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The Frantic TV Schedule and Its Many Servicers

sbet1998

sbet1998

Registered User
Feb 12, 2012
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It was enough with the NHL having the worst scheduling among the pro sports but now dealing with trying to figure out which service I need to buy to watch the games is driving me insane.

If it werent for some questionable sources I couldnt watch the home-opening game even though I have Hulu and Bally's.

This league is a joke.

You pay for one, its on the other or some random platform.
 
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sbet1998 said:
It was enough with the NHL having the worst scheduling among the pro sports but now dealing with trying to figure out which service I need to buy to watch the games is driving me insane.

If it werent for some questionable sources I couldnt watch the home-opening game even though I have Hulu and Bally's.

This league is a joke.

You pay for one, its on the other or some random platform.
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I agree. You pretty much have to resign yourself to missing a few games a year or watching through alternative means or if you are lucky pay a fortune for NHL network, and 1-2 other services

Moving out of the Bally's Midwest coverage area was a blessing. I am in the Dallas coverage area. I have ESPN+ and blackout games in Dallas are free in Victory+. So I am lucky with 2 great and affordable services to watch 85% of games.

I think there are a couple TNT games but they air on Max which I have. But I'd have to pay like $150 a month for the 4-5 NHL network games. No thank you.
 
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The game is on ESPN, which is pretty far from being some random streaming platform. The business model is far from consumer friendly, but a league is not a joke for airing games on ESPN's main channel. ESPN is by far the most popular and accessible cable sports channel in the country.
 
Brian39 said:
The game is on ESPN, which is pretty far from being some random streaming platform. The business model is far from consumer friendly, but a league is not a joke for airing games on ESPN's main channel. ESPN is by far the most popular and accessible cable sports channel in the country.
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You have a point there but mine remains about having to hunt down which app or service I need to watch a game every night. Theres no consistency in that or the schedule. It is a joke for a billion dollar entity thats been around as long as they have.

Ill get over it, enjoy the opener
 
sbet1998 said:
You have a point there but mine remains about having to hunt down which app or service I need to watch a game every night. Theres no consistency in that or the schedule. It is a joke for a billion dollar entity thats been around as long as they have.

Ill get over it, enjoy the opener
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I can roll with questionable sources. They work.
 
Brian39 said:
The game is on ESPN, which is pretty far from being some random streaming platform. The business model is far from consumer friendly, but a league is not a joke for airing games on ESPN's main channel. ESPN is by far the most popular and accessible cable sports channel in the country.
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The game is on ESPN, but not on ESPN+. That is ridiculous. I pay ESPN directly for an expanded amount of content, and I still have to pay exorbitant cable prices for channels I do not need to be able to watch select games that they randomly decide are on the main channel and not the + subscription.
 
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Look into the Superbox, (Amazon, Walmart), one time purchase of the box, been working for me for a couple of years. ESPN, ESPN+, NHL Channel, Bally Sports+. I think it was $125
 
Majorityof1 said:
The game is on ESPN, but not on ESPN+. That is ridiculous. I pay ESPN directly for an expanded amount of content, and I still have to pay exorbitant cable prices for channels I do not need to be able to watch select games that they randomly decide are on the main channel and not the + subscription.
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I guess I never realized that you can’t watch ESPN with the ESPN+ subscription. Is that really true?! Good grief.
 
Always another little nail in the coffin of fandom, short term dollars over long term growth
 
Stupendous Yappi said:
I guess I never realized that you can’t watch ESPN with the ESPN+ subscription. Is that really true?! Good grief.
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Yep it is true, at least for me. I have Hulu which has ESPN+. I watched the first game game on Hulu, second on something else, third on Bally's and had to get creative for the home opener because Hulu doesnt have it -- even as a replay. They want 90/mo. for their live tv package. Its why I started this thread. 5th game will be on Ballys and its back to Hulu for the Carolina game.

Its a mess.
 
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So I check the start time and find out this game is on FanDuel Sports Network. Didnt know it existed.

You cant make this up

That marks 4 of the first 7 games that werent on Bally's or Hulu (ESPN+) and actually it might be 5.
 
I guess I will ask this here... seems appropriate...

I had kinda been taking this season off, not having any way of watching the Blues at all after having cancelled cable and Ballys/FanDuel... but I guess it's my turn to be a bandwagoner (after watching 95% of games the previous 25 years, ha)...

Anyway, if I subscribe to FanDuel streaming, do I get the playoffs or not?

Finding the answer to that simple question is proving to be annoying as hell and is really emblematic of the problems being addressed in this thread. My guess is that since they don't seem to want to answer the question, the answer is NO.

The current state of NHL streaming is a total joke... blah.

So, if I want to watch the rest of the season and the playoffs, how do I make that happen? Does Fanduel get the first two rounds and then it's random smattering of 4 different services?

What's the deal?
 
I don't see how the NHL can make more money from selling TV right than just offering the service themselves. If I had one place to pay to get every game I would absolutely do it but as of now? Not a chance and I don't pay for anything at all. I bet there are millions more just like me.
 
In the past they would usually carry the first round before sending it all over to strictly national broadcasts I believe. I know the playoffs are now split between TNT and ESPN but not sure how much you would be able to see on Fan Duel. Usually they would make an announcement closer to the start of the playoffs.
 
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Found it striking to h hear Biznasty say that he likes having tv rights spread out so there are more access points for fans to be able watch. It makes it harder for core fans like us who try to watch every game, but that is interesting perspective that I hadn't heard vocalized prior.
 
Here's an idea... let the NHL have one service, with easy to understand pricing... no wondering who has the game, etc... one price, once service, all the games. Maybe they could have one price for your home team and another for all teams, whatever... just keep it simple.

And hey, then you can also let those other channels have some games too, just put them on in two places. People can pay and watch everything on the streaming service, and they can simultaniously market the game to new fans or casuals who don't want to pay and it's a WIN-WIN-WIN.

This doesn't have to be so hard. You don't need to create a Byzantine labyrinth of confusion for fans who want to watch your games... overlapping exclusivity deals just frustrate and alienate your fanbase and push people toward piracy.
 
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Bye Bye Blueston said:
Found it striking to h hear Biznasty say that he likes having tv rights spread out so there are more access points for fans to be able watch. It makes it harder for core fans like us who try to watch every game, but that is interesting perspective that I hadn't heard vocalized prior.
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if hard core fans can't find it, less, uhh, enthusiastic fans aren't even going to look
 
NGL I’m pretty happy with my cable along with ESPN+

Haven’t missed a Blues game and the number of out of market games available through ESPN+ is pretty impressive.
 
Falco Lombardi said:
NGL I’m pretty happy with my cable along with ESPN+

Haven’t missed a Blues game and the number of out of market games available through ESPN+ is pretty impressive.
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Same, it really seems to have come full circle and just having a cable subscription is once again the easiest way to catch everything. I've already had ESPN+ for years for soccer anyway so was thrilled when they picked up the NHL too
 
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