3 ms·

Along those lines, I found it was far cheaper to go to a sports bar and eat and drink beers every Sunday instead of getting Sunday Ticket.

skyebook 13y ago
Hockey fan here. Good luck getting a bar to turn on the game when football is still on or baseball season is underway. Beyond that, some people just really don't like bar environments. (Or show me a sports bar where people are hanging out and watching a game + doing hackathons during the intermissions.. that would be unbelievably cool)
kodablah 13y ago
Went on a bit of a tangent here...sorry. I hear this argument frequently. This is not a practical solution for those watching their favorite NHL/NBA teams 82+ games a year or MLB 162+ games a year. IIRC ESPN gets $6+ per subscriber-month and would greatly fear reprisal from cable providers if they offered a way to watch without a subscription. Due to the leagues' stranglehold over dissemination of their live events and major sports channels large budgets to pay them, there really is no end in sight for wannabe cord-cutters that want to watch their teams. There are three outcomes I foresee: 1. the status quo, 2. a company w/ deep pockets (Apple, Google, Netflix, etc) convinces a major sport to take their money, or 3. piracy of live sports streams becomes more reliable and easier to consume. #2 is possible but would still be a big gamble. I fervently believe the rise of bittorrent escalated alternative viewing options for non-live events, so I secretly am hoping for #3. All of the live pirated streams I have seen are horribly unreliable and seem to get shutdown with ease. I'm a software engineer, maybe I should make a live P2P streaming protocol! Can't put what I want on it due to living in the US and fear of prosecution, but maybe just the simplicity will help the industry.
- selectodude 13y ago
  Can't speak for any other sport, but the pirated stream options for the NHL are absolutely impeccable.

skyebook 13y ago

Hockey fan here. Good luck getting a bar to turn on the game when football is still on or baseball season is underway. Beyond that, some people just really don't like bar environments. (Or show me a sports bar where people are hanging out and watching a game + doing hackathons during the intermissions.. that would be unbelievably cool)

kodablah 13y ago

Went on a bit of a tangent here...sorry. I hear this argument frequently. This is not a practical solution for those watching their favorite NHL/NBA teams 82+ games a year or MLB 162+ games a year. IIRC ESPN gets $6+ per subscriber-month and would greatly fear reprisal from cable providers if they offered a way to watch without a subscription. Due to the leagues' stranglehold over dissemination of their live events and major sports channels large budgets to pay them, there really is no end in sight for wannabe cord-cutters that want to watch their teams. There are three outcomes I foresee: 1. the status quo, 2. a company w/ deep pockets (Apple, Google, Netflix, etc) convinces a major sport to take their money, or 3. piracy of live sports streams becomes more reliable and easier to consume. #2 is possible but would still be a big gamble. I fervently believe the rise of bittorrent escalated alternative viewing options for non-live events, so I secretly am hoping for #3. All of the live pirated streams I have seen are horribly unreliable and seem to get shutdown with ease. I'm a software engineer, maybe I should make a live P2P streaming protocol! Can't put what I want on it due to living in the US and fear of prosecution, but maybe just the simplicity will help the industry.

selectodude 13y ago
Can't speak for any other sport, but the pirated stream options for the NHL are absolutely impeccable.