CBC News - In Canada, it’s never been more complicated — or expensive — to watch NHL hockey

[brentashton]

this is why some like PIA offer the ability to have a dedicated and exclusive IP.

Yes. I’ve looked at that and am thinking of changing my subscription to a provider that does that. I used to use PIA, they have great customer service.

 

[Jeune Poulet]

It's getting kind of complicated for boomers to watch things though . A whole lot of boomers you aren't very good setting up accounts everywhere and keeping track of everything

The thing is, as bad as they are at subscribing, they are even worse at unsubscribing from things and end with their accounts being drained of money. The number of stories from these guys not even realizing they are still subscribed to shit they don’t use is impressive.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

I'm past the point of caring enough to pay and watch Game 32 of the Leafs season.

 

[MXD]

I'm basically not full-time-WFH to go full Henry Every. Or Bart Roberts.

 

[Fatass]

Much prefer listening to games on the radio anyway.

 

[serp]

The thing is, as bad as they are at subscribing, they are even worse at unsubscribing from things and end with their accounts being drained of money. The number of stories from these guys not even realizing they are still subscribed to shit they don’t use is impressive.

I know. When my dad died a couple of years back it was a pain in the ass to find everything he was subscribed to and cancel it.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Seems like a first world problem to me. I mean it's not even technically possible to watch all NHL games given so many of them are on at the same times. Seems to me like if you simply subscribe to a service that features the main channels, you'll get more hockey than anyone in the 1970s or 80s could have ever hoped to watch.

 

[tantalum]

Yes. It is much more complicated. Back in the day all we had to do is turn the TV on Saturday night (HNIC) and we'd get to watch a Leaf or Habs game. Then they started two games on HNIC. That was glorious!

Not complicated but also got to watch one whole game a week (maybe 2)!

If you happened to be in the broadcast area of a local team channel and ponied up the money for cable you could watch a good chunk of those games. If that was your team.

Adding in good TV prices then and now, what inflation does to a cable price back then I'd wager that it may actually be cheaper now than before.

 

[Johnny HFBOARDS]

NHL hockey is so expensive I cancelled my Grandmas CBC, no more Coronation Street for her!

Thanks Garry B

 

[NailsHoglander]

How ironic coming from CBC

 

[mondo3]

No I don't? I pay $6.99 a month for ESPN+ and that has all the games. A friend of mine has NHL.tv and that also has all the games.

I have ESPN+ and the Oilers Flames game wasn't available. It was only on the NHL network (which I do not have).

 

[Anglesmith]

A lot of things are going to shit in this country, but I digress...

The market will always have the final say. Most people aren't desperate. If it's going to be this expensive and complicated to watch your team play every game then people are slowly just going to give it up. Rogers can't take their customers for granted but we know they will. Most companies don't nowadays and that's why the level of service and product in general everywhere is appalling right now.

Right. Ultimately the NHL is hoping they can get several companies to pay slightly less each for partial coverage to expand the pool of money. Those companies are then hoping consumers will be willing to pay each of them around the same amount for only partial coverage.

If consumers have a pretty hard line that they'll pay for one and then "figure out the rest" this will eventually figure itself out. The ROI won't be there for the companies buying the rights.

And the longer consumers go without a product that fits their needs, the more effort and resources to into creating illegal ones to fit that niche. And then these companies will have to make their product that much better to attract those customers back from the high seas.

 

[Czechboy]

I just can't stress enough that when we do it legally they still f*** us. TSN online isn't the best for replays so you can't come home and restart the game. Games on demand take several hours or days to appear. Sportnset does allow you to restart a game or watch the replay but sportsnet is the worst stream platform ever

1. constantly signing me out of devices and I'm constantly resigning in.. scan the QR code, oops, phone downstairs...
2. constantly getting some 'this ad won't show in your region' type of message and then everything goes black (with volume) so I have to re-enter
3. there was a legit atari style soccer ball floating over the Oilers game 2.lol

 

[Nuckles]

I just can't stress enough that when we do it legally they still f*** us. TSN online isn't the best for replays so you can't come home and restart the game. Games on demand take several hours or days to appear. Sportnset does allow you to restart a game or watch the replay but sportsnet is the worst stream platform ever

1. constantly signing me out of devices and I'm constantly resigning in.. scan the QR code, oops, phone downstairs...
2. constantly getting some 'this ad won't show in your region' type of message and then everything goes black (with volume) so I have to re-enter
3. there was a legit atari style soccer ball floating over the Oilers game 2.lol

Also for some f***ing reason Sportsnet+ removed the ability to multi-view games. Last season and playoffs you could have up to 4 games playing at the same time, but this season that feature mysteriously disappeared

 

[Golden_Jet]

NHL hockey is so expensive I cancelled my Grandmas CBC, no more Coronation Street for her!

