are slightly cheaper rates to have access to a match for a 24 hour period.
It’s not clear if matches that are televised in some countries will also be available via livestream.
Subscriptions aren’t upgradeable – so if you start by paying to watch a single match, then decide you want to watch the full season, you’ll have to pay $2.40 and then a full $27 for the full season.
The ISL hasn’t released ratings for their first 2 seasons, so it’s hard to estimate what sort of revenue this might produce for a league that costs somewhere in the 8-figure range ($10 million+) to produce annually. Without any obvious major brand partnerships, that cost is being primarily borne by the league’s founder and visionary Konstantin Grigorishin, who told SwimSwam last month that he isn’t putting a timeline on profitability.
- Click here for schedules and match times, including match times in your time zone.
How to Stream
These instructions are current as of publishing, but because the ISL website is constantly evolving, they might change in the future.
Step 1: Select “Subscription” at the top of the ISL Home Page
Step 2: Login or Create an Account
Step 3: Select “Subscription” at the top of the page, again
Step 4: Be sure to select your country and then hit “apply,” or you may not be able to access the stream in your country
Step 5: Choose your Package
Step 6: Enter Credit Card Information
i subscribed, got a receipt but no subscriptions have been placed on my account and i still cant watch. i have tried to e mail but it bounces back saying
“Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups:
[email protected] ([email protected])
The address you sent your message to wasn’t found at the destination domain. It might be misspelled or it might not exist. Try to fix the problem by doing one or more of the following:”
it is annoying, i paid wanted to watch and still i cannot and they are difficult to contact
They reply on Facebook.
thanks
Used another e mail to contact them, they said they sorted it out but still not working. Just rubbish
thanks for this post Braden. Any idea if you can watch replays of matches if you buy the full season package in the USA?
Supposedly you can. I haven’t tried. The replays weren’t available at the start of the season, but ISL social media claims they are now (3 hours after the conclusion of the match). I would guess that in some countries, there is a restriction on watching replays for a certain time period after they were televised.
I was to pay $36 for the full season so I don’t have to remember which match is on which channel and which one CBS skip. But the subscription indicate that all the matches that CBS broadcast is not available via the subscription. Too bad. I guess SS live recap is what I will be “watching”.
I paid the full season $45
How watch the match replay?
Just go Season 2021 -> Matches (https://isl.global/matches/) Choose a match to see day 1 or day 2.
And it appears that subscription doesn’t include replays, you have to watch live which is annoying.
Replays are included in subscription. All you can see live in your subscription plan available as replays.
This also completely eliminates the possibility of someone flicking through channels, coming across this and enjoying swimming for the first time becoming a regular viewer? I cant imagine even half the amount of people watching this than last season. I watch national finals for countries i couldn’t point out on a map and even i’m not spending that much on this.
Could you not get a vpn for the cheapest country? I’m in GB and it seems that they are charging the most for bigger countries viewer wise which will just mean less people will get it. There is no chance that i will pay $45 for somthing that will probably be uploaded to youtube the next day somewhere.
You could. Most VPNs aren’t free, though, and given that the season is spread over 4 different months, the cost might wind up being the same.
Psiphon Pro is free, ive used it for years and have never had issues.
I love watching the isl but I ain’t paying for this
I’m fairly indifferent on the ISL so I can’t see a scenario where I pay for the whole season.
Definitely not the regular season, maaaybe I could see throwing in for the playoffs or final.
Here’s the unpopular reality: If swimming fans want to see the sport grow like this they’re going to have to pay for it. $36 is not over the top, particularly when it is being presented. There is normally a relative dead period in terms of national/international swimming news here that often lasted until late November. This is a chance to watch many of the world’s best swim in that window, a lot. This is part of where Olympic sports are moving in the 2020’s. Companies are going to push the envelope to find out if they can create viable/profitable digital products. If swimming fans approach it as though watching a number of high-profile meets in terms of participants is of… Read more »
100% agree!!