Of course there are still blackouts. For the millionth time though, use TB. It's $5 a month. Download, install, open, and click "on". Enjoy live Crew (SC) matches.
And for the "counter" millionth time instead of just watching on my television as part of my cable package I can pay $65 for MLS Live on my computer and then pay an additional $5 per month ($40) to watch? Ehh, for the millionth time I'll pass jumping thru hoops to watch my beloved Crew - thanks though...
It's not jumping through hoops though. And a combined $105 is what, one month or less of cable TV? I get people don't wanna pay for stuff, but it's one month of cable TV, it's not that outrageously priced. And MLS Live is a great product. But whatever. Can't wait to hear everyone complain about this again for another 12 months.
Perhaps don't click on this thread anymore if you see a new post... I will just say this. I don't think very many who have posted in this thread knocking the Crew's TV deal have said the potential work-arounds are impossible mountains to scale. In fact, they seem fairly easy. It's one reason why, when I crack on the deal, I try to always say "legally" because that's what we're really discussing (let's not get into the "what's really legal" discussion again, though). I readily acknowledge I could take the steps to watch the Crew through different means. I also readily acknowledge that, frankly, I don't want to take those steps because based my current A/V set-up in my house I won't be able to enjoy watching the games the way I used to watch them. I'd essentially be tethered to a computer to get the best video experience, which will annoy me, so I'll be paying money to annoy myself (though I've had season tickets since 1998, so...). So, instead of going through that effort, I'll just take advantage of the extra free time gained by being a part-time fan and maybe the extra money I won't have to spend on the league's subscriptions. I know others, like you, are willing to put forth the effort. That's great. To each their own and all that.
There are several reasons why MLS live will not work for people. I think people have a legitimate reason to complain
I'm still annoyed that Precourt hasn't fixed this and is blaming the previous regime. As has been noted, he had to sign off on it.
if 60 bucks is no big deal to you, and you are willing to pay that for something you really want, and you really want us to stop talking about what a pain in the ass this all is, then Send me 60 bucks or stfu
I'm a little annoyed he's blaming others, but I never expected him to have a chance to fix anything. That's not usually how contracts work.
In summary: Chicago - CSN Chicago. Colorado - Altitude Sports (a regional channel, similar to FS Ohio and CSN channels.) DC - CSN Mid-Atlantic. FC Dallas - TW Cable Sports and a CBS affiliate which also shows select games of: Texas Rangers Baseball, Dallas Stars Hockey, FC Dallas Soccer, High School Football, Big 12 Basketball, ACC Basketball, and selected Dallas Mavericks games. Houston - CSN Houston. LA Galaxy - TW Sports Net (available on at least two providers.) Montreal - No local blackouts on regional/local providers. Local channel is TVA Sports...not that it matters with no blackouts. New England - No local blackouts on regional/local providers. I think their local channel is either CSN New England or NESN, available on multiple providers. NYRB - MSG (a regional channel, similar to FS Ohio and CSN channels.) They also have additional "overflow" channels such as MSG Plus, MSG 2 and MSG Plus 2. Games can be bumped "down the list" based on priority due to playoff chances, etc. It may be that not all providers have all channels, for all I know. Orlando City - No local blackouts on regional/local providers. (Who knows what their TV channel is.) Philadelphia - No local blackouts on regional/local providers. It looks like their games will be on a "mix" of the local ABC affiliate, possibly the subchannel, and CSN Philadelphia. Some games may be on "The Comcast Network" which might be Comcast-only...but no local blackouts. Portland - Local blackouts (local Fox affiliate, possibly subchannel.) RSL - No local blackouts on regional/local providers. San Jose - No local blackouts on regional/local providers. Seattle - Local policy not set. All games not on national channels are OTA. TFC - No local blackouts. (Who knows, but it's Canadian, so it's probably widely available similar to the other teams.) SKC - KMCI...independent OTA channel Vancouver - Nationwide coverage on TSN (channel similar to ESPN.) What do I see here? A lot of regional channels, such as Comcast and FOX Sports and a lot of "no blackouts."
Yeah, of course all the teams are on local networks. Guess I don't see your point. Out of that list 10 teams have local blackouts, 7 have no local blackout, and 3 don't have a policy yet. Half the league is locally blacked out, potentially more. I agree with everyone that this situation sucks, but it's not like we're the only team. Looking at the list, it's more the norm.
Yeah I know. However, as a goodwill/good faith/good something gesture he could have attempted to buy out the contract/amended it. Or kept his mouth shut.
Well it is possible that they made the deal not knowing the backlash they would get, and did attempt to contact TWC in an effort to revise it for the better. Even if those efforts weren't successful, it may be better to keep quiet in the public about it. Coming out and saying they want to change the deal isn't great PR, but publicly saying that you attempted to and TWC wouldn't budge isn't a great look for one of your business partners either.
Its also not a great look for all the fans to be screaming about it and say nothing. It went a little far obviously, but hes new to this and was trying to look halfway decent. It happens.
Does anybody know if the blackout radius is still 75 miles or if it's now anywhere in the state with TWCSC?
Without looking into each team's situation, though, I think it would be fair to say not all blackouts are created equal. For example, I'm pretty sure Fox Sports Ohio also had a negotiated local blackout policy - it might have included the entire state, actually - but since their network was available on basically every provider it wasn't an issue. However, the Crew threw in with a channel which is on only one provider, meaning the blackout is much more encompassing. I wonder how many of the local blackouts noted above are more similar to the Crew's 2013 blackout situation or more similar to the Crew's 2014 blackout situation.
Exactly. A lot of the team channels do have blackouts, but since the vast majority seem to be CSN or Fox Sports or even OTA, those blackout policies don't really matter. In regards to blackouts, we have probably the worst deal in the league. Only available on one provider and if you don't have that provider, you're SOL unless you use an IP blocker.
I agree with stanger here the deal annoyed me sure but I found the promise to do something about it even more annoying because I thought changing the current deal was an empty promise from the start. Even if you want to blame it on Mark fine but just say a contract it a contract, we're sorry we ********ed up, we'll do better next time. That may have pissed people off but I would have respected it. Personally it's not that hard to not hear the score of MLS games; I wish that weren't really the case but we know it isn't. I have enough things to do I buy MLS Live and time shift watching the game if I'm not going to go out and watch it. What really annoys me about the deal is that it's detrimental to growing the team in the market. Sure I might be willing to time shift watching the game, sure some on here might be willing to jump through hoops to watch live but casual fans aren't going to do either. Beyond that even if a casual fan has Time Warner it's on a channel most people don't know or don't care enough to check out. The main reason I hate the deal isn't even for people on this site but for potential fans it's just awful for a team still trying to grow its fan base.
Was that when they were on ONN and I had hard time telling Ekpo from Rogers because of the awesome picture quality?
I thought that was the case too until I had two games spoiled on 97.1 TheFan for some stupid reason this year. Almost never hear a score update on there until the year when I actually have to try to avoid them.