OT: NHL Hockey package options

[xoczar99ox]

What is the best TV hockey package to get?

Before we get to close to the season I thought this was the best place to ask. I’ve been subscribing to the Center Ice package for literally the last 25 years. My only complaint is that in BC if I’m watching an Oilers game I get forced to have to watch the Vancouver feed. Also I subscribe through my television which means I can only watch from my TV and not away from it.

So I guess my questions are,

Does anyone offer a package that lets me have access to all the televised feeds?

Who offers an App based system so I can watch on the go?

Thanks in advance for any help.

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[joestevens29]

Man I miss when Rogers gave you all the games for free when you had a cell phone plan with them.

 

[Drivesaitl]

NHL marketing department:

Whats an app?



jk aside the present lack of options and how poorly they configure to new viewing, i.e. streaming and devices reality means that longterm licensing contracts make little sense in an ever changing world.

Seems like the NHL is kind of locked into contracts that don't work, that are not best for their product, or for their fans. Would seem to be that some commonsense on blackouts also needs to be looked at in next negotiation. Its asinine to develop and put in clauses that limit viewers and range of broadcast. This is counter intuitive and counter advertising mark up based on viewing audiences. We have an insatiable market here in Canada that would view many games. The response to that is TSN and Rogers dividing up a pie where they limit instead of logically expand the viewing potential.

I've not seen an explanation that makes sense of the current viewing situation in Canada. One would think its a no brainer to have some cooperation within the broadcast rights of the Canadian clubs. Which increases market share.

Nor is this just a preseason experience. "blacked out in your area" is a common regular season happening within the current licensing formula. Some have speculated this was done to maximize people paying for additional viewing platforms. I also don't like that MLB or NBA or even MLS doesn't have any of these dictates. So that a s hockey rabid Canadian viewer I regularly don't get to watch NHL games any given night, but I get to watch Baseball, NBA, MLS almost any night and on several TSN tiers. Not stated for no reason either. This contract is even shaping the viewing habits and followings of younger fans who are now watching Baseball, Basketball, NFL, etc more because its always on.

 

[DaGap]

So to have access to every NHL game while living in canada you must:

Subscribe to NHL Center Ice package through your tv provider
Subscribe to SportsnetNow Premium Streaming service
Subscribe to TSN Streaming service
Now the above streaming services you can have access to the abase streaming packages by paying for the channels through your tv provider but you won't have access to the Sportsnet Now Premium Package

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

What is the best TV hockey package to get?

Before we get to close to the season I thought this was the best place to ask. I’ve been subscribing to the Center Ice package for literally the last 25 years. My only complaint is that in BC if I’m watching an Oilers game I get forced to have to watch the Vancouver feed. Also I subscribe through my television which means I can only watch from my TV and not away from it.

So I guess my questions are,

Does anyone offer a package that lets me have access to all the televised feeds?

Who offers an App based system so I can watch on the go?

Thanks in advance for any help.

I think this would only apply if the Oilers are playing the Canucks and in that scenario I think the Oilers feed will be blacked out in BC

So to have access to every NHL game while living in canada you must:

Subscribe to NHL Center Ice package through your tv provider
Subscribe to SportsnetNow Premium Streaming service
Subscribe to TSN Streaming service
Now the above streaming services you can have access to the abase streaming packages by paying for the channels through your tv provider but you won't have access to the Sportsnet Now Premium Package

If you live in BC or Alberta i don't think you need the TSN streaming service to watch NHL games. You need the SportsnetNow Premium Service.

 

[DaGap]

I think this would only apply if the Oilers are playing the Canucks and in that scenario I think the Oilers feed will be blacked out in BC



If you live in BC or Alberta i don't think you need the TSN streaming service to watch NHL games. You need the SportsnetNow Premium Service.

Some of the feeds are National feeds and with streaming services not all the licensing transfer to Snow Premium when NHL Live was taken over

And for Proof that is why the Jets games even tho they were televised on TSN 3 SNow Premium cannot stream them even tho NHL.TV and ESPN Streamed them in the US

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Some of the feeds are National feeds and with streaming services not all the licensing transfer to Snow Premium when NHL Live was taken over

TSN doesn't have any national games.
TSN only has the regional rights to WPG, OTT & MTL and some (not all) regional leafs games.

All national games are on Sportsnet.

 

[DaGap]

TSN doesn't have any national games.
TSN only has the regional rights to WPG, OTT & MTL and some (not all) regional leafs games.

All national games are on Sportsnet.

*sigh* Not for streaming

 

[Drivesaitl]

TSN doesn't have any national games.
TSN only has the regional rights to WPG, OTT & MTL and some (not all) regional leafs games.

All national games are on Sportsnet.

I think you're off on this. Due to TSN blacking out games that would otherwise be available in Edmonton market it would be TSN one would need to subscribe to TSN streaming.

This is my understanding as well.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

I think you're off on this. Due to TSN blacking out games that would otherwise be available in Edmonton market it would be TSN one would need to subscribe to TSN streaming.

This is my understanding as well.

