I'm moving to a new house and need to know what television system package has the most prolific soccer (and soccer related shows) available. Can anyone help me? Thanks!
As a warning, this thread could get ugly. It really depends on what you want and what you want to pay. Cable companies vary depending on where you are and your cable company. DIRECTV has FSW, the EPL PPV package, a version of the MLS shootout, and a bunch of friendlies on PPV. Dish has much of the same, but it also has a ton of international channels if you want to pay a lot more to get them. The shootout also might be better on the Dish this year. Dish also has the new GolTV. I have DIRECTV and like it. My cable option is Comcast which sucks. I can't get FSW that way and they killed the Shootout when college football started last year. I'm open to moving to dish at some point if it proves to me it's better, but I'm happy with what I have. I've found DIRECTV to have pretty good customer service so far as well.
I'm going to try and make sure it doesn't. Really, it boils down to personal preference. Each has strengths and weaknesses and assessing them depends on what you want to watch most.
Personal preference, who the local cable company is, your requirements (number of TVs, TiVO requirement)... There is no right answer and you need to research your situation.
Thanks for the input. I too have Comcast, which sucks, and because of that I am wholly unfamiliar with many soccer stations and what is "out there". I do know this much....I need FSW, and MLS Shootout, at the least, and all three carry these. Beyond that, though, is the great unknown to me. Cost, while always an issue, isn't my main concern. So, that being said, maybe you can let me know what other stations carry a lot of soccer (any league/competitions). Then I can compare packages offered by the afore mentioned companies. Thanks again for the replies!
Adelphia does not service our neighborhood in Sterling VA, but relatives a quarter mile get digital cable through Adelphia. Go figure. I don't know the reasons why but once I found out we couldn't get digital cable, I called DirecTV and had it installed. I went with the name and all I really wanted was NHL Center Ice, FSW and Sunday NFL. No complaints at all from me since I got it. Maybe I should have looked at Dish Network more but in a new house I wanted this done asap. I'd love to have GOL TV so I could follow Real Madrid more but in our new house my soccer viewing on weekends is limited for now. Enjoy. Bill
OK, here are some questions that help make the decision easier: 1) Are you interested in any of the other sports packages other than the Shootout? (MLB Extra Innings, NHL Center Ice, NBA League Pass, NFL Sunday Ticket, etc.) If so, which ones? 2) Are there any soccer leagues beyond MLS in which you take a keen active interest? In other words, are you a big EPL fan or Serie A or Mexican League or whatever?
Of other packages, the only thing I would possibly be interested in is the NFL Sunday Ticket. And as far as other leagues are concerned, I would most interested in the EPL, Bundesliga, Serie A, Dutch and Mexican leagues, in that order. Having said that, I am looking to get the MOST amount of soccer programming - regardless of league. Thanks for the posts, it is helping me frame the issues and decision making!
A lot depends on what your cable company offers. Course if you want the NFL Ticket - your only option is DirectTV. I have had all 3 varieties within the last 4 years. DirecTV has not commited to the full MLS Shootout package this season and in seasons past - which is why I left them 3 few years ago. I have a decent cable package so I chose that over the DISH - just to get fast internet cheaper. Buy the Latino package on either system you get all the Mexican soccer you can handle plus FSW Espanol. I think DISH can give you the option to buy RAI for Serie A and maybe a couple other leagues. DISH offers a bit more - but you gotta pay for it. Which is fair.
My guess is that, with that approach, you'd get far more soccer than you could ever watch. Not as bad problem to have, perhaps.
US PPV IIRC, a few US friendlies and even an away qualifier or 2 were available only on ppv. Did DISH carry these?
