2022-2023 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread

[BadgersandBlues]

Losing Pang sucks. I really love him tbh. Jamie Rivers is terrible. Like, he's fine once a month, but please god no to full time.

The ESPN+ thing works really well if you're out of market for the most part. However, with games on RSNs, ESPN, TNT, and NHL Network, as well as the times when the team is actually playing the game in your market - you lose about 15-20% of the season. I think I went through a two-three week stretch this year where I watched one game b/c they were all so spread out on all the different networks. It's pretty icky as a consumer.

 

[joe galiba]

I really just want to pay one f***ing service and get hockey. I would never stop watching hockey if they just made it f***ing convenient.

I get almost all the Blues games and all the playoff games and a decent chunk of other games during the season, I just turn to the channel it is on

going to streaming for the NHL is the road to a long decline, hard core hockey fans will pay, but the average and casual consumer won’t pay and losing eyeballs on your product is the opposite of what is in the long term interest of the league

the NFL is far away the most successful sports league in NA and home markets can watch every single game without having to pay, doing the opposite of that seems like a trip down the wrong path to me

 

[TheDizee]

need to find a replacement for panger because rivers is not the answer

 

[Louie the Blue]

the NFL is far away the most successful sports league in NA and home markets can watch every single game without having to pay, doing the opposite of that seems like a trip down the wrong path to me

That has more to do with the nature of the sport and often it airs, though.

Aside from NFL, all the other big 4 sports should just consolidate their RSNs or national games into one channel/service, ala what MLS did with AppleTV.

 

[joe galiba]

That has more to do with the nature of the sport and often it airs, though.

Aside from NFL, all the other big 4 sports should just consolidate their RSNs or national games into one channel/service, ala what MLS did with AppleTV.

and then they will wind up with less people watching, and they will limit the long term growth of the fanbases

 

[Louie the Blue]

and then they will wind up with less people watching, and they will limit the long term growth of the fanbases

I disagree.

Vegas is already doing that and in the NBA the Suns are trying as well-to eliminate an RSN and consolidate into one source for their games due to the Bally’s mess.

MLB will eventually consolidate everything as well.

 

[Hrkac Circus]

You’re dead to me, Panger.

 

[Xanadude]

Panger leaving absolutely sucks. I had a feeling this was coming with Rivers doing a few handfuls of games when Pang was on national broadcasts, but the Blackhawks? Disgusting. Sports are just painful right now.

And the sooner Bally and other RSNs die and leagues adopt MLS' model the better. Yes, the balkanizing of streaming sucks as getting a bunch of services is pretty much just as expensive as cable, but minimal ads and the ability to use multiple devices/dualscreen makes a blackout-free subscription model better than cable full-stop. I would happily pay $100ish a season for an NHL version of the MLS model. Bring it on.

 

[Oh Baby!]

I'm fine paying much more. The bottom line is that it's too annoying and confusing and they need to fix it.

The current way they are doing it sucks for consumers. They can figure out how to make it work, then I can choose to give them money or not based on the product they are offering.

Right now, the product they are offering SUCKS and they get zero of my money. If they want money, they have to give us something people want to spend money on.

I've been an avid NHL watcher for like 20-30 years... Recently cancelled cable because it was getting harder and harder to justify the cost/value proposition and I was not fully prepared for the ****show that is trying to watch the NHL on streaming in 2023.

I gave up 2 years ago and subscribe to gcn to watch mountain bike racing instead. NHL literally 'lost'; (I still follow) a lifelong viewer, I have 3 kids and don't have time to chase this stuff...

 

[ort]

Pang says heartfelt goodbye to St. Louis after 14 seasons | St. Louis Blues

After 14 years in St. Louis, TV analyst Darren Pang will be leaving Bally Sports Midwest to take a TV analyst position with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he played all 81 of his NHL games. Before he heads north, though, Panger penned this heartfelt letter to fans in St. Louis.

www.nhl.com

 

[ort]

Money.

ESPN gives the NHL $400M a year.

TNT gives the NHL $225M a year.

Sportsnet gives the NHL $433M a year.

Each regional network gives their local team an undisclosed amount of money a year.

The entire value of these deals is that the NHL sells these companies a monopoly on the games they air. It is very much not consumer friendly. I'm a dirty socialist who wants to see federal regulation against this shit, but there there are very fewer members of Congress who have any interest in that.

Price gauging sports fans is the business model and it accounts for about a third of the league's revenue. I think that it is a dying business model that needs to adapt. I think the teams and league need to take the collapse of this RSN as a warning that the bubble is about to really burst and be proactive in adapting. But before doing that, we need to acknowledge that it has been a great business model for the leagues. All the risks of losses are on the networks (and many of them have lost a ton of money) while the league has locked in enormous profits.

...and I currently give the NHL, ESPN, TNT, Bally and Sportsnet a total of $0 dollars.

They need to offer a better and less confusing product for their customers. Their current offerings are not compelling. I'm not concerned about the backroom deals. They are clutching to their old business models, but that world is rapidly changing and they need to evolve... FAST.

As for other sports leagues, I'm sure they suck too. I don't really watch anything else as much, so it's not a concern of mine. They all need to change.

 

[BrokenFace]

Why are the games spread across multiple services? Because the finals are on TNT, the only way to even watch is to subscribe to one of the faux cable live streaming services like Sling and those are like $70 per month.

ESPN+ only gets you the games that are actually on ESPN, which is like only 10% of the playoff games. If you want to watch the playoffs without cable, it's exceedingly annoying.

Even if I pay $20 for Bally Sports streaming to watch the Blues next year, I can't watch National games without an additional service and I'm pretty sure the playoffs just aren't available at all under the current setup. Not unless I get Sling or whatever and pay $70.

