OT: Cutting the Cord 2.0 - ESPN/Fox/Warner Launching Combined Sports Streamer

[chile]

I saw an article headline about Bally's offering a streaming option for their regional sports networks. They were mentioning it would be available 1st half of 2022.

Right now I have YoutubeTV with no Bucks game. I think if this becomes a legit option I could get rid of YoutubeTV then? But I would still need to get local channels, TNT, ESPN, etc... any other suggestions cheaper than YoutubeTV?

[MickeyDavis]

I saw an article headline about Bally's offering a streaming option for their regional sports networks. They were mentioning it would be available 1st half of 2022.

Right now I have YoutubeTV with no Bucks game. I think if this becomes a legit option I could get rid of YoutubeTV then? But I would still need to get local channels, TNT, ESPN, etc... any other suggestions cheaper than YoutubeTV?

Sports is always the sticking point. It's virtually the only thing I always watch live. If Bally's starts a stand alone streaming service that's big. I imagine they would do it with all of their channels. One problem is Sinclair owns the channels (Bally's just pays for naming rights). And from what I understand the major sports leagues hate Sinclair and don't want to work with them on any streaming deals. They'd rather do it themselves. Here's an article about what MLB wants to do. You'd be able to stream games, including local games for $10-$20 a month. The article says the NBA and NHL are interested in partnering with MLB

https://www.nexttv.com/news/mlb-may-brush-back-sinclair-with-its-own-streaming-service-report

Here's another thing, the big cable companies don't want local sports streamed and they have some pull. Hey Sinclair, you want to stream your Bally's networks? Ok then we're going to drop you completely.

So it's a mess right now. If I could legally stream all Bucks and Brewers games, and be able to pause, rewind, etc... as I can now, I'd probably drop Spectrum.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

[chile]

I saw an article headline about Bally's offering a streaming option for their regional sports networks. They were mentioning it would be available 1st half of 2022.

Right now I have YoutubeTV with no Bucks game. I think if this becomes a legit option I could get rid of YoutubeTV then? But I would still need to get local channels, TNT, ESPN, etc... any other suggestions cheaper than YoutubeTV?

Sports is always the sticking point. It's virtually the only thing I always watch live. If Bally's starts a stand alone streaming service that's big. I imagine they would do it with all of their channels. One problem is Sinclair owns the channels (Bally's just pays for naming rights). And from what I understand the major sports leagues hate Sinclair and don't want to work with them on any streaming deals. They'd rather do it themselves. Here's an article about what MLB wants to do. You'd be able to stream games, including local games for $10-$20 a month. The article says the NBA and NHL are interested in partnering with MLB

https://www.nexttv.com/news/mlb-may-brush-back-sinclair-with-its-own-streaming-service-report

Here's another thing, the big cable companies don't want local sports streamed and they have some pull. Hey Sinclair, you want to stream your Bally's networks? Ok then we're going to drop you completely.

So it's a mess right now. If I could legally stream all Bucks and Brewers games, and be able to pause, rewind, etc... as I can now, I'd probably drop Spectrum.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2022/01/13/milwaukee-bucks-sinclair-streaming-content.html

Found the article I was looking for. Maybe I misunderstood it but looked like you could stream the regional sports networks all by themselves.

[crkone]

I saw an article headline about Bally's offering a streaming option for their regional sports networks. They were mentioning it would be available 1st half of 2022.

Right now I have YoutubeTV with no Bucks game. I think if this becomes a legit option I could get rid of YoutubeTV then? But I would still need to get local channels, TNT, ESPN, etc... any other suggestions cheaper than YoutubeTV?

Sports is always the sticking point. It's virtually the only thing I always watch live. If Bally's starts a stand alone streaming service that's big. I imagine they would do it with all of their channels. One problem is Sinclair owns the channels (Bally's just pays for naming rights). And from what I understand the major sports leagues hate Sinclair and don't want to work with them on any streaming deals. They'd rather do it themselves. Here's an article about what MLB wants to do. You'd be able to stream games, including local games for $10-$20 a month. The article says the NBA and NHL are interested in partnering with MLB

https://www.nexttv.com/news/mlb-may-brush-back-sinclair-with-its-own-streaming-service-report

Here's another thing, the big cable companies don't want local sports streamed and they have some pull. Hey Sinclair, you want to stream your Bally's networks? Ok then we're going to drop you completely.

