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The NFL should attempt to provide a better product if they want us to pay for it. The current landscape of trying to pay to watch NFL without a cable subscripti

The NFL should attempt to provide a better product if they want us to pay for it. The current landscape of trying to pay to watch NFL without a cable subscription is frustrating at best and frequently pirate streams simply offer a better product. Anecdotally, this past weekend I was trying to watch preseason games through the nfl app using an nfl+ subscription. The streams keep stopping, would frequently play audio only with no video, and I’d frequently have to refresh my browser. This was after disabling Adblock and other browser extensions. Finally, I broke down and watched a pirate stream and had no more issues. Additionally, there is no single product available that shows all games. You either deal with local blackouts or fragmentation as far as Thursday, Sunday, and Monday games. The NFL makes it as hard as possible to pay to watch all games. You must use multiple services depending on the day and location of the game. For me, pirate streams are simply a better user experience even dealing with the endless ads and sketchy popups. Give me a single service with a single price that shows all games including redzone and I’m happy to pay. Until then, pirate streams win. Every single time.

chii 3y ago
> a pirate stream and had no more issues. how is it that a pirate stream is able to stream without issues, but not the official stream? I would've thought that the pirate stream is merely proxying the output from the official stream, so if the official stream stutters, wouldn't the pirate stream also fail?
- Arrath 3y ago
  IME they're often a captured and streamed broadcast, say a Kansas City Chief's game as shown by 'your local' FOX affiliate in BFE, Oklahoma airing the afternoon game (including ads), rather than a re-share of the official online stream. I've even seen a few really chintzy ones that were just a webcam pointed at a tv, bootleg film style.
- hightrix 3y ago
  Typically the pirate streams I see and use are either from a local OTA broadcast or the direct cable stream. The direct stream even has placeholders for local ads.

chii 3y ago

> a pirate stream and had no more issues. how is it that a pirate stream is able to stream without issues, but not the official stream? I would've thought that the pirate stream is merely proxying the output from the official stream, so if the official stream stutters, wouldn't the pirate stream also fail?

Arrath 3y ago
IME they're often a captured and streamed broadcast, say a Kansas City Chief's game as shown by 'your local' FOX affiliate in BFE, Oklahoma airing the afternoon game (including ads), rather than a re-share of the official online stream. I've even seen a few really chintzy ones that were just a webcam pointed at a tv, bootleg film style.
hightrix 3y ago
Typically the pirate streams I see and use are either from a local OTA broadcast or the direct cable stream. The direct stream even has placeholders for local ads.