ESPN+ debuts on April 12

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by newtex, Apr 2, 2018.

  1. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree. I also don't know if ESPN would need permission from the NCAA to let people in other countries watch. Furthermore, getting revenue people in other countries watch would add to the arguments for NCAA athletes being paid.
     
  2. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    I guarantee you the rights that ESPN is buying from the various conferences and NCAA spell out exactly where ESPN can broadcast the games.

    I have no idea how that 2nd sentence makes sense. How would selling the product in other countries help that argument?
     
  3. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You're likely right but the timing is coincidental. We were just having a discussion on a Rapids fan FB group with a Rapids fan in Italy who was watching the Tulsa-Temple football game on Saturday. Turns out he loves college sports.
     
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  4. NashSC

    NashSC Member+

    Nashville SC
    United States
    Jan 3, 2018
    Ok...thats 1
     
  5. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    How much are the ISP's charging customers for internet only services? The big companies are charging close to $100 just for Internet when you don't buy the cable TV packages with it. So right there customers are already over $100/month when you add on the Sling subscription service plus on demand payments.........Amazon Prime will be increasing next year to over $100/yr..........Disney is rumored to charge between $8-$10 for their service.......Hulu..........Netflix..................etc.

    They're all going to exclusive content which won't be available on the other services.

    You might not personally be paying more, but I have to believe that there are chord cutters who are ultimately paying more now, or will in the near future.
     
  6. NashSC

    NashSC Member+

    Nashville SC
    United States
    Jan 3, 2018
    You were already paying for internet. It isn't free with cable subscription. From my experience It normally only goes up around $10 without cable subscription. Satellite subscription is normally completely separate of internet and internet cost is not affected when canceling satellite.

    Also no cord cutter will sign up for all OTT services. Most will sign up for 1-3.
     
  7. TheRealBilbo

    TheRealBilbo Member+

    Apr 5, 2016
    For a long time, i thought cable companies would move away from content delivery to just being a data pipe. It would eliminate the need for them to negotiate and pay for content carriage. People can get content either directly or through streaming services like Sling, PlayStation Vue, or DirecTV Now.

    Personally, I was paying $150 per month for DirecTV ( three TVs, HD, DVR). I had credits that expired that reduced the price $75 per month. They wouldn't renew them. After I canceled, they offered the discounts. By then, it was too late.

    Same content with DirecTV Now was $50 per month, and over 6 months, I got 2 Apple TVs. Same internet service ($80 with land line-i need to convince the wife to move the land line to ooma to save about $30 per month).
     
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  8. NashSC

    NashSC Member+

    Nashville SC
    United States
    Jan 3, 2018
    Bottom line is you can absolutely save money with a la cart services...and you only have to pay for what you want instead of paying for lots and lots of channels you will absolutely never ever in a million years watch.

    What is funny is Comcast has launched their own streaming only TV service that is a competitor to Sling, Playstation Vue etc. If that doesn't tell you where the market is heading then you are completely blind.

    P.S. I am not saying anybody here is denying where the market is heading.
     
  9. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    We have Verizon 5G Home wireless broadband being introduced here in Houston in October. They are working on it neighborhood by neighborhood and its not on my street yet. I am impatiently waiting until I can get my internet access from them and completely cut the cable/phone company out of the process.
     
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  10. TheRealBilbo

    TheRealBilbo Member+

    Apr 5, 2016
    I wouldn't consider DirecTV Now as a la cart. They have three tiers, with no ability to opt into or out of channels, aside from premium movies channels such as HBO.

    Where DirecTV Now probably has an advantage is in the delivery infrastructure. They just need a few data centers with high speed network connections. DirecTV needs that, multiple satellites, and hundreds of dollars worth of equipment in the customers home. Giving away an apple tv is probably cheaper than sending an installer to a customer's home for initial set up.

    I haven't seen an a la cart tv model that works. You have to pay for too many things to get the equivalent of one of the tiers in a traditional cable offering... Essentially you'd have to get just about all of the providers (e.g. Discovery, Scripps (food network, etc), Viacom...) offerings to get the diversity of programming choices offered in the middle tier cable package.

    Now, if someone offered the equivalent of the old Sirius satellite radio a la cart package where you got to pick 50 channels for $8 per month, that would be great.
     
