Watching the Lightning (Bally, Streaming, TV, etc.)

[Felonious Python]

The missing link in this discussion is that if you leave Bally, you need to not only get on TV, but have in-market streaming.

It's not an either/or, IMO.

 

[TampaIceman]

I still find it hard to believe that Amazon would make that investment and then not use the content to generate revenue via Amazon Prime Video so I am holding out hope they make the hockey package available for a fee so I can drop Spectrum.

 

[Felonious Python]

I still find it hard to believe that Amazon would make that investment and then not use the content to generate revenue via Amazon Prime Video so I am holding out hope they make the hockey package available for a fee so I can drop Spectrum.

Bally Sports+ is $20/month. Pretty pricey, but it's also easier to cancel and resubscribe than cable.

How much lower the price would be with Amazon is an unanswered question.


ESPN+ and a streaming VPN (Surfshark) would be a cheap, legal way to stream.

 

[DMXATF23]

Bally Sports+ is $20/month. Pretty pricey, but it's also easier to cancel and resubscribe than cable.

How much lower the price would be with Amazon is an unanswered question.


ESPN+ and a streaming VPN (Surfshark) would be a cheap, legal way to stream.

The VPN is legal?

 

[Felonious Python]

The VPN is legal?

VPNs are legal in pretty much all democratic nations. If you've seen ads for NordVPN or Surfshark, those are VPNs.

Are VPNs legal? A country-by-country guide. | Proton

Are VPNs blocked or banned in your country? Here’s the updated list of countries that are trying to make VPNs illegal.

protonvpn.com

ESPN+ still wouldn't have the live TNT games, however. I sort of lucked out last season that MAX extended their free sports offer through the end of the season.


You could theoretically sign up for the NHL package in, like, the Bahamas, and get everything, but you'd always need to have access to a Bahamas IP address. Netflix users were getting cheap subscriptions with a Turkish IP address that way.

I haven't really investigated that, as I went with the Disney bundle and got MAX for cheap on Black Friday (a great time for streaming deals, btw).

 

[TampaIceman]

I would go with the Ballys app and drop Spectrum but the few times I have needed to use it the connection was so glitchy I wouldn’t trust having to count on it all season.

 

[Felonious Python]

 

[Felonious Python]

At the moment, the only straightforward ways to stream Bally in the US are Fubo, DirectTV Stream, and Bally Sports+.

Bally Sports+ and Venu would have you completely covered for ~$65/month (at least for now). Cheaper than Fubo or DirectTV Stream.


Venu will include ESPN+, so pair that with a streaming VPN, and that will get you everything as well.

 

[Felonious Python]

 

[Felonious Python]

A judge has put Venu on hold.



Congrats to all political action committees on the upcoming donos.

 

[Felonious Python]

 

[bigdaddio]

After how badly Bally's executed last year I can't believe they did not trigger SLA's in the contract that would allow the Bolts to bail and go elsewhere. So, getting about a month out, where do we stand? Is it Bally's sports or nothing still?

 

[Felonious Python]

After how badly Bally's executed last year I can't believe they did not trigger SLA's in the contract that would allow the Bolts to bail and go elsewhere. So, getting about a month out, where do we stand? Is it Bally's sports or nothing still?

TBL are still with Bally for another year. Bally Sports is even the presenting sponsor for the Thanksgiving game. TBL keeps renewing. It's not like they're stuck with Bally.

I'm figuring that the payments from Bally, even if they're less than they used to be, is still better than going alone.



If/when TBL does leave Bally, they'll be able to learn from all these other teams who have already left their RSNs. It's probably not a safe assumption that Scripps or OTA or a team streaming platform is going to go off without a hitch, and that it's only Bally that has bad luck.

 

[Felonious Python]

Bally claims to have enough money to get out of bankruptcy without Amazon, but if you were planning on getting Bally Sports through Amazon Prime, then this may be an issue.

Amazon may also want to make a new offer for less money. Bally lost a bunch of teams in the off season, so they have less value.

 

[Felonious Python]

I think ESPN may be getting in too late. They should have been ready two years ago. Once you start offering free OTA and streaming, it's hard to go back.

 

[Felonious Python]

Asked today about a harsh email last July from James Dolan — when the Knicks owner called the league’s new $77B media rights deal the potential "ruination" of the RSN model — Silver was quick to point out that, prior to that national deal, 18 of the league’s RSN had already gone defunct or entered bankruptcy. He then painted a rosier picture for the future, referencing a temporary 30-to-40% "dip" in local rights fees for 13 NBA teams due to Diamond Sports Group’s Chapter 11 but also "an interest" from streaming services that should increase rights fees shortly thereafter.

