How are you getting your New England Sports? (Raleigh, Washington: how much, home)

[ncwannabe2]

I am moving down this summer from Boston. I currently have DirectTV and believe that is my best option for getting Sox, Celts, and Pats down in NC. (Bruins yet to win me back)

For those who need to watch all 260 regular season games for these teams, what service do you have?

[ljd1010]

Hi, we JUST relocated on Tuesday but have been getting the BoSox games on ESPN. I was also told that the MLB channel will enable us to get all the games if not on ESPN. A satellite dish is another option. We really haven't looked into details yet as we are in temporary quarters until June. BTW, our son was at Yankee stadium on Wednesday and had to leave in the 5th inning - Yankee fans were less than happy that he was cheering for Boston and started throwing things at him!! GO SOX!

[NH2NCMom]

I would probably suggest MLB extra innings too (Espn only carries a few games a year) - also NBA and no clue on Patriots.

However buying all these packages might be expensive - so check with Direct tv - also you can listen to a lot on espn's website and some even view the games - i just don't know the cost.

nice to see another new england sports fan down this way - go redsox, celtics, pats and yes bruins

[Gabagole]

Hi. I'm from NY and a huge Mets fan. Don't worry, I hate the Yankees!! I have the MLB Extra Innings package on Time-Warner cable now. It's not that great. There are blackout restrictions and you only get the feed of the home team so you only get to hear your teams commentators 81 games a year or less due to blackouts. I'm going to switch to Direct TV soon so I can get the Mets network which is SNY. I was told that you can trick Direct TV by using a different address from another state with no blackouts like maybe Montana or something but I don't know how this is done. If anyone knows how to get all the games with no blackouts I sure would love to know. Thanks

[dcgrl]

We've had MLB Extra Innings for 2 years--we'll probably get it again, but we're not that happy about it.
You don't get any Orioles games, so if the Sox play the Orioles, you won't get to watch it. And, you don't get any NESN non-game stuff, so if you want pre or post-game coverage, you won't get it unless you get Dish network.

[UNCMetsGal]

We have had DirecTV for years. They have an NBA (League Pass), NHL (Center Ice), MLB (Extra Innings) and NFL (Sunday Ticket) package.

This year, the MLB package has BOTH teams' feed available, and you can choose who you want to listen to. (We have an HDTV and HD box, so I don't know if that is why we can now choose, we never could before. . .)

The HD service (to get the games in HD) is an extra $50 on top of the $199 fee (MLB). I don't know how much the other packages are, but the DirecTV website has ALL the info you need, and if you call customer service, they are MORE than happy to help.

In a nutshell, you should be able to satisfy all your NE sports-needs with the satellite.

[UNCMetsGal]

DC Girl:

I think we are in the MASN (mid-atlantic sports network) viewing zone. That's channel 626 on DirecTV. Since that is considered a local channel, you will get a blackout of it on the MLB Extra Innings channel.

Look for Baltimore Orioles games on their website to see what channel they're broadcast on. Then, check that channel on your provider to see if that channel shows up as local. I know that the Washington Nationals are the same, also broadcast on MASN, so that when I try to watch Mets/Nats, the Mets/MLB coverage is blacked out.

[UNCMetsGal]

Mudpaws02:

Greetings fellow Met fan! (God help us! )

I have always used my NC address to get Met games. As I said above, this year I see that the Extra Innings package allows you to choose which coverage you want. For example, channel 722 and 722-1 are SNY and SNY-HD. Channel 723 would then be the opponent's coverage. (The channels change nightly, but I always have a choice, unless the Mets are on WPIX, which DirecTV has no contract with, and thus we don't get that).

As for blackouts, only LOCAL games are blacked out. Again, as I said above, this happens with the Nats (channel 626) and I believe the Braves. So, you're forced to watch the opponent's coverage (which isn't a biggie). But, otherwise, you get the game on Extra Innings.

Also, ALL games BEFORE 7pm on Saturdays are blacked out, per MLB's contract with Fox.
ALL games AFTER 7pm on Sundays are blacked out, per MLB's contract with ESPN.

Otherwise, you're good to go.

(Can you tell I am a baseball NUT and have called to have this explained to me when my game showed up as "unavailable"? )

[jamangirl]

Understanding the blackout rules is key!!! We spent about 1.5 hours on the phone with various Direct TV reps who were unable to answer the question as to why we could not watch the Sox the other Saturday afternoon. Finally, I emailed them and that person had the correct response. It just so happened that in the Raleigh area on that particular Saturday, Fox did not broadcast the Sox-Yankees even though other parts of the country could watch. Frustrating but can't be without it. We also get the NFL package to see the Pats although last season there was quite a few games on regular TV.

[DGMayor]

Originally Posted by jamangirl

Understanding the blackout rules is key!!! We spent about 1.5 hours on the phone with various Direct TV reps who were unable to answer the question as to why we could not watch the Sox the other Saturday afternoon. Finally, I emailed them and that person had the correct response. It just so happened that in the Raleigh area on that particular Saturday, Fox did not broadcast the Sox-Yankees even though other parts of the country could watch. Frustrating but can't be without it. We also get the NFL package to see the Pats although last season there was quite a few games on regular TV.

Time warner had it, not sure why Direct TV wouldn't.