I don't want any of those other channels. I cancelled cable because I don't want to pay for 100 channels I never watch. Not interested in paying sling for the same deal.

I'll just not watch the NHL games anymore and they can go **** themselves. Problem solved.

It seems that's what the NHL actually wants based on the selection of options they are offering. They must not want us to be watching their product.

I'm waiting for the day that the NHL, NBA, MLB, and NFL form their own streaming service together. I know it would suck for various new reasons and it's unlikely as hell anyway, but I have this persistent feeling that things could head that way. If they were smart, they'd let you pick your subscription. As in, I would pay a particular price for ordering all Blues and Cardinals games, all NFL games, and all NBA playoff games or something. People would pay more or less based on their own custom subscription.

That's it for my moonshot future predictions.

 

[joe galiba]

I disagree.

Vegas is already doing that and in the NBA the Suns are trying as well-to eliminate an RSN and consolidate into one source for their games due to the Bally’s mess.

MLB will eventually consolidate everything as well.

Having your sport behind a paywall limits your fanbase to those who are already fans, and not just any fans but only those that watch all the time;
people interested enough to be on this board watch almost every game, but a lot of people out there only watch a couple of games a month, they are not going to pay and you lose not only them, but future generations who will not ever be exposed

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Man reading that Panger article made me sad. He’s one of my favorite broadcasters.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Man reading that Panger article made me sad. He’s one of my favorite broadcasters.

We’re gonna miss that gumption for sure

 

[TheDizee]

Pang says heartfelt goodbye to St. Louis after 14 seasons | St. Louis Blues

After 14 years in St. Louis, TV analyst Darren Pang will be leaving Bally Sports Midwest to take a TV analyst position with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he played all 81 of his NHL games. Before he heads north, though, Panger penned this heartfelt letter to fans in St. Louis.

www.nhl.com

He will be missed. New color guy needs to be open to ripping Kyrou for next 8 years for lack of effort.

Bring back Twister.

 

[mk80]

I will miss Pang, that's a big loss to the hockey media in St. Louis.

The Hawks job will allow time for him to play his golf game in the spring and be able to easily slide over to TNT playoff coverage for a few years still

 

[Brian39]

Pang says heartfelt goodbye to St. Louis after 14 seasons | St. Louis Blues

After 14 years in St. Louis, TV analyst Darren Pang will be leaving Bally Sports Midwest to take a TV analyst position with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he played all 81 of his NHL games. Before he heads north, though, Panger penned this heartfelt letter to fans in St. Louis.

www.nhl.com

Well that hurt to read.

I know Panger played every one of his NHL games as a Hawk, wore a Hawks jersey at the Winter Classic Alumni game, has a gigantic broadcasting resume as a national/neutral analyst, and has now worked for several teams. But he feels like one of ours.

I can't be at all mad at a guy for moving on when his current employer is in bankruptcy and potentially not even going to have a job for him in the next season. Even if Bally offered him a contract, accepting it would have been a wave of uncertainty. The future of the local analyst that covers one team is in peril. There is a decent chance that we quickly move to neutral broadcasts from a centralized studio for all but the largest market teams. Grabbing a job with one of the teams most likely to fight that trend and hold their own broadcast rights (and is close to the place you have called home) is the right business move.

But man, it hurts that it has to be the Hawks.

 

[TK 421]

I'm going to miss Panger. I will never forget the kindness he showed my son making sure he got a puck in a pre-game. I truly believe he is the games very best ambassador and Chicago is very fortunate to have him. I'm just happy for Darren that such a great guy got properly rewarded with a new contract. All the best to Panger from a person who will always be a fan.

 

[ort]

Media Views: Bally financial trouble plays big role in Blues analyst Darren Pang’s departure

Popular broadcaster says he'll "treasure forever" his time in St. Louis.

www.stltoday.com

Chicago drove a dump truck of cash up to him and the financially troubled Bally couldn't / wouldn't match....

Surprising amount of behind-the-scenes details on the situation here...

 

[mk80]

Admittedly I can't read past the first paragraph thanks to the pay wall but in other news, looks like Berube will have [edit] a role in the decision on who joins him on the staff

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Admittedly I can't read past the first paragraph thanks to the pay wall but in other news, looks like Berube will have the full decision on who joins him on the staff

that isn't what the article says. Army and he are communicating throughout the process and Army will have final say.

 

[mk80]

that isn't what the article says. Army and he are communicating throughout the process and Army will have final say.

Thanks, I made the mistake of judging the book by it's cover with that headline

 

[Xerloris]

that isn't what the article says. Army and he are communicating throughout the process and Army will have final say.

But who was responsible for Hiring MacT? We need to make sure that person doesn't have the final say anymore.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Well that hurt to read.

I know Panger played every one of his NHL games as a Hawk, wore a Hawks jersey at the Winter Classic Alumni game, has a gigantic broadcasting resume as a national/neutral analyst, and has now worked for several teams. But he feels like one of ours.

I can't be at all mad at a guy for moving on when his current employer is in bankruptcy and potentially not even going to have a job for him in the next season. Even if Bally offered him a contract, accepting it would have been a wave of uncertainty. The future of the local analyst that covers one team is in peril. There is a decent chance that we quickly move to neutral broadcasts from a centralized studio for all but the largest market teams. Grabbing a job with one of the teams most likely to fight that trend and hold their own broadcast rights (and is close to the place you have called home) is the right business move.

But man, it hurts that it has to be the Hawks.

He flat out said in todays article on stl today that the bankruptcy of Bally played a role. That and Chicago came in aggressive with a significantly higher salary. I can’t blame him for taking it. But damnit why Chicago?