I'm about to move and would consider DirecTV Stream but I don't think you can get Center Ice.
Collapse of Regional Sports Networks (Diamond Sports Group files bankruptcy, Warner-Discovery looking to leave business, Xfinity drops Bally)
- Thread starter Headshot77
- Start date
Is Center Ice still a thing? With every game available on ESPN+, is that the cheaper option?
Center Ice is only on DirecTV for $69 renewal, it's better than ESPN+ if you are not a chord cutter from what I've read.
I've had Center Ice via DirecTV & Power Play via ESPN+ each season since the media rights deal started -- had DirecTV (w/Center Ice) & ESPN+ both before then, anyway.
I use Center Ice a lot more but it just depends on your setup and ease-of-use, to you.
I have 3 TVs side-by-side-by-side plus my large PC monitor slightly to my left, so 3 screens in front of me and 1 in my peripheral. Being able to quickly change from game-to-game and/or switch what games are on what TVs makes Center Ice much preferred. I just pick the least interesting/'worst' game of the night and stick that on my monitor w/ESPN+.
Only time I use streaming on the TVs with NHL games is for the ESPN+/Hulu exclusives which I use the Hulu app for because it doesn't crash as often as ESPN+, plus you can actually put the game on in advance so it plays when it starts while ESPN+ will still be saying "event hasn't started yet" and the video quality also is seemingly better -- plus easier to pause/RW/FF in the rare cases I need to do that.
I use Center Ice a lot more but it just depends on your setup and ease-of-use, to you.
I have 3 TVs side-by-side-by-side plus my large PC monitor slightly to my left, so 3 screens in front of me and 1 in my peripheral. Being able to quickly change from game-to-game and/or switch what games are on what TVs makes Center Ice much preferred. I just pick the least interesting/'worst' game of the night and stick that on my monitor w/ESPN+.
Only time I use streaming on the TVs with NHL games is for the ESPN+/Hulu exclusives which I use the Hulu app for because it doesn't crash as often as ESPN+, plus you can actually put the game on in advance so it plays when it starts while ESPN+ will still be saying "event hasn't started yet" and the video quality also is seemingly better -- plus easier to pause/RW/FF in the rare cases I need to do that.
awfulwaffle
Registered User
I think with ESPN+, you can set up a multi view(4 games), bring one forward, and then switch back to the multi view and select another game if the one you were currently watching goes to commercial. Just food for thought in regards to the ease of changing comment as noted above.
varsaku
Registered User
ESPN+ has multi view. You can watch multiple games on one screen which is great if you have a big TV. I usually have multiple games on if the Habs are not playing and switch the audio as things happen in any game.
ESPN+ only has multi-view a couple ways. Most don't get it so it doesn't apply to them. Believe it's only Apple TV or XBox One and newer.
I have the newest Xbox Series, it's hooked up to the middle TV (65") so the quad box is fine but it's not as easy to switch games quickly and 4 smaller boxes of games isn't as good as 4 games full-screen on 4 screens.
Plus, if a game is on NHL Network it's only available on Center Ice (choose home/away broadcast) and isn't available on ESPN+ which for as few games as NHL Network shows it's seemingly an annoyance for many -- generally doesn't bug me since I use Center Ice more than Power Play (ESPN+) but a handful of times a season when I want to put that game on my computer monitor and notice it's not available on ESPN+ it causes a minor annoyance.
Does that apply to more than just ESPN+? I have Fire TVs or a Roku for every TV in my house. I have Fubo and ESPN+ and have never seen the multiview option, for any sport.
It's app and offering specific. Like Peacock had multi-view for the Olympics. YouTubeTV has had multi-view for a while and I had it last year with NFL Sunday Ticket. Of course DirecTV had multi-view streaming for Sunday Ticket also, and long has had multi-view channels pop-up -- e.g. these Olympics, DirecTV had a multi-view channel.
What's weird about ESPN+ is years before it existed back when ESPN's streaming offering was WatchESPN/ESPN3 you could do quadbox/multi-view on your browser. So it was supported. Was a handful of years every Saturday I'd have four college football games streaming on my monitor in a quadbox via ESPN3.
When ESPN+ came along it's only offered if you have an Apple TV or use the ESPN app on XBox One/Series. i.e. when I use ESPN+ on my browser there's no option for multi-view, when I open the ESPN app & sign into ESPN+ on my Samsung TV there is no option for multi-view. And so on.
KevFu
Registered User
You sound like me with that setup. I will never understand why everyone just doesn't do two TV's side-by-side.
Svechhammer
THIS is hockey?
- Jun 8, 2017
- 25,581
- 93,267
Amazon has pulled out of the funding agreement that would eventually allow Bally to stream on Amazon Prime. Diamond Sports is now bankrupt with no new funding coming in still claiming they are going to pull themselves out of it.
Consider me extremely skeptical of those claims.
Consider me extremely skeptical of those claims.
Kirk Van Houten
Registered User
- May 7, 2019
- 1,500
- 1,644
News: Disney-DirecTV, Diamond, PGA-LIV
Disney fires back at DirecTV in new press release as carriage dispute continues. Plus: Court approves Diamond's deals with NBA and NHL.
www.sportsmediawatch.com
The federal court overseeing Diamond Sports’ bankruptcy proceedings has approved deals the company reached with the NBA and NHL, per reports on Tuesday. The deals will see NBA and NHL franchises currently inked to agreements with Bally remain on the RSNs through the 2024-25 season, albeit at rights fees between 20-40% lower than the original deals. No such deal has been reached with MLB, who continues to rail against Diamond in court. MLB representatives claim that the rate with which Diamond is burning through its cash reserves is unsustainable, and see the one-year deals with the NBA and NHL as a “band-aid.”.
Blackhawkswincup
RIP Fugu
Wait until fans see how much $ the NBA and others will want in future
They will miss cable/regional coverage
They will miss cable/regional coverage
Putting on sports cost money whether fans like it or not . The only reason why rsn lasted they way they did is because fox strongarmed cable companies and everyone had to pay for it.
Kirk Van Houten
Registered User
- May 7, 2019
- 1,500
- 1,644
Djp
Registered User
Not seeing it end. I think if cities have same owner of multiple teams they can fo their own sports network
varsaku
Registered User
Djp
Registered User
This idea of cable failing will kill them us a fallscy.
Streaming is going to become identical tu o cable in time. Even in streaming you csnt itemize content. The cost of individual channel purchases vs a conglomerate..the conglomerate we I'll win out.
Right now cable is the consolidator if the individual channels
YouTube tv is close to being that. Hulu Is close too.
Eventually you look ag tates and they will be the same.
RSNs can operate as a component add on of YouTube tv or on cable or independent streaming.
Kirk Van Houten
Registered User
- May 7, 2019
- 1,500
- 1,644
dj4aces
An Intricate Piece of Infinity
RSN as a cable (or streaming TV) add-on type thing? Yeah. I think the viability of RSNs in this way are coming to an end, though maybe not in 2025. The trend we're seeing now, where teams are negotiating with streaming companies and local affiliates is the right idea. Rather than sports teams being an avenue to drive cable subscriptions, we'll see more people watching more games over-the-air/streaming.
