RealGM

ciueli wrote:

2019nbachamps wrote:

Mr Funk wrote:So in order to watch some regular season games, people will need to pay for Amazon Prime?

Lame. And yeah, Silver hasn't been great either and players getting richer isn't an accomplishment. Gambling commercials, spreads and other sleazy crap constantly in your face, commercials in between free throws, no defence and easy fouls for stars, ridiculous scores and endless offence, completely irrelevant All-Star games, wearing road uniforms at home and weird ass alternate jerseys, horrendous officiating et al.

No, Amazon has acquired the rights to some games. Espn, tnt, abc, local broadcast channels, and likely more streamers will also show games. Plus we’ll still have NBA league pass. Basically Amazon and the streamers will be competing with ESPN/TNT/ABC for national games. Fans can still get league pass for national coverage and will still need to rely on local broadcasts for their home teams.

The advantage to fans for getting Amazon or other streaming services is those companies include other shows/movies and in Amazon’s case, free music and free shipping. Obviously NBA league pass only shows you basketball games.

More choice and access is good for fans. The downside is we’ll continue to need multiple services to watch all the games we want.

The problem is that if you're someone who is paying for cable, you're getting screwed because suddenly you won't get all the games on your cable package anymore, you'll have to buy a separate service to see every game. So saying "continue to need multiple services" is inaccurate, because right now just having a reasonable cable package gets you every Raptors game and every NBA playoff game, that won't be the case in the future.

2019nbachamps wrote:This is good news for fans. The only annoying thing is other streamers like Google/Apple will also get rights. You’ll still need to have a mix of streaming/cable services to watch all the games. I’m hoping one day the streamers buy up the rights and offer the games for free (they can then monetize your data by selling it to advertisers). I’m sure this is where their heads are at but it’s probably not financially viable at this point.

2019nbachamps wrote:

ciueli wrote:

2019nbachamps wrote:
No, Amazon has acquired the rights to some games. Espn, tnt, abc, local broadcast channels, and likely more streamers will also show games. Plus we’ll still have NBA league pass. Basically Amazon and the streamers will be competing with ESPN/TNT/ABC for national games. Fans can still get league pass for national coverage and will still need to rely on local broadcasts for their home teams.

The advantage to fans for getting Amazon or other streaming services is those companies include other shows/movies and in Amazon’s case, free music and free shipping. Obviously NBA league pass only shows you basketball games.

More choice and access is good for fans. The downside is we’ll continue to need multiple services to watch all the games we want.

The problem is that if you're someone who is paying for cable, you're getting screwed because suddenly you won't get all the games on your cable package anymore, you'll have to buy a separate service to see every game. So saying "continue to need multiple services" is inaccurate, because right now just having a reasonable cable package gets you every Raptors game and every NBA playoff game, that won't be the case in the future.

Is there a cable tv package that currently gives you access to every single NBA game?

The league’s negotiations with its streaming and TV partners are fluid, and the parties are still haggling over who gets rights to air the most high-profile games and series. Amazon is likely to get a share of the Conference Finals alongside the other partners, and Disney’s ABC is on track to retain the rights to the NBA Finals, some of the people said.

Warner’s TNT has the ability to try to match rival offers, people familiar with its pact said.

For Warner, the loss of the NBA would be a blow to the strength of its TNT cable network at the same time it is being hurt by cord-cutting and a shrinking advertising marketplace.

TNT still has a heavy roster of sports, including the NCAA March Madness college-basketball tournament, the NHL and Nascar. Without the NBA, though, Warner could have a harder time charging distributors as much for carriage of its channels. Warner’s networks currently bring in about $3 a month per cable customer, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Warner Chief Executive David Zaslav has emphasized cost savings and had indicated on calls with analysts that while securing NBA rights is important, the company would be disciplined in its approach to a new deal.

If Warner loses NBA rights, that would injure the planned sports-streaming venture the company is launching alongside Disney and Fox. Carrying NBA games was to be one of its key selling points.

WuTang_OG wrote:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Scase wrote:

GP2 wrote:I feel like Silver's reign will be viewed poorly in hindsight.

How so? Prime video right now without ads, costs 3$/mo. If he finds a way for me to be able to watch the NBA in very good quality, and I don't have to pay Rogers 50-100$/mo for **** TV services and a bunch of crap I don't want, who tf am I to complain.

You can dunk on him for a lot of stuff, I don't understand how this is one of them.

brownbobcat wrote:

Scase wrote:

GP2 wrote:I feel like Silver's reign will be viewed poorly in hindsight.

How so? Prime video right now without ads, costs 3$/mo. If he finds a way for me to be able to watch the NBA in very good quality, and I don't have to pay Rogers 50-100$/mo for **** TV services and a bunch of crap I don't want, who tf am I to complain.

You can dunk on him for a lot of stuff, I don't understand how this is one of them.

I highly doubt Silver's end game is to make the NBA cheaper for fans.

WuTang_OG wrote:TNT needs to match
inside the nba too funny

GP2 wrote:I feel like Silver's reign will be viewed poorly in hindsight.

gp2015 wrote:Remember when Raptor games were on basic tv channels like CityTV/The New VR?

Now to watch the Jays, you need Apple TV for some games and now Prime Video for NBA.

Pretty soon, you'll need Netflix, Disney+, Netflix, Apple TV, Prime Video to watch specific games.

Duffman100 wrote:I use to work for SN Now and I've following Amazon Prime Live streaming hiring, they've done a ton of hiring the last couple of years for live streaming. I wanted to work there They're primed to take over a lot of rights in the coming years.

ishoy123 wrote:

GP2 wrote:I feel like Silver's reign will be viewed poorly in hindsight.

Uh why?

Scase wrote:

brownbobcat wrote:

Scase wrote:How so? Prime video right now without ads, costs 3$/mo. If he finds a way for me to be able to watch the NBA in very good quality, and I don't have to pay Rogers 50-100$/mo for **** TV services and a bunch of crap I don't want, who tf am I to complain.

You can dunk on him for a lot of stuff, I don't understand how this is one of them.

I highly doubt Silver's end game is to make the NBA cheaper for fans.

He doesnt care about the cost, he cares about how much the broadcasters will pay him for the rights. It's up to the broadcasters to care about the cost. This just seems mutually beneficial.

ciueli wrote:

ishoy123 wrote:

GP2 wrote:I feel like Silver's reign will be viewed poorly in hindsight.

Uh why?

- Gambling taking over the NBA.
- The degree to which ads are crammed into broadcasts (on court ads, jersey patches, in game ads).
- The 3 point explosion, there's been little to nothing done to address it.
- Players don't care about the All-Star game and it's basically unwatchable.
- Timeouts, coach's challenge, and video review making the ends of games take forever.
- Play in tournament (some people like it but some hate it because it makes the regular season less meaningful).

Now we can throw this onto the pile: forcing people to subscribe to a streaming service owned by a company with controversial business practices to watch games.

brownbobcat wrote:

Scase wrote:

brownbobcat wrote:I highly doubt Silver's end game is to make the NBA cheaper for fans.

He doesnt care about the cost, he cares about how much the broadcasters will pay him for the rights. It's up to the broadcasters to care about the cost. This just seems mutually beneficial.

Same thing at the end of the day. You don't pay a sky-high valuation for an asset without intending to monetize even more.