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Comments on news posted 2013-12-13 14:06:54: Last summer there was rumblings that DirecTV's exclusive distribution arrangement with the NFL could finally be coming to an end, with Google and Netflix named as possible new partners. ..


gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

UGH.

I was really hoping that the exclusive deal would go away to allow other carriers to also carry the NFL package. Regardless, now that the RedZone channel is offered through the NFL the Sunday Ticket isn't as enticing to me. I have my favorite team, but watching the RedZone channel is a good alternative to the high priced Sunday Ticket package.

SHergenrader
Premium Member
join:2002-04-11
Keithville, LA

SHergenrader

Premium Member

Re: UGH.

It's not really high priced. It's only $200 a season plus most of the time subs can get it either free (with a contract extension) or half off. Fairly reasonable if you ask me.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

Re: UGH.

Yes, but you must have DirecTV to get the package. Exclusive agreements (on just about everything) is never a good deal for the consumer. Hopefully, this won't happen but I won't hold my breath.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536 to SHergenrader

Premium Member

to SHergenrader
its overpriced. sure you might get it free for a year but that locks you into a TWO YEAR contract. i can dvr 4 games on sundays and that keeps me in football all day/night long[only pita is i gotta zoom it for the 2 11am games so i dont see the ticker ruining the other game thats on at same time and be fast on the mute button and look away when nfl updates happen]

NFLdotCOM
@comcast.net

NFLdotCOM to gigahurtz

Anon

to gigahurtz
As long as I can watch my home team on broadcast TV(or the equiv cable channel), I could care less what they do. I follow other interesting games on NFL.com and using their Game Center.
biochemistry
Premium Member
join:2003-05-09
92361

biochemistry

Premium Member

Re: UGH.

Unfortunately many of us live in cities far away from our home team.

buzz_4_20
join:2003-09-20
Dover, NH

buzz_4_20

Member

Bleck

Exclusive deals are crap.

If only there were legal streaming of games
blushrts
join:2001-01-06
New Cumberland, PA

blushrts

Member

Re: Bleck

Your local affiliate doesn't want Sunday ticket available to everyone. It remains somewhat limited if Directv has an exclusive.
BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Wakefield, MA

BosstonesOwn

Member

Re: Bleck

the local affiliate makes enough money on it, when they are the prefered channel and its on tv they get more money. so more eyes = more money.

SHergenrader
Premium Member
join:2002-04-11
Keithville, LA

SHergenrader

Premium Member

Red Zone

I could actually see one of the big points DirecTV wants is for the NFL's version of Red Zone Channel be discontinued if they renew this deal.
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

Happydude32

Premium Member

Re: Red Zone

NFL Red Zone is popular enough that I don’t see them caving into DirecTV if DirecTV requested they shut the channel down.

NFL Red Zone > DirecTV Red Zone, in my opinion. I usually watch DirecTV Red Zone for a little bit on Sundays but I generally can’t stand the host so I’ll switch over to NFL Red Zone Never watched DirecTV RZ that late, but I absolutely love the touchdown montage NFL RZ does before they sign off, not sure if they do something similar on DirecTV or not.

I love whiparound coverage with NFL Red Zone, MLB Strike Zone, ESPN Goal Line and NHL On The Fly on NHL Network but it still doesn't compare to having the full season package for whatever league.

No issues here with the renewal of the contract. Just two businesses coming to an agreement. As long as that’s what both the NFL and DirecTV wanted I am beyond happy with the outcome.
Millenium
join:2013-10-30

Millenium

Member

Yeah!

I don't want to have to drop Netflix because they raise prices to cover NFL licensing.

Go DirecTV!

Anon E Muss
@myvzw.com

Anon E Muss

Anon

done with the NFL

been waiting YEARS for Sunday Ticket to be offered on something other than DirecTv. Missed out on plenty of games of my favorite team because of this exclusive deal. Now this? Only 2 million people even get Sunday Ticket. How many millions more would get it if it was offered to everyone? I'm normally against pirating and illegal streams but the NFL has pushed this too far. If millions of people want a product and are willing to pay your asking price but you refuse to offer it then you have ZERO right to complain about piracy.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

Premium Member

Re: done with the NFL

What's better.... make $10 off 30,000,000 subs OR make $100 off 2,000,000 subs.