So it's a mess right now. If I could legally stream all Bucks and Brewers games, and be able to pause, rewind, etc... as I can now, I'd probably drop Spectrum.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2022/01/13/milwaukee-bucks-sinclair-streaming-content.html

Found the article I was looking for. Maybe I misunderstood it but looked like you could stream the regional sports networks all by themselves.

Here's a good breakdown of the new info:

https://thestreamable.com/news/sinclairs-bally-sports-app-plans-has-two-major-flaws

As part of their $600 million fundraise for their new streaming service, Sinclair included projections for the service that give a hint on what they plan to charge.

In their first full year of operating the service (2023), without adding any additional teams to the service, the company expects $243 million in subscription revenue across 1.08 million subscribers. On average, that would mean a subscriber would be paying $225 per year to access the Bally Sports App – or $18.75 per month.

But don’t expect it to be that cheap.

The NBA and NHL seasons only last seven months, which would mean that at $225 per year, a subscriber would effectively be paying $32/month for the service – and that’s assuming they charge one fee per RSN, instead of a fee per team.

The company had been circulating a $23 a month price point for the Bally Sports DTC service as part of Sinclair’s fundraising efforts. That number was soundly denied by Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley in an interview with the Baltimore Business Journal.

He told the Wall Street Journal that it would be “consistent with some of the other premium sports services in the marketplace,” which would be right in line with $200 per year.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Sports leagues especially the NBA and MLB should absolutely go on their own for streaming including local games. In the long run it would be their best route but I imagine it's really really hard for them to give up those huge contracts they have with the RSNs for exclusive rights. That's more immediate and guaranteed money.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

[ReasonablySober]

Discovered a site a month or so ago that's a lot like sites we've probably all seen in the past ten years, that just had a **** ton of pirated TV shows and movies. I've used it a few times, whatever.

But it did hit me that I'm paying at least $200 a month in TV/Internet services, and the only thing I really need it for is sports, and it's incredibly easy to find streams for that too. I'm essentially paying hundreds for convenience and not having a delay when I'm watching something on the TV.

I'm very, very close to cancelling literally everything for a couple months and seeing how it goes.

[HurricaneKid]

Sports leagues especially the NBA and MLB should absolutely go on their own for streaming including local games. In the long run it would be their best route but I imagine it's really really hard for them to give up those huge contracts they have with the RSNs for exclusive rights. That's more immediate and guaranteed money.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

And how would that impact BRI and player salaries?

I think a lot of the difficulties are because "winning" means cutting off massive amounts of revenue then negotiating with the players for what is left over.

**** Sinclair. But holy **** is that a lot of money to the league.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

[WRau1]

Discovered a site a month or so ago that's a lot like sites we've probably all seen in the past ten years, that just had a **** ton of pirated TV shows and movies. I've used it a few times, whatever.

But it did hit me that I'm paying at least $200 a month in TV/Internet services, and the only thing I really need it for is sports, and it's incredibly easy to find streams for that too. I'm essentially paying hundreds for convenience and not having a delay when I'm watching something on the TV.

I'm very, very close to cancelling literally everything for a couple months and seeing how it goes.

Seren is a great Kodi add-on.

[MickeyDavis]

I posted this on the Brewers thread but I"ll post it here as well. MLB and NBA had been talking about doing their own streaming services and cutting out RSN's, instead MLB appears to be cutting deals.

Read on Twitter

[crkone]

I posted this on the Brewers thread but I"ll post it here as well. MLB and NBA had been talking about doing their own streaming services and cutting out RSN's, instead MLB appears to be cutting deals.