Back when I got DirecTV in '97, I got it in July and there was a promotion, so I got that season of NFL Sunday Ticket for free. Happens every year around the same time, right before the NFL season. It kicked ass. But when 1998 rolled around, I realized that while I really liked it, I didn't like it enough to pay $180 for it. So I didn't. The reason why I'm telling you this story is because NFL Sunday Ticket is exclusive to DirecTV. Nobody else has it. And because of that, a lot of people subscribe to DirecTV. Then realize that maybe they weren't as interested in it as they thought they were, especially when they see that subscription price staring them in the face. Other people would gladly pay $500 a season for NFL Sunday Ticket. So if you're the type of person that would gladly pay $200 a season for NFL Sunday Ticket, then DirecTV is pretty much your only choice. If you like the NFL Sunday Ticket in theory, but not so much at $200 a season, then keep your options open. On Fox Sports World (which both satellite providers have), pay-per-view (both satellite providers offer it, but as I understand it, DirecTV's package is a bit more complete, and lets you order individual matches, while DISH only lets you order the entire season or an entire month's worth of matches), YES (only DirecTV has it, but then again, they only show tape-delayed Manchester United matches which you can see on the other two channels) Fox Sports World (both satellite providers) Gol TV (only on DISH in the DISH Latino packages) RAI International (only on DISH for an extra $10 a month) Fox Sports World Univision (both satellite providers in their basic programming packages) Galavision (both satellite providers in their basic programming packages) Telefutura (if you've got a Telefutura affiliate in your area and a satellite provider carries your local channels, then you'll get it) Telemundo (if you've got a Telemundo affiliate in your area and a satellite provider carries your local channels, then you'll get it. Otherwise, only DISH has a nationwide feed, and only if you subscribe to the DISH Latino package) Well, that's why I asked which leagues you were interested in. If money were no object and you wanted to get the most soccer possible, you could get DISH and subscribe to all the international channels (at a cost of $5-10 per channel) and you'd never miss any games from Portugal or Greece or Russia or the Middle East or wherever. You could easily spend $150-200 a month and do that. But I'm guessing that you're not interested in spending $150-200 a month in the name of not missing a soccer game anywhere. You've got leagues you're more interested in than other. And you don't want to spend too much dough. So if you had told me "Other than MLS, I'm also keenly interested in the Greek league," I would've told you "Get DISH. They offer the Shootout and you can subscribe to Greek channels which show games from Greece." But you named all the more popular leagues (well, with the exception of Spain), so basically, either provider will do adequately, with a slight edge to DISH. Another issue to consider is equipment. With DirecTV there's a much broader variety of receivers from a broader variety of manufacturers with a broader variety of features. I'm a happy DISH customer, but I really wish that DISH had the equipment variety that DirecTV has. But you should decide on a provider first, then decide on which box to buy. I'm just saying that when you're making the "DISH vs. DirecTV" decision to put "better equipment variety" as a positive for DirecTV.
The main reason I have cable rather than Dish/DirectTV is the discount I receive for also having a cable modem.
ElJefe, Thanks again. That was an awesome summary of the 2 networks and helps me make my decision intelligently. I will have to do the research as to what's available at my new house, but at least I know what I'm looking for. Your both right and wrong on the assumption that I don't want to spend $200/mo on it. I would easily be able to rationalize it, but I am sure it's going to get vetoed by the fiance'! <<insert whip cracking sound here>> Thanks All!
I must have FSW, for Liverpool and the rest of the EPL, and have access to the USMNT and MLS. In Indianapolis, Digital Cable is $5 cheaper than a Dish, and I get 5 HBO's and several Showtimes for that price as well. Add the MLS Shootout option, and Digital Cable is for me. No stupid looking dish hanging crooked from the side of the house, and no year long contract means that Digital Cable is where it's at.
Great post El Jefe! Thanks for the info. I just ordered Dish and what tipped it for me was GolTV and the Latino packages. Direct and Dish seem very similar, with GolTV only offered at this time on Dish. I currently have Digital Cable (Adelphia) and hate the poor customer service and rising prices. I often had PPV and other charges mysteriously show up on my bill regularly, not to mention the charges I received for an MLB package when I had inquired about MLS Shootout (which they didn't carry). I frequently had the signal go out because of theft of the amplifiers and a few of the network local channels were forever snowy. I'll be paying more now but we'll see if it was worth it to make the switch.
lads, dont waste your time with that dish network.. i had it for about 4 days when i realized the greatness of directtv... the options on directtv are so far superiour to wot dish network offers... the "card" that allows all programming is nothing short of brilliant.. imagine getting every ppv, every sports package, every local channel across the states... and the beauty of it is ITS ALL FOR FREE!!!! a small price upfront for the card/equipment far exceeds the hours of programming you get... my 2 cents phishy
I too am in the market for a satellite system. I am leaning towards Dish Network for the exact reasons you named above. Will Dish be offering the MLS shootout package this season? How many receivers did you get Mason?
Yes, Dish will have the Shootout. Check out MLSnet.com for the details. Unless you get a multi-channel receiver set-up, you'll need multiple receiver boxes of you want to ensure you'll see (or record) all of the games (because so many are played simultaneously and there are no replays). Me (I got a Dish package one year ago), I went with the Dish PVR and two simple 301 receivers (each of which I have a VCR hooked up to). I think it cost be an extra $99 on top of the $49 installation fee to get the PVR, and the 3 box rental costs an extra $5 per month. With technology always changing (and the PVR being kinda quirky), I didn't want to actually buy any receivers right now. This will all get much simplier when multi-channel tuners become more commonplace (and the prices come down). There's been a lot of discussion on these boards recently about PVR technology (read the stickied thread on TiVo vs. Replay TV).
Thanks for the information! I never even thought abuout multi-channel receiver set ups in order to catch the games if I decide not to get several receivers. BTW how does the multichannel receiver work? Does it allow you to watch one game while recording another?
GolTV is about the only difference I have found, but it's a big difference to me. The MLS shootout is offered as stated previously. I have two receivers, one in each room where we watch TV. I know nothing of the multichannel business. I just have one per TV. You will need a second dish for local channels though, but this was at no extra cost. Good luck!