Non-Spectrum options for watching the Blues

[ort]

Pretty much the only reason we still pay for cable is so that I can watch the Blues, but it's getting harder and harder to justify the cost.

What are my best options for watching games without cable? I need to be able to time-shift all of the games as well, because I usually can't start watching until about 9 at night.

I'm in the St. Louis area so subscribing to the NHL service still gets me blackouts, correct?

What are my options? What are you guys doing?

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[elkranio]

Yandex is gonna stream NHL games for free in Russia this season. Sooo a Russian VPN might do the trick.

 

[Majorityof1]

You have to pay for some sort of subscription Tv service or find an illegal stream. Satellite providors (dish, direct tv) or internet services (hulu tv, sling Tv, or Playstation vue) all allow fox sports access with the right package. If you want an illegal stream, I am sure someone will pm you details on how to find it. Googling "nhl stREam" anD a the name of a Decidedly popular InterneT message board should also help. I personally don't recommend the illegal stream route as it is illegal and also requires a good anti-virus/ad software.

 

[ort]

I know it's super forbidden to talk about streams and I'm 100% cool with that since I'm not really interested in going the underground route. I want something legal and convenient. Maybe the furthest I would be willing to go is using a VPN to get around blackout rules.

I though they were working toward getting rid of blackouts? Whatever happened with that?

Blackout rules are so flipping stupid. I hate it. Let me just pay you the money for the thing I want. You have it, I have the money, let's step into the 21st century and drop all the shenanigans. Renegotiate your dumb deals with the cable stations, because this crap is just going to drive people to piracy.

 

[MissouriMook]

Did someone say "piracy"?

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

You have to pay for some sort of subscription Tv service or find an illegal stream. Satellite providors (dish, direct tv) or internet services (hulu tv, sling Tv, or Playstation vue) all allow fox sports access with the right package. If you want an illegal stream, I am sure someone will pm you details on how to find it. Googling "nhl stREam" anD a the name of a Decidedly popular InterneT message board should also help. I personally don't recommend the illegal stream route as it is illegal and also requires a good anti-virus/ad software.

Just a note, Sling does not have FSMW as they couldn't come to an agreement to keep broadcasting rights.

There's also a particularly Lazyman on that particular internet message board that provides an app that is virus-free.

 

[AVictoryDive]

YouTube TV is what I’m considering

 

[67Blues]

Pretty much the only reason we still pay for cable is so that I can watch the Blues, but it's getting harder and harder to justify the cost.

What are my best options for watching games without cable? I need to be able to time-shift all of the games as well, because I usually can't start watching until about 9 at night.

I'm in the St. Louis area so subscribing to the NHL service still gets me blackouts, correct?

What are my options? What are you guys doing?

Back when NHL.com first came out I had a subscription through T-Mobile that I'd watch while I was at the game so I could see replays and such (before the nice big jumbo-tron). If I recall, I had a program that I could tell my GPS to report anywhere I wanted it to think it was, and I would put it somewhere in Texas and I was fine. Don't know if that works now.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I had cut DirecTV and was using Sling. But Sling doesn't carry the Big 10 Network, and that's one of like 5 channels I actually care about. So I was going to switch to Hulu.

But my 90 year old father-in-law is going to be moving back in with us, and I failed to teach him how to watch NCIS on Netflix streaming. He just turns on the TV when his shows are on, and sits there and watches them. I decided to pay way more than I need to, to reinstall DirecTV (I moved to a new house in the mean time) so that its as familiar to him as it can be. Because of this, I'll get the NHL Center Ice again for at least one more year. Yes, I know I'm paying more than I need to.

 

[converseman54]

I was very sad to hear Sling lost FSMW. I'd been using it the past 3 hockey seasons, so now I guess I'll just use my parent's cable info and use the Fox Sports app.

 

[Frenzy31]

We pay for NHL.com. You can put it on the fire stick. We also use Hulu for regular tv. And yes it has the big 10 network

 

[ItsOnlytheRiver]

The best part about going the underground route is getting to pick your broadcast. I rarely have to listen to our corny home broadcasts.

 

[shpongle falls]

I've been using SlingTV since it's the cheapest option and it works pretty well but since they don't have Fox Sports Midwest anymore (ugh), I'm going to give HuluTV a try, because it has Fox Sports Midwest, NBC Sports, and the local NBC channel for Blues games so I won't miss any games. Also you get to keep your cloud DVR recordings which is important for me.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

WTF???

Why is it so damn hard to watch your hometown sports teams these days???