Read on Twitter

I think those are the only MLB teams that previously had streaming rights with Bally's. I'd expect them to not continue to give them those rights when their contracts are up.

[ReasonablySober]

Without knowing about blackout restrictions, it'd just be cheaper to get MLB.tv.

[Ryan5UW]

They expect people to pay money to use that dog **** Bally Sports app?

[MickeyDavis]

They expect people to pay money to use that dog **** Bally Sports app?

I've heard it's bad, I haven't used it. I occasionally stream Bally's using the Spectrum app and it's fine.

[MickeyDavis]

Without knowing about blackout restrictions, it'd just be cheaper to get MLB.tv.

I'm pretty sure you would get local games, otherwise yeah there's no need for this.

[ReasonablySober]

They expect people to pay money to use that dog **** Bally Sports app?

I've heard it's bad, I haven't used it. I occasionally stream Bally's using the Spectrum app and it's fine.

I've never used the app, but I go to their website all the time to watch games with my Spectrum login and haven't had a problem.

Not about to give out any websites, but the secret (lol) for years now is that with even the most basic searching you can get HD quality broadcasts without paying. I think when the Bucks are done I'll be cutting the cord again. I already cancelled about $100 worth of streamers and channels earlier this month. I need to go back to not giving away hundreds every month for stuff I don't watch.

[MickeyDavis]

Yeah I need to cut back too. There's simply too much content. I got the Hulu/Disney/ESPN+ package a few weeks ago and haven't even logged in. Dumb.

[Ryan5UW]

They expect people to pay money to use that dog **** Bally Sports app?

I've heard it's bad, I haven't used it. I occasionally stream Bally's using the Spectrum app and it's fine.

I've never used the app, but I go to their website all the time to watch games with my Spectrum login and haven't had a problem.

Not about to give out any websites, but the secret (lol) for years now is that with even the most basic searching you can get HD quality broadcasts without paying. I think when the Bucks are done I'll be cutting the cord again. I already cancelled about $100 worth of streamers and channels earlier this month. I need to go back to not giving away hundreds every month for stuff I don't watch.

The user interface has gotten a little better, but it's still tough. You can stream the channel or the game, and if you stream the channel they also give you the option for "enhanced view" whatever that is or the difference really is between any of them. One of those allows you to rewind, the other doesn't. The sound used to be really bad, but I think they might have finally fixed that. The actual performance is poor - it's the only streaming app I experience any slow loading, buffering, pixelated content, etc. Ads load just fine, but I'll go from a perfect looking app to being barely able to watch a game. It also loses the connection to my tv provider a lot too, which is annoying. The Fox Sports app was much better, they should have kept that - it even had picture in picture which was great when the Bucks and Brewers were playing at the same time.

[vegaspacker]

Yahoo TV has worked well for me with nba league pass.

I travel lots... San Antonio, Honolulu, Vegas, and Green Bay. I'm usually a few months at each spot, hasn't failed me yet.

You get what u pay for.

[Ryan5UW]

Anyone happen to use or have experience with T-Mobile's 5G home internet service? I was checking into it and saw this in the FAQ:

Can I use Live TV streaming services?

T-Mobile Home Internet uses dynamic IP addressing, meaning the customer’s IP address will change over time.
Dynamic IP changes may cause the geolocation to show different than the physical location of the gateway.
T-Mobile does not have the ability to change IP from dynamic to static.
Streaming services that rely on IP address for specific location data to deliver live TV are not compatible with T-Mobile Home Internet. This includes Hulu Live and Sling Live TV.

The interesting thing is they're offering a sign up deal including YouTube TV (which I use now). Given the notes above regarding IP address, would I likely run into issues getting local stations? Also, when I stream Bucks/Brewers games on the Ballys app, am I right thinking the static IP from T-Mobile might kick me out of the right market so I can't watch the right games?

[MickeyDavis]

I'm assuming Bally's will never be on YouTube or any other streaming service since they are launching their own streaming service. The main reason I stick with cable is for Bucks/Brewers games.