ESPN+ debuts on April 12

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

  1. LordRobin

    LordRobin Member+

    Sep 1, 2006
    Akron, OH
    Club:
    Cleveland C. S.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I watched the RSL-Portland game without difficulty. I was watching it on my Apple TV. The Internet is a funny thing. Sometimes a site just doesn't work for you for whatever reason.
     
  2. eddygee

    eddygee Member+

    DC United
    May 12, 2007
    Moco, Maryland
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This I've streamed thru a Roku Stick+ on my Panasonic. I personally don't get the joy of watching games primarily on mobile devices unless I'm on the go. The people who want to watch and are cancelling there service due to the app glitching on their mobile hardware are doing themselves a disservice just get a streaming stick and problem solved.
     
    Dirt McGirt repped this.
  3. SetPeace

    SetPeace Member+

    Jun 22, 2004
    SC Illinois
    Club:
    Torquay United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As a technologically challenged senior citizen, what is this 'streaming stick' of which you speak, and once purchased, where do you put it on your computer (or would it be the television)?
     
  4. Sal Paradise

    Sal Paradise BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 14, 2009
    Club:
    Jaguares de Chiapas FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I had the exact same experience as you several months ago. The games would freeze and I would have to keep re-setting them time after time. My guess is that ESPN+ is designed more for portable devices like iPads and cellphones. I'm guessing the bandwidth of their system isn't capable of supporting 4k to home users. Too bad, because it seemed like such a great deal for the price.
     
  5. TheRealBilbo

    TheRealBilbo Member+

    Apr 5, 2016
    Hook it to your television. Here are a couple of examples... From $30 to $180.

    https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2421457,00.asp

    I have the Apple unit... Directv Now were giving them away not long ago. They allow you to "cut the cord" and still have cable.

    https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2489103,00.asp
     
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  6. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    I'm using the Roku Premier with YouTube TV, Netflix, and ESPN+ subscriptions attached to my tv. It streams off my wifi. It works great. I get most cable channels and the local network tv stations via the YouTube TV that includes a virtual DVR. I've never had a problem with any of those including ESPN+.

    Right now I'm paying Comcast for my internet connection. I can't wait for Verizon 5G Home so I can get that wirelessly. If Verizon ever puts it on my street. Some neighborhoods in Houston have it already but it is spreading very slowly.
     
    eddygee repped this.
  7. eddygee

    eddygee Member+

    DC United
    May 12, 2007
    Moco, Maryland
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #482 eddygee, Oct 23, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2018

    Yeah I live in the DC Metro area in MD I used to have Fios 5G. I moved from one area of my city to the other in the Summer of 2017 into my new home and that area doesn't have Fios. Was told by the Verizon rep the wires would be laid in a couple months on my side of town. Here we are in 2018 the year is coming to a close and I'm still waiting.

    I've gotten use to the Comcast remote and my Cable/Internet bill is about $40 bucks cheaper for basically the same package.
     
  8. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Verizon 5G uses small transmitters mounted on utility poles to transmit a millimeter-wave signal to an antenna in or on your house. No wires. But they have to put up a lot of the transmitters. It only went live on October 1. I'm just impatient.
     
  9. eddygee

    eddygee Member+

    DC United
    May 12, 2007
    Moco, Maryland
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I was under the impression that Fiber Optic cables were still being used in the 5G process.
    https://www.cablinginstall.com/arti.../design/the-role-of-fiber-in-5g-networks.html
     
  10. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    OK. Thanks for the extra info. I don't understand all of that article but it would think that a publication called Cabling Installation & Maintenance might have a bit of bias toward cables being necessary. This article is positing fiber cable as part of the process but does so as speculation.

    Some quotes from the article:

    Not yet commercialized.


    One of the illustration says: "A view of the deep fiber deployment that may be necessary to support 5G." May be necessary.

    Another quote:

    Will likely rely

    Overall it sounds to me like they are saying that fiber optic cable will be necessary to for everyone to get 5G and that it might be part of the overall distribution system.
     
  11. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    ESPN+ isn't working. I put on Toronto vs. Atlanta right after the first half ended. It played for a second but then went back to the loading screen and froze. I refreshed the page and got a message that I'm not subscribed. I tried to read an article that requires ESPN+ and it worked, so I am subscribed. Then on that game and two others I got the message:
    "We are unable to play this video at the moment. Please try again later."
    I hope it gets fixed during halftime.
     
  12. m_vandersee

    m_vandersee Member

    Aug 2, 2013
    Illinois
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What type of device are you trying to watch on? I had some issues earlier in the week with my RokuTV logging me out of ESPN+, but after I deleted the app and redownloaded it worked fine. Currently watching on 3 devices with no issues
     
  13. Father Ted

    Father Ted BigSoccer Supporter

    Manchester United, Galway United, New York Red Bulls
    Nov 2, 2001
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    I signed up for ESPN+ today to watch the NYRB game but then says it's blacked out. Very disappointed. FS1 coverage was poor.
     
