Those who weren’t planning on paying $19.99 for “The Match” between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson on Friday got a break when Turner executives decided, at the last minute, to give away its stream for free.
A source told ESPN that a technical issue with the purchasing mechanism on Bleacher Report Live not only made it hard for a fan to purchase “The Match,” but in some cases also made it hard for those who had purchased “The Match” in advance to see what they bought.
“We experienced a technical issue on Bleacher Report Live that impacted user access to ‘The Match,'” Turner spokesman Nate Smeltz said. “We took a number of steps to resolve the matter with our main priority being to deliver the content to those who purchased the event.”
The source with knowledge of the issue said there was no impact on the other carriers charging for “The Match.”
The added amount of viewers, some of whom found out on social media, did not seem to impact the quality of the stream itself.
It is not known if Turner will credit those who paid, though a case could be made that those who did pay did in fact get the product.