I wish they'd get this. (The NFL)
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

Happydude32

Premium Member

Re: done with the NFL

said by KrK:

What's better.... make $10 off 30,000,000 subs OR make $100 off 2,000,000 subs.

I wish they'd get this. (The NFL)

For commercial subscriptions, which start at a minimum of $1,000 per season and max out at something like $50,000 per season, I seriously doubt they're only making $100 per subscription. DirecTV and the NFL aren't stupid, so there is nothing to 'get'. I would assume they have run the numbers and the people at one of the, if not the biggest sports leagues in the world and one of the biggest TV providers in the country made the right decision.

And I know the number comes from DirecTV but 2 million ST subscribers seems really low. Maybe 2 million residential subscribers, but I find it really hard to believe that includes commercial accounts, which include just about every national chain bar and grille in the country.
apple4ever
join:2002-06-16
Coatesville, PA

apple4ever

Member

Terrible

I don't want to get DirecTV. I'm happy with Comcast. The NBA, the MLB, and the NHL all have great fan friendly ways to view. Yeah they still have stupid TV blackouts (not radio, oddly enough), but they are still great. The NFL continues to promote fan unfriendly deals, with this and the Verizon exclusive deal.

Why am I punished because I want Comcast and ATT? Ugh.

Guess instead of paying them money, I'll stream for free. okay then.
mogamer
join:2011-04-20
Royal Oak, MI

mogamer

Member

Re: Terrible

said by apple4ever:

I don't want to get DirecTV. I'm happy with Comcast. The NBA, the MLB, and the NHL all have great fan friendly ways to view. Yeah they still have stupid TV blackouts (not radio, oddly enough), but they are still great. The NFL continues to promote fan unfriendly deals, with this and the Verizon exclusive deal.

Why am I punished because I want Comcast and ATT? Ugh.

Guess instead of paying them money, I'll stream for free. okay then.

The NFL is still the most consumer-friendly pro league in the USA. How many games on free ota tv does your local NBA/NHL/MLB team broadcast?

MrMaster
Rum Connoisseur
Premium Member
join:2000-12-16
St Thomas, VI

MrMaster

Premium Member

Re: Terrible

I hope you are being sarcastic..The NFL might possibly be the worst consumer friendly league out there with their exclusive deals.
mogamer
join:2011-04-20
Royal Oak, MI

mogamer

Member

Re: Terrible

I can watch every game my local NFL team plays on free ota tv. My local NBA/MLB/NHL teams only have games available on cable tv, with the exception of national ota network telecasts. And playoff games aren't on the NFL Network. How is that being more consumer friendly than the NFL?

MrMaster
Rum Connoisseur
Premium Member
join:2000-12-16
St Thomas, VI

1 recommendation

MrMaster

Premium Member

Re: Terrible

NBA/MLB/NHL games are not all on cable channels. It depends on your market plus not everyone roots for their local market team. However, you can still get a package and in the case of MLB you can get it exclusively online. It's been that way for years. MLB also has a free game each night. NFL network is only on cable and not all cable companies.

Also, how does one explain why it's okay for VZW customers to get an NFL deal and no other carrier? Exclusivity are bad for consumers. Always is.

For me, the NFL is even more troubling. No directTV, No streaming internet, and the team I root for is not in my "local market".
biochemistry
Premium Member
join:2003-05-09
92361

biochemistry to mogamer

Premium Member

to mogamer
Not even close to consumer friendly. They artificially restrict one network each week to a single game while the other gets a doubleheader. Why Why Why?
swarto112
Premium Member
join:2004-02-17
El Dorado Hills, CA

swarto112

Premium Member

Direct TV streaming...everything

My guess is that once they sign off with the NFL...they'll roll out streaming DTV to the masses i.e. cord cutters. There's been rumblings of streaming the service for while...we know that there's a way around the Sunday Ticket limits to buy the streaming portion for awhile now. So my guess they'll go national in the next year to take on the big cable cos. Time Warner, Verizon, Comcast, etc have all been gearing up for this as well. I for one would rather do that...I also see that DTV has a WIFI enable set top box they're rolling out soon as well that would handle the duties. I'm ll for a big pipe to the house and the rest is IP.

jmn1207
Premium Member
join:2000-07-19
Sterling, VA

jmn1207

Premium Member

Rarely Used

I'm not sure how often I would be able to use Sunday Ticket, even if it were available. Unless the team you follow is in a different market, most people would not get a lot out of this service.