When i login to the TSN streaming service i can't watch the "out of market games" just like i can't watch them on the TSN channels on my TV

 

[DaGap]

When i login to the TSN streaming service i can't watch the "out of market games" just like i can't watch them on the TSN channels on my TV

Thats even worse because according to rogers they retained the national streaming rights for this season

 

[brentashton]

When i login to the TSN streaming service i can't watch the "out of market games" just like i can't watch them on the TSN channels on my TV

That is my experience as well. The difference between me and AB residents is that Saskatchewan is considered a part of the Jets regional broadcast area so we get those games. On SN Now we are also considered Oiler and Flames region. For once, the province thats hard to spell but easy to draw, actually gets a benefit from the central Canada decision makers.

 

[grego]

I am an oilers fan and don't care as much about the NHL after that.

Luckily Sask is in oil country so I never see blackouts. I don't know how it affects others that live in different provinces

 

[joestevens29]

Don't think we should be seeing any TSN games in Edmonton.

They just have regional deals with a few of the teams.

Unless they changed something

 

[Drivesaitl]

I am an oilers fan and don't care as much about the NHL after that.

Luckily Sask is in oil country so I never see blackouts. I don't know how it affects others that live in different provinces

How it affects is we see hardly any games of the other Canadian Clubs except Toronto for some reason. We pay for channels, tiers, and instead get "Blacked out in your market nyah, nyah, nyah" while snooker is on TSN1 and baseball is on TSN main and 3 channels you pay for are blacked out.

Even in the case of a game between a Snet rightsholder team and a TSN rightsholder club we usually don't get some of em. I've seen even say Winnipeg vs Montreal games blacked out even if in Winnipeg and somebody apparently feels like putting the blackout placard up.

The sum result is that being in a city that has a team apparently limits the amount of out of town games you can get.

 

[brentashton]

The sum result is that being in a city that has a team apparently limits the amount of out of town games you can get.

So Calgary viewers wouldn’t have any out of town viewing limits then.

 

[DaGap]

Don't think we should be seeing any TSN games in Edmonton.

They just have regional deals with a few of the teams.

Unless they changed something

Streaming Rights from NHL Live did not transfer over to SportsnetNow Premium

 

[grego]

How it affects is we see hardly any games of the other Canadian Clubs except Toronto for some reason. We pay for channels, tiers, and instead get "Blacked out in your market nyah, nyah, nyah" while snooker is on TSN1 and baseball is on TSN main and 3 channels you pay for are blacked out.

Even in the case of a game between a Snet rightsholder team and a TSN rightsholder club we usually don't get some of em. I've seen even say Winnipeg vs Montreal games blacked out even if in Winnipeg and somebody apparently feels like putting the blackout placard up.

The sum result is that being in a city that has a team apparently limits the amount of out of town games you can get.

I agree it is sad and stupid.

It has also ben proven many times. People will pay a reasonable amount of money to consume something they enjoy and love.

It is only when costs go too high or they refuse to give the goods to consumers in the way they want it that they commonly move to grey areas en masse.

The Napster download issue was shown to be more about overpriced singles in the store drove people to illegal downloads, rather than the fans are evil like the companies wanted to say.

Once people can consume in a way they like for decent value, most will pay.

It is amazing the ratings we get in Canada even when you consider it would be higher if all fans could watch

 

[Oildrum]

I do almost all my tv watching legit. I don't have cable but I pay for Netflix & Crave, I rent movies and buy shows through Apple when I have to, I can't be bothered with illegal TV. But all of these services work fast and flawlessly.

The massive exception to all that is sports. I paid for the Sportnet App for awhile but it was awful, the illegal streams work faster with higher quality and less issues. Then on top of that I had to pay for Dazn to watch the 1 NFL team I follow a couple time a year (also a terrible app). Hard pass. I hope Amazon, Apple, or YouTube buy up the sports streaming and put it all in one reliable place.

 

[Drivesaitl]

I agree it is sad and stupid.

It has also ben proven many times. People will pay a reasonable amount of money to consume something they enjoy and love.

It is only when costs go too high or they refuse to give the goods to consumers in the way they want it that they commonly move to grey areas en masse.

The Napster download issue was shown to be more about overpriced singles in the store drove people to illegal downloads, rather than the fans are evil like the companies wanted to say.

Once people can consume in a way they like for decent value, most will pay.

It is amazing the ratings we get in Canada even when you consider it would be higher if all fans could watch

Yep. Napster wouldn't even have existed if the price of CD's had come down to more reasonable pricing points and if the Music industry itself had been on the ball with streaming and online download options.

Heres the deal. When CD's came out it was said they were expensive due to economies of scale, overhead, etc. So that they were priced out at 12-20bucks. A lot at the time. This, it should be mentioned for a CD that basically cost 20cents and is burned for next to nothing as anybody with a CD burner realizes. I mean this was a product unlike vinyl that was made to be cheap, and should have been cheap. After a while CD's should have topped out at say 5-10bucks. They were never as low as 5 at first point of sale. But resales anywhere priced CD's at roughly 3bucks per. Anything from online sales of them to pawn shops, thrift shops etc CD's were dirt cheap. Because thats really what they were worth. But all the record stores going out of business wanted to charge you on average 12bucks for a CD that by then cost maybe 25cents. Thats a helluva mark up.

