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I lost a lot of interest in the NFL when teams started offering me the right to buy a 'personal seat license' that would allow me the right to then buy season tickets at inflate prices.
If it's not on the networks or one of the basic ESPN channels I won't see it and don't really care all that much.
On a side note, I think it's really stupid that ten men do a choreographed dance routine in the end zone after scoring and are applauded while one player says something to another and gets a 'taunting' penalty.
when the defense does this after a play you have to know that that was so important to them that they collectively bargained that.
They actually took less on something else from the owners so the defenders could run to the opposite end zone and do a skit.
I normally don't turn on the television on weekend mornings but happened to on Sunday.
I was shocked to say the least. ES*N had the pre-game like normal, then shortly before the game they threw it to the booth announcers when the lead guy said, "you're watching a live look-in" and to see the game tune into es*n plus.
They were magnanimous enough to show us the Kickoff and first play from scrimmage and then back to the studio where they then told us how we could subscribe to their streaming service. I actually sensed some tension when that announcement was being made, like they knew how stupid the whole thing was.
Now I'm solidly in middle age but I remember when I was younger being treated like that by one or two female "friends" , I think there's a phrase for that with a color in it, but I digress.
Never thought I'd experience that from a sports broadcaster but here we are. This is just a taste of what's to come.
People may not want to hear a soccer story here but bear with me. For a long time (and continuing for a while) NBC has had the domestic rights to Premier league soccer from England. At first they did a great job. Very fair, would talk about most every team, relatively equally, show a lot of games and all the best teams and matchups.
This was back when they had NBC Sports Network, which used to be Versus, which used to be Outdoor Life Network that always showed bicycle racing, again, but I digress.
For a few years before they shut down NBCSN they started to move some games, and many really good ones, behind the paywall on Peacock. Once they shut down NBCSN they moved to USA and sometimes CNBC. This really isn't an excuse for me because NBC has so many networks under them, including USA, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC and a handful of others. They have the ability to show literally 10 games and would do this on the last day of the season when all the games are played simultaneously and the final order and relegation for the bottom three is determined. So NBC has no excuse.
I'm an Arsenal fan, there's this rivalry with a team called Tottenham, located literally a few miles from one another in North London. If you think Bears/Packers is a long-standing, fierce rivalry seperated by 130 miles or whatever you should check this rivalry out. Or really any of the long-standing and highly tense rivalries that exist in English soccer.
But for 2 whole YEARS I wasn't allowed to watch those 2 yearly games without Peacock. Could you imagine a broadcaster like Fox/CBS taking Bears/Packers or Steelers/Browns, or Dallas/Washington off the air and behind a paywall? Or other big matchups like Chiefs/Bills or Dallas/San Francisco.
Would people take it? I suspect a lot of people would just pony up the cash but I never did for Peacock.
Result: I never pay attention to the Premier League and haven't for several years. I used to watch almost every game, 4-6 every weekend, for years, and now I never watch. It wasn't just the North London Derby but other big matches between the bigger teams.
It's just that I can't depend on seeing a good game I'm interested in so I figure why try anymore. In fact, the NL Derby was just played this weekend and again, behind the paywall.
So #$% you NBC, you've lost a fan forever. I assume this is only going to happen more frequently. Isn't one of this years NFL Wild Card games behind a paywall?
I know I have no interest in having so many different streaming services. MLB has done this as well with exclusive games on both Peacock and Apple TV.
I'd really like to lessen my sports watching and have been doing that for a while now. Sports just aren't the great thing with all the commercials and reviews and hype instead of just the games. There's a clear lack of fundamentals, in the NFL little pre-season, o-line play is terrible, and in baseball we're celebrating a guy who might hit 35 homers but has an average below .200. And yet a player like Stan Musial never made more than $100,000 in a year.
Sports has gotten a bit ridiculous.
Absolutely agree on the bolded (I wasn't aware they were going to be putting a wildcard game behind a firewall but can't say I'm surprised). It's amazing they were trying to get anyone to pay for that lousy game last Sunday.
I've been a fanatic when it comes to football for years, but even I have my limits. The standard price for this will be just under $500 next year. And that's $500 for a lesser service. I was reading posts on another social media platform yesterday and was just shaking my head at the comments. Most were complaining about not being able to customize the 4 game set up offered by YouTube. In addition, they were talking about watching games on their phones and IPads. I was thinking who the hell are these people that could be so clueless?! Anyone that has subscribed to the NFL Sunday Ticket knows that we were getting 8 games on a single screen, typically getting every game but one during weeks that had no byes. I was trying to explain to some of them that you wouldn't have to worry about customizing anything if you had all 8 games (but it was like talking to a wall). In addition, all 12 owners in my fantasy football league and most of my clients have big screen TVs ranging from 70 inch to the mid 80's. No, we don't watch football on our phones or IPads. There's a reason we bought big screen TVs and we want to enjoy the viewing experience. The only time a phone or IPad would come into play is if we weren't home (i.e. vacation). It's like most of them had no idea what was offered previously.