Thanks Garry B

Luckily grandma can get CBC for free, OTA or stream.
All she needs is an antenna, or second choice the internet.

 

[Golden_Jet]

It’s never been more complicated, or expensive, to watch NHL hockey as the multiyear Rogers broadcast deal winds down. To watch every game of the 2024/2025 season fans will need to subscribe to Sportsnet, TSN, RDS, TVA and Amazon Prime.​

You only need to subscribe to 3 of those, unless you want to watch habs games in both, French and English.
But ya it is going the way the US is doing it, with multiple subscriptions needed.

 

[Czechboy]

Also for some f***ing reason Sportsnet+ removed the ability to multi-view games. Last season and playoffs you could have up to 4 games playing at the same time, but this season that feature mysteriously disappeared

That's another one.. it's just an awful streamer.

Since I'm on it right now.. the other one I keep getting is the 'time line' with the pause button on it doesn't go away on it's own anymore.

 

[Edgelord]

That's another one.. it's just an awful streamer.

Since I'm on it right now.. the other one I keep getting is the 'time line' with the pause button on it doesn't go away on it's own anymore.

Its bad, I pay for TSN and sportsnet yet still have to go to pirate sites. Ironically since I pay, its not pirating. A few of my neighbors have said the amazon streams are pretty good, I have prime so I am going to watch the Leafs game on Wednesday there

 

[tarheelhockey]

Oh c'mon now! It isn't mind blowing at all. Easy money like you said. Why put in a lot of extra effort that won't really lead to extra revenue? They are there to make money, not a great product!

That’s just it, you’d think the mentality would be “there are billions of dollars on the line, we’re going to be a well oiled machine and capture the market for decades by outperforming the competition” not “we’re gonna release one small customer-unfriendly product and overprice it so much that it won’t exist beyond the life of this contract”.

 

[bringbacktheskate604]

Blows my mind how many people were defending the Amazon deal saying, "lol well Rogers/Sportsnet sucks anyway". Doesn't matter, paywalling games behind additional services is f***ing stupid.

Missing Jays games because they were on AppleTV was ridiculous and now the NHL adopted this trash business model.

There was a time not to long ago where as a nucks fan, more often than not the games weren't on tv at all.

If people don't wanna pay for SN or Prime, the radios always free or you can always attend games.

My point is people today are so used to free shit they forget that things are way better now.

Besides, you don't even need anything but prime since you can subscribe to SN for 20 bucks a month.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I have ESPN+ and the Oilers Flames game wasn't available. It was only on the NHL network (which I do not have).

Weird, I watched it yesterday on ESPN+. Must be a regional thing.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

There was a time not to long ago where as a nucks fan, more often than not the games weren't on tv at all.

If people don't wanna pay for SN or Prime, the radios always free or you can always attend games.

My point is people today are so used to free shit they forget that things are way better now.

Besides, you don't even need anything but prime since you can subscribe to SN for 20 bucks a month.

I need to subscribe to Prime, SN, and TSN if I want to watch all Leaf games living in NS. We all understand that 60 years ago the only way to follow the game was by radio....that isn't the case anymore. If these multi billion dollar corporations want my money when I can just as easily pull up a free stream of the game....they have to actually, you know earn my money and not rip me off in the process. If there was a single product I could buy to view all the games for my team, I would probably do that. It doesn't exist for me.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

No, ESPN + does not have all the games.

I think we're finding out that it depends on where you're watching because in Australia ESPN+ most certainly has all the games.

 

[Jeune Poulet]

I know. When my dad died a couple of years back it was a pain in the ass to find everything he was subscribed to and cancel it.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

They make sure it's hell to unsubscribe, and even worse for succession case. Vultures.

 

[Rubi]

I've had Sportsnet as part of my cable sports package for years. I've also been an Amazon Prime member for years.. mostly for the free shipping which has more than paid for itself. I don't subscribe to TSN. For me, its a waste of money.