Industry that gouges customers inordinately more than the product is worth, or should cost inevitably lose out to providers that will cost cut, or simply provide the same for free, or next to free.

 

[5 14 6 1]

I do almost all my tv watching legit. I don't have cable but I pay for Netflix & Crave, I rent movies and buy shows through Apple when I have to, I can't be bothered with illegal TV. But all of these services work fast and flawlessly.

The massive exception to all that is sports. I paid for the Sportnet App for awhile but it was awful, the illegal streams work faster with higher quality and less issues. Then on top of that I had to pay for Dazn to watch the 1 NFL team I follow a couple time a year (also a terrible app). Hard pass. I hope Amazon, Apple, or YouTube buy up the sports streaming and put it all in one reliable place.

Amen

 

[Mr Kot]

I do almost all my tv watching legit. I don't have cable but I pay for Netflix & Crave, I rent movies and buy shows through Apple when I have to, I can't be bothered with illegal TV. But all of these services work fast and flawlessly.

The massive exception to all that is sports. I paid for the Sportnet App for awhile but it was awful, the illegal streams work faster with higher quality and less issues. Then on top of that I had to pay for Dazn to watch the 1 NFL team I follow a couple time a year (also a terrible app). Hard pass. I hope Amazon, Apple, or YouTube buy up the sports streaming and put it all in one reliable place.

Which is really strange considering sports are a massive entertainment business, rivalling movies and music. I wonder what aspect of sports makes it so tough to get a good service going. Maybe because the vast majority of it is live?

 

[DaGap]

Which is really strange considering sports are a massive entertainment business, rivalling movies and music. I wonder what aspect of sports makes it so tough to get a good service going. Maybe because the vast majority of it is live?

Local Broadcasting Rights go directly to the team instead of a pool in the league

All media is controlled by only a few companies. Those companies own the distribution companies

Just look at Rogers.

Own Most local broadcasting rights for canadian teams
Own National Broadcasting Rights
Own Internet Broadcasting rights ( Ok 50% of them)
Own Tv Package distribution rights ( NHL Gamecenter)
Own the Terrestrial Delivery mediums ( Tried to buy up the remaining company Shaw)

So it makes sense to force your customers to spend the most amount of money that you can control.

So for Rogers its better to:

Force people to buy Sportsnet Tv Subscription
Force People to buy NHL Game Center
Force People to buy TSN

Instead of doing on Netflix style set up because you cannot monetize it as well

 

[Evilsports]

I do almost all my tv watching legit. I don't have cable but I pay for Netflix & Crave, I rent movies and buy shows through Apple when I have to, I can't be bothered with illegal TV. But all of these services work fast and flawlessly.

The massive exception to all that is sports. I paid for the Sportnet App for awhile but it was awful, the illegal streams work faster with higher quality and less issues. Then on top of that I had to pay for Dazn to watch the 1 NFL team I follow a couple time a year (also a terrible app). Hard pass. I hope Amazon, Apple, or YouTube buy up the sports streaming and put it all in one reliable place.

This is our family exactly. We pay for pretty much every streaming service available but we are against a wall when it comes to finding a reasonably priced and reliable quality streaming service for Oilers hockey.

If there were a service that cost me even $30-$40 a month and offered high quality streams of all Oiler games that were available on every platform (smart tv, phone, laptop, PC) I wouldn't hesitate to subscribe. I wouldn't even care if the package was only for Oiler games and no other teams. I don't miss a single Oilers game during the season so I need to know with 100% certainty that every Oilers game will be available to me and that the stream will be fast and reliable.

I need to be able to watch in the parking lot on my phone when I'm waiting for my kids to finish swim lessons, I need to be able to watch at home on my MacBook laying on bed, etc.

 

[Evilsports]

This is our family exactly. We pay for pretty much every streaming service available but we are against a wall when it comes to finding a reasonably priced and reliable quality streaming service for Oilers hockey.

If there were a service that cost me even $30-$40 a month and offered high quality streams of all Oiler games that were available on every platform (smart tv, phone, laptop, PC) I wouldn't hesitate to subscribe. I wouldn't even care if the package was only for Oiler games and no other teams. I don't miss a single Oilers game during the season so I need to know with 100% certainty that every Oilers game will be available to me and that the stream will be fast and reliable.

I need to be able to watch in the parking lot on my phone when I'm waiting for my kids to finish swim lessons, I need to be able to watch at home on my MacBook laying on bed, etc.

You can't tell me that major streaming services can't do this, at least from a technical standpoint. I've watched on NHL package before and I've watched on the Sportsnet app through my cable subscriber in the past. Both services were choppy, unreliable, and made me feel like I was about to have a seizure.

How can Joe Blow on a grey area stream site broadcast Oilers games with infinitely higher quality as well as dependability than the professionals?

The only answer I can imagine is that the legit streaming services are either out of touch with the consumer base to the point that they don't put any emphasis on the quality of their stream? Or that the entire business model is designed to try and steer customers towards overpriced packages that include loads of channels/options that people like me will never use/watch?