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  11. NashSC

    NashSC Member+

    Nashville SC
    United States
    Jan 3, 2018
    Agree but things like sling (which actually markets itself as a la cart) is much closer to a la cart than we have ever had. It lets you choose from several options with all kinds of small add-on channel packages.

    I agree that they aren't true a la cart but are definitely moving that direction.
     
  12. TheRealBilbo

    TheRealBilbo Member+

    Apr 5, 2016
    Our phone company offers something like that as "My TV". My issue with it was that there was only one or two things I was interested in within a package, and I would need three or four of the packages, at higher total cost than the mid tier cable package I was trying to duplicate.

    What made it worse, was I would be paying for more channels in the supplemental packages that I had no interest in. Basically, it's a way to push people to a higher tier.

    I will concede that there may be people that model works for, particularly those who have no interest in sports, or leave their TVs on some news channel 24/7. But, if you have diverse interests, that model doesn't make sense.
     
  13. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I mean that if games are on TV and/or online in other countries, student-athletes will feel like TV and streaming are making more money from them.
     
  14. NashSC

    NashSC Member+

    Nashville SC
    United States
    Jan 3, 2018
    #439 NashSC, Sep 27, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2018
    I only use sling because of sports and it is about a 3rd of the cost of a comparable cable package in my area. I have the $40 total package and it gives me every major national sports channel and tons of regional sports channels and several collegiate conference sports networks.
    My cable options aren't even close.

    So I think sports is the reason these streaming services are kicking butt.
    If it wasn't for sports I would just use Netflix and an antenna and be completely happy.
     
  15. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I wonder some times if Altitude has a side deal with DISH/DIRECTv/Comcast. They are the only channel I watch that has no (legal) online streaming option. And given that they're the home of the Rapids, Nuggets, and Avalanche it keeps a lot of Denver sports fans from cutting the cord. Its really the only reason I haven't.
     
  16. TrickHog

    TrickHog Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 14, 2002
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Same here. The Galaxy and the Lakers are both on Spectrum SportsNet. And you can only get that channel with Spectrum Cable or DirectTV Dish. No other options....
     
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  17. TrickHog

    TrickHog Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 14, 2002
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Also, ESPN+ and the new MLS App still suck horribly. I am not exaggerating
    when I say I am watching less than 1/2 the amount of MLS soccer I used to watch soley because of the poor interfaces and poor performance on both of these...
     
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  18. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The MLS App sucks, but once we found the bug in lower league team favorites on ESPN+ I've had nothing but good things to say about it.
     
  19. TrickHog

    TrickHog Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 14, 2002
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I can't easily navigate to the games and it is impossible to avoid seeing the score before you start a replay. It's a total failure in my experience.
     
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  20. NashSC

    NashSC Member+

    Nashville SC
    United States
    Jan 3, 2018
    I am not a fan of the ESPN app.
    I am doing the ESPN+ trial for the second time and 90% of the time the app tells me I don't have access. I have to log out of provider and log out of ESPN account and then log back in.
    I think it is harder than it should be to find content you are looking for too. Once the trial is over I may go back to just not watching mls. This is the first year I have done that. I think that says something about my frustrations.

    I actually think after the last update the MLS app is ok now. When it launched it was completely unusable.
     
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  21. ElJefe

    ElJefe Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 16, 1999
    Colorful Colorado
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I assure you that the inability to watch the Rapids live hasn't kept me from switching to a streaming service. :D
     
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  22. JasonMa

    JasonMa Member+

    Mar 20, 2000
    Arvada, CO
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'll be happy to run a copy of MLS Cup '10 by your place to make sure you're not missing out :D
     
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  23. Eastern Bear

    Eastern Bear Member+

    Feb 27, 1999
    Great Falls, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    I turn my ipad onto landscape mode to avoid the score.
     
  24. TrickHog

    TrickHog Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 14, 2002
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If I only could do that with my TV....
     
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  25. TheJoeGreene

    TheJoeGreene Member+

    Aug 19, 2012
    The Lubbock Texas
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    The key on cord cutting is companies like DirecTV not blocking you from signing in on several devices in several locations. Right now I'm paying $70 for internet (with Netflix free for the year), $3 for Hulu as a Spotify add on, and for Amazon Prime. I use my parents DTV credentials to stream ESPN/NBC Sports/Fox Sports and a few other items on my Roku.
     

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