Now that we have Thursday night games (sometimes 2), 3-4 games Sunday afternoon, a Sunday night game, Monday night games (sometimes 2), Red Zone fills the gap nicely for many fans.

As the season develops, any compelling matches are typically available for me to watch, and the flexed Sunday night games will show any critical games for that week.

I only recall a couple times this season where I wanted to watch a game that was not being shown locally. As it happened, on one occasion it was an afternoon game with only 2 other games playing at the same time, and Red Zone generally stayed with the game I was interested in watching for nearly the entire game.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

Re: Rarely Used

for what they charge for this there shouldn't be blackouts

Thatguy
@cox.net

Thatguy

Anon

Re: Rarely Used

There are not any blackouts. If you are blacked out its because that team is playing on a local channel and by rights your local broadcaster has dibbs on the game. Unless that local broadcaster is having issues, then more often than not DirecTV lifts the blackout on the NFL ST channel until the issue is fixed. This year there hasn't been a game that I haven't been able to get between the local broadcaster and NFLST. DirecTV actually has done a remarkable job in this years NFL ST presentation.

Ogar1978
@ptd.net

Ogar1978

Anon

Re: Rarely Used

My wife has missed multiple Redskins games because DTV blacked out the game and it was not on local channels.

Rangersfan
@sbcglobal.net

Rangersfan

Anon

Re: Rarely Used

The only reason for a local blackout of an NFL games would be because the game was not a sellout within 72 hours of the kickoff time.
biochemistry
Premium Member
join:2003-05-09
92361

biochemistry to jmn1207

Premium Member

to jmn1207
3 games Sunday afternoon. Not 4. The NFL restricts a doubleheader to one network.

jmn1207
Premium Member
join:2000-07-19
Sterling, VA

jmn1207

Premium Member

Re: Rarely Used

said by biochemistry:

3 games Sunday afternoon. Not 4. The NFL restricts a doubleheader to one network.

I suppose that is the benefit of living in a region with multiple networks available.

On the Baltimore CBS feed, the Pats and Dolphins were playing, while the DC CBS channel was showing the Jets and Panthers. Meanwhile, I watched DC Fox and caught my struggling Redskins in a loss to the Falcons and then followed it up with the Packers and Cowgirls on the same station. Most of the time the games are the same on these stations, but every now and then they have different games on.

I pick all of this up with a cheap indoor antenna, but I also use Comcast.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

Premium Member

And once again, NFL games will be too expensive for most fans to watch

These exclusive deals make sports incredibly expensive for everybody.
waycoolphil
join:2000-09-22
Cathedral City, CA

waycoolphil

Member

Re: And once again, NFL games will be too expensive for most fans to watch

It makes everything MORE EXPENSIVE when I have to pay for sports channels (ESPN/Disney/Fox holding up the cable and satellite companies who then hold me up) whether I watch sports or not.
NefCanuck
join:2007-06-26
Mississauga, ON

NefCanuck

Member

When the problem is the content holders

The biggest problem is that the major sports leagues don't want to kill what they see as the "golden goose" of distribution by cable and satellite (with a few notable exceptions)

However what they all fail to realize is that people want to pay only for the content that they want to watch and are sick & tired of being forced to agree to subsidize the "500 channel universe"

When the major pro sports leagues all start treating the internet as the possible source of revenue that it could be, with full and unfettered access to all the content that people are willing to pay for, they'll quickly discover that there is an appetite for content and source of revenue even greater than being shackled to the dinosaur of the BDU.

NefCanuck
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Re: When the problem is the content holders

Well you can't local games online and the sports bars need an cable / sat system to get the games in a easy way and is easy to have say 8-16 boxes in one place.