Someone just set up a few viewing parties for fans on the northwest side of the city this past year, and while turnout was usually in the single digits, it was nice to be able to go to a traditionally Cubs/Sox/Bears/Bulls/Hawks bar and get a TV with the Fire on. Not only does this move make it harder to grow these types of groups, there were times when other bar patrons would pay attention to the game and cheer along, and those potential new fans are likely lost as well, at least until ESPN+ takes off as ‘a thing’ that most bars have, which, who knows when that will be but my guess is it won’t be this season.
@Andrew_Oleksiuk is still at it a bit for this year. We discussed his plans at the game on Saturday. I will host a couple at my girlfriend's bar again this year, assuming we can with ESPN+ and do not need a "commercial" version. I am currently investigating that.
I’ll have an ESPN+ account (because I am a sheep and a sucker and a consumer) that’d I’d be happy to share, so if that ever presents an issue just let me know. Obviously the larger point that this arrangement still sucks, but I’m excited that there’ll be at least one bar we can go to to watch the Fire.
Yeah I was interested in finding a bar to go to for away games. Please keep us posted where we can go. Thanks!
Or home games even. Will miss the 31st due to a concert that is at 8pm in the city. You would think a concert in Chicago would be make able from a Chicago fire game that ends at 7. They don't even have the decency to run busses to Midway throughout the game like anyone would ever need to leave early for whatever reason. On the upside I could walk over the bridge to the 63rd stop all the while watching the game on my phone. Yay. Of course this would allow me to watch the game on my phone without picking up a bar tab.
The "tv" deal (or lack thereof)? The ownership? The front office? The make up of the team? The announcer? This is so much suckage to spread around.
You put your left foot in you put your left foot out you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around that's how you watch the fire
I've paid for MLSLive for years but I can't get onboard with this deal because for one thing... There's no local or easy TV deal. Jump through hoops to watch local sports team, no thank you. Streaming TV/media is the future but not like this. I don't have the definitive answer but no way in hell I'll do it this way. Add $5 a month to all the other things I'm subscribed to... Nope.
That’s my deal too. I already pay for cable, Netflix, Hulu, and now this? I said no to nbcsports gold already, and will prob say no to this.
It's the cable/satellite providers panicking about the streaming market. Why do you think we have caps on data transfer? Because Netflix and even YouTube caught them unaware. Hulu (which I pay for too) is trying to take down Netflix on the streaming front. Look at who owns them (the entire group) and how much content disappeared from Netflix only to surface on that service (with ads up the wazoo if you take the lowest price option). I've learned much to my disappointment that money above all else is the important thing... for basically everyone. I mean Disney for example owns how much now? They can't be satisfied with what they already have and what they have acquired? Essentially a monopoly (like our ISP's) and they're launching their own streaming service too, and oh wait ESPN+.
I live on the East Coast, so I have to get MLS Live to watch Fire games in the first place. Plus, I enjoy watching a random MLS Saturday evening game. For the last few years, I usually watch parts of the Fire game because it just gets too frustrating. I will watch 20 minutes and do something/watch something else.
Maybe or just get a stream off reddit. $5 is a pint at the bar but I can't block those ads on pirate streams easily so it might be worth it for the convenience
To quote Gamecock I'm not really doing it for the Fire, and the fact that I'm paying less than I was for MLS Live AND getting Fire games isn't really a win for me, as I'd much rather the Fire had something that allowed people to watch them OTA or via cable/satellite.
Wait are you actually paying less or paying twice? With MLS live you get all the games right? Now you get all of them minus the fire and have to pay separately for the fire? Does that sound right?
Less than MLS Live, which is no longer available. So, ESPN+ is $4.99 a month which is ~$50 for a 10 month (MLS Season long) subscription, whereas MLS Live was (IIRC) $79.99. MLS Live had all of the out of market games minus national broadcasts (blacked out- which I assume will be the same on ESPN+ unless Fox Sports is cool with them streaming their games) and Fire games (at least until the next day when you could watch a replay and/or a condensed version of the game. The condensed games were honestly the biggest value of the MLS Live package- I could get through all of the important parts of a weekend's worth of games in around 3-4 hours on the app. Hoping ESPN+ has something similar.