Admittedly, if they don't fix this, there's no way I'm paying that kind of coin to get to watch half as many games as I used to. Direct TV had some problems initially but were quite receptive to feedback and they ended up with a damn near perfect product. I'm finding Google/YouTube seems to just want to pat themselves on the back vs dealing with some constructive criticism and working on it (the survey they sent out was nothing but fluff questions to make themselves feel good and there was no place for a customer to write in a comment).
In the end, we're all consumers. The money isn't an issue for me, but I expect to get what I want if I'm going to pay that much. I'm not going to have some big conglomerate charge me that type of price and then tell me what I'm going to get. An episode of Seinfeld comes to mind about soup.
Disagree. A basic cable subscription would traditionally always include a nationally televised game on a Thursday night. Same goes for the games in London that were on a major network. The NFL is getting greedy.
On the other used to be hand the only Thursday game were the two on Thanksgiving Thursday, your local stations would only have 3 games on Sunday with no nationally televised night game and one Monday night game.
On the other used to be hand the only Thursday game were the two on Thanksgiving Thursday, your local stations would only have 3 games on Sunday with no nationally televised night game and one Monday night game.
Sure. There wasn't a game on Thursdays so it wasn't an issue. And when they did put in a game, it was available to most people with a basic cable subscription or if it was a local game, it was televised for you. I'm not sure what your point is. No one was having to do without.
Sure. There wasn't a game on Thursdays so it wasn't an issue. I'm not sure what your point is. No one was having to do without.
Everybody went without because it wasn't offered, free with only the cost of providing your eyeballs to Bud Light or for pay via subscription or per view.
The times have changed and since a critical amount of fans have proven willing to pay folks getting paid ultimately by TV are not going to let that source of income go by giving their products away to those less willing to pay.
Everybody went without because it wasn't offered, free with only the cost of providing your eyeballs to Bud Light or for pay via subscription or per view.
The times have changed and since a critical amount of fans have proven willing to pay folks getting paid ultimately by TV are not going to let that source of income go by giving their products away to those less willing to pay.
Of course. Not sure what that has to do with your original comment though. Your comment above is an aside.
So now you have to have Amazon Prime for some games, ESPN+ for others, and YouTube if you want to watch others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blameyourself
A basic cable subscription would traditionally always include a nationally televised game on a Thursday night.
Many folks who (have) cut the cord do so as a way to save money; the average cable subscription is/was about $225 a month (and that includes numerous ‘basic’ channels most don’t watch). One can stream (live) in its place for local games and TV channels (including ABC and ESPN) for around $65 per month. Additionally, about 73% already subscribe to Amazon Prime (that percentage is even higher relative to those under 50); TNF is just an added bonus.
In other words, what’s the problem? You could add Sunday Ticket in order to access any regular-season (Sun) game, anywhere (and still pay less than an old-school cable subscription overall).
Quote:
Originally Posted by blameyourself
Lord forbid I decide to drop $500 to a grand to watch a game live this year.
Obviously, relative to the number of home games played in the NFL, scarcity is a factor; as such, the price of an NFL ticket is the highest of any sports league (and always has been).
That said, $500 to a grand buys you a decent seat (not a field seat box, of course :-); try the upper-level sideline if you want significantly cheaper tickets.
Many folks who (have) cut the cord do so as a way to save money; the average cable subscription is/was about $225 a month (and that includes numerous ‘basic’ channels most don’t watch). One can stream (live) in its place for local games and TV channels (including ABC and ESPN) for around $65 per month. Additionally, about 73% already subscribe to Amazon Prime (that percentage is even higher relative to those under 50); TNF is just an added bonus.
In other words, what’s the problem? You could add Sunday Ticket in order to access any regular-season (Sun) game, anywhere (and still pay less than an old-school cable subscription overall).
Obviously, relative to the number of home games played in the NFL, scarcity is a factor; as such, the price of an NFL ticket is the highest of any sports league (and always has been).
That said, $500 to a grand buys you a decent seat (not a field seat box, of course :-); try the upper-level sideline if you want significantly cheaper tickets.
Your point is clearly presented as a financial one (re: greed); hence my point it is actually (in some cases considerably) cheaper than the old-school basic cable subscription you prefer.
At least for watching the games of our home team, I can watch those on local Boston network affiliates of Fox, NBC and CBS. What is it that people are missing that the greedy NFL has taken away? I can't see all the games being played in the league, but I couldn't even see that way back when we were watching the tube TV via "rabbit ears".
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, I think there's a phrase for that with a color in it, but I digress. 