  14. Socarchist

    Socarchist Member+

    Feb 21, 2010
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Yep. ESPN+ is bunk today. I re-subscribed to watch SJ @ Seattle. I know that ESPN+ blacks out live SJ matches locally. For every previous match, they lifted the blackout once the game entered the "Replay" section, information confirmed via a long deleted email months ago.

    However, not today. Still blacked out. The phone rep was useless at first, then asked her supervisor, who told her that the local blackout can take up to 48 hours to lift. Why today and not for all the other SJ away matches I successfully watched without spoilers just after completion?

    Why bother with MLS, if they make the games this hard to watch, especially for a team as dire as the Quakes?
     
    mjlee22 repped this.
  15. jaykoz3

    jaykoz3 Member+

    Dec 25, 2010
    Conshohocken, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Seeing as the game is blacked out where you live, you possibly live in the San Jose Quakes broadcast region? There must be a local way for you to watch their games, no?

    Your location says Connecticut. MSG is available there, and pretty much throughout the North East of the US. Therefore RBNY games are subject to blackout.

    Seriously, blaming ESPN+ because your MLS fave team has local blackout restrictions on their broadcasts, is a lot like complaining that it's too sunny in Hawaii.
     
    Kejsare and JasonMa repped this.
  16. newtex

    newtex Member+

    May 25, 2005
    Houston
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    It looks like the Dallas/Portland game will be on ESPN+ along with UniMas.

    The other Knockout games are on UniMas plus FS1 or ESPN 2.

    https://www.mlssoccer.com/mls-cup-playoffs/2018/bracket
     
    Sachsen repped this.
  17. Socarchist

    Socarchist Member+

    Feb 21, 2010
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    My issue is not the existence of local blackouts, it is the timing of their lifting after the game ends. Until yesterday, local blackouts lifted almost immediately after the matches' conclusion, making ESPN+ a useful and affordable way to watch my team's away matches without spoilers. Has the policy changed? Or is the continuing local blackout of the SJ/Seattle match a technical glitch? I await ESPN+'s email reply.
     
    Q*bert Jones III repped this.
  18. ElJefe

    ElJefe Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 16, 1999
    Colorful Colorado
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I would say that it's a technical glitch. Since I live near Denver, I'm blacked out for Colorado's games on ESPN+, but I was able to watch the Colorado-FCD game within a few hours of the game's end.
     
    hipityhop, JasonMa and Socarchist repped this.
  19. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    A computer. I'm willing to call it a rare problem. If I get the same message for NCAA Basketball, I'll be mad.
     
  20. Socarchist

    Socarchist Member+

    Feb 21, 2010
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    ESPN+ support confirmed that local blackouts lift once the games are available as replays. They had a now corrected technical issue with the Seattle/SJ and LAG/Houston matches last weekend.
     
  21. Q*bert Jones III

    Q*bert Jones III The People's Poet

    Feb 12, 2005
    Woodstock, NY
    Club:
    DC United
    There are no replays from last night available at all right now. Which is weird because I watched the ESPN game last night on ESPN+. The archive was available this morning. So the file exists, it's just not available right now

    I'm sure if you like other sports ESPN+ is a great value. But, purely for MLS, it's a goddamn mess and it always has been IMO.

    I just want to open an app, find a game with scores disabled, and click on either Full Game, Condensed Game, or Highlights. I don't care about anything else. MLS Live did this nearly perfectly as recently as 2016.

    But ESPN+ doesn't have Condensed Games, those are in the MLS app (YES!). It shows Highlights, if you know where to look, but you'll get the score beforehand. The Full Games are sometimes there, sometimes they're blacked out and show up later, and sometimes they never show up at all.

    In terms of the actual stream, though, I've never had one problem that I can recall.
     
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  22. NaBUru38

    NaBUru38 Member+

    Mar 8, 2016
    Las Canteras, Uruguay
    Club:
    Club Nacional de Football
    These video streaming platforms are still not robust enough, especially compared with cable TV.
     
  23. NashSC

    NashSC Member+

    Nashville SC
    United States
    Jan 3, 2018
    I have no problems with any of them. I stream 100% of my viewing content. They don't go out any more for me than cable TV does (which does go out). Only time I have issues is if I am having internet issues which is through the cable company.
     
  24. NashSC

    NashSC Member+

    Nashville SC
    United States
    Jan 3, 2018
    I will add, if you are having continual problems with streaming services it is likely due to one of the following (if everyone was having these issues they wouldn't exist and nobody would use them):
    - bad internet provider, slow or drops connection often. Most likely culprit.
    - bad equipment. old or faulty computer, phone, or streaming device (roku, appleTV, androidTV device).
    - bad home network set up. incorrectly set up router or old slow router.

    Do streaming services sometimes have outages and down time? Of course.
    Is it normal or reoccurring? No
     
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