His comments lend even more credence to league-wide sentiment that either Amazon, Roku, YouTube — or some other streaming entity — will eventually take a conglomerate of between 15 and 20 teams and create a national streaming RSN somewhat similar to what the NFL does with Sunday Ticket. As of now, the league and Diamond have a court-approved single-year agreement to broadcast local games for those 13 NBA teams for this coming season, but that didn’t stop Silver from talking idealistically about the future.

 

[bigdaddio]

Possibly Bally's will be available from Amazon Prime. Which may still be $20 a month but I hope Amazon will clean up technical issues.

Exclusive | Amazon nears major deal to broadcast NBA, MLB and NHL games on Prime streaming: sources

Amazon is in late-stage talks for a contract to livestream this coming season all the Bally Sports broadcasts of 12 NBA franchises, as well as five MLB teams and nine NHL teams, sources said.

nypost.com

Also, this board now sucks trying to circumvent ad blockers and when you do it looks like a dystopian Blade Runner with about 40 video adds popping up all over the screen.

 

[Felonious Python]

Possibly Bally's will be available from Amazon Prime. Which may still be $20 a month but I hope Amazon will clean up technical issues.

Exclusive | Amazon nears major deal to broadcast NBA, MLB and NHL games on Prime streaming: sources

Amazon is in late-stage talks for a contract to livestream this coming season all the Bally Sports broadcasts of 12 NBA franchises, as well as five MLB teams and nine NHL teams, sources said.

nypost.com

Also, this board now sucks trying to circumvent ad blockers and when you do it looks like a dystopian Blade Runner with about 40 video adds popping up all over the screen.

An HFBoards sponsorship is $12/year, which will remove ads.


It doesn't seem like Amazon is going to invest in Diamond, so they likely won't be responsible for fixing any technical issues.

There's not much tangible benefit of buying Bally Sports+ through Amazon Prime, outside of having it on something else you use.

It'd make it harder to justify dropping Amazon Prime, if anything.

 

[Felonious Python]

I haven't seen anything on how the Lightning will stream their pre-season games. The Panthers have theirs geolocked, which doesn't make sense to me. It's a free broadcast, and doesn't conflict with anybody. Watching a Panthers game today doesn't take away from watching a Lightning game on Tuesday.

IIRC, the Orlando game has been unavailable in the past, so you might be able to count on that.

 

[Master P]

I haven't seen anything on how the Lightning will stream their pre-season games. The Panthers have theirs geolocked, which doesn't make sense to me. It's a free broadcast, and doesn't conflict with anybody. Watching a Panthers game today doesn't take away from watching a Lightning game on Tuesday.

IIRC, the Orlando game has been unavailable in the past, so you might be able to count on that.

If they do stream them I'm guessing it will be through their site with the score box feed.

 

[Felonious Python]

The Amazon deal is Canada only, btw. The US won't change this season.

 

[Felonious Python]

The Rays are headed for free agency.


This is the big one. I can see the appeal of the Lightning and Rays working together on creating an in-market streaming app.

Consolidation is inevitable, so maybe they join something like Victory+.

The Bally Sports teams all benefit from each other's existence, and cutting the Rays fan base loose will accelerate subscriber losses. Baseball is also big business for RSNs in the summer. Soon it'll just be pro cornhole reruns.

 

[Felonious Python]

This is also breaking news to the MLB, and therefore the industry.

MLB’s representatives said they were “sandbagged” by this news and were not prepared to respond fully.

“We have no information about what is being done,” Jim Bromley, lawyer for MLB, said at a hearing on Wednesday. “We’ve had no opportunity to review and now we’re in front of the court and being asked to make our comments.”

On an unrelated note, a new FAST service launched in the past few days. freelivesports.tv
It has most of the FAST sports channels you can find everywhere else. There's no dedicated hockey channel, as yet.

Sports.tv is the other FAST sports website I know of.


edit: I just want to drop an edit in because freelivesports has foosball tv.

Free Live Sports

watch.freelivesports.tv

 

[GoBoltz56]

Trying to decipher everything here, Have they not figured out where they are going to broadcast games when the season starts in 2 weeks? Or is it still Bally sports until something else is announced?

 

[Felonious Python]

Trying to decipher everything here, Have they not figured out where they are going to broadcast games when the season starts in 2 weeks? Or is it still Bally sports until something else is announced?

The Lightning are on Bally Sports this season. There will likely be a name change to Bally Sports, but it'll still be in the same places it was available last season.

The longer term situation is sort of up in the air, especially if the Rays aren't able to renegotiate with Bally/Diamond.

I look forward to fans cheering that the Lightning have 'left' Bally when it's just rebranding to FanDuel.



I just hope the karaoke lyrics won't change too much.