Sling was awesome. I'm not paying for cable TV.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Pretty much the only reason we still pay for cable is so that I can watch the Blues, but it's getting harder and harder to justify the cost.

What are my best options for watching games without cable? I need to be able to time-shift all of the games as well, because I usually can't start watching until about 9 at night.

I'm in the St. Louis area so subscribing to the NHL service still gets me blackouts, correct?

What are my options? What are you guys doing?

Blackout rules on NHL.tv
FSMW and Sling not getting along

WTF is going on here?

I'm willing to pay $25/month to watch Blues games. Why is this not enough????

 

[Celtic Note]

Blackout rules on NHL.tv
FSMW and Sling not getting along

WTF is going on here?

I'm willing to pay $25/month to watch Blues games. Why is this not enough????

That’s the world we live in. These mega conglomerates (read quasi monopolies) are only interested in extracting as much money as possible out of your pocket. They have found that options and customer service is not the way to max profits. It’s called under regulated capitalism. Yay!

 

[TheDizee]

att now

 

[David Dennison]

Do vpns still work pretty well with gamecenter (just use a non local, US IP)? I did that a few years ago and it worked pretty well.

 

[Celtic Note]

Do vpns still work pretty well with gamecenter (just use a non local, US IP)? I did that a few years ago and it worked pretty well.

Not sure but they changed their policy on how they handle people who get caught using them a year or two ago. You will have to look for the actual policy, but it is something along the lines that if you get caught using one to circumvent blackouts, then you are done using game center/NHL.TV.

 

[Brian39]

Fox Sports Go allows you to stream Blues games in-market with a cable/satellite login. It might be cheaper than a HuluTV subscription to just split the cost of cable with a buddy/parent in exchange for them giving you their login info. I don't trade money with my dad, but I trade logins with him. I have his cable log in and he gets my Netflix and Amazon prime info. I'm out of market, so I can't get Blues/Cards games this way, but it gives me access to ESPN, NBC Sports and National Fox Sports stuff. Well worth paying the extra few bucks a month for additional screen capacity for Netflix and the Amazon prime bill that is getting harder and harder to justify on its own.

If you have a close friend or parent who is also hell bent on sticking with cable, working out a deal with them for their login info might be your best bet.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Fox Sports Go allows you to stream Blues games in-market with a cable/satellite login. It might be cheaper than a HuluTV subscription to just split the cost of cable with a buddy/parent in exchange for them giving you their login info. I don't trade money with my dad, but I trade logins with him. I have his cable log in and he gets my Netflix and Amazon prime info. I'm out of market, so I can't get Blues/Cards games this way, but it gives me access to ESPN, NBC Sports and National Fox Sports stuff. Well worth paying the extra few bucks a month for additional screen capacity for Netflix and the Amazon prime bill that is getting harder and harder to justify on its own.

If you have a close friend or parent who is also hell bent on sticking with cable, working out a deal with them for their login info might be your best bet.

Just to emphasize, this only works if you are physically in the normal broadcast area (not counting any shenanigans with VPNs). Otherwise you get whatever FSN broadcast is your area's.

 

[Brian39]

Just to emphasize, this only works if you are physically in the normal broadcast area (not counting any shenanigans with VPNs). Otherwise you get whatever FSN broadcast is your area's.

Yup. Fox Sports "fixed" their app a few months ago. I had an amazing 2 year run streaming the Blues via Fox Sports Go from Colorado. Then my app updated and that had been taken away.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Yup. Fox Sports "fixed" their app a few months ago. I had an amazing 2 year run streaming the Blues via Fox Sports Go from Colorado. Then my app updated and that had been taken away.

I remember a game where the Blues were playing Dallas and I was traveling. FSSW (Dallas) was my regional network at the time, and that's what the app always showed me. So I thought, great it will work out for me...I'll just have the away announcers. Well, I think I was in Colorado traveling and I was not able to use the app to see my Blues/Stars game. So frustrating that night!

I'll admit, there have been a couple instances where I resorted to streams outside my subscription services. That night was one of them.

 

[DeuceNine]

I've been using SlingTV since it's the cheapest option and it works pretty well but since they don't have Fox Sports Midwest anymore (ugh), I'm going to give HuluTV a try, because it has Fox Sports Midwest, NBC Sports, and the local NBC channel for Blues games so I won't miss any games. Also you get to keep your cloud DVR recordings which is important for me.

Hulu Live isn't cheap. YouTubeTV also carries FSMW

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Sling TV and Fox have reached an agreement

Sling TV | Learn why your FOX Regional Sports Network is not available