Bally’s Sports+

[Hoop Head]

Because Bally's is now a streaming app that they are charging for. They weren't until this year. So it's a valid question.

I don't see how. League Pass wasn't available for local teams while Bally's is for local teams. If you're a Suns fan outside of AZ then you'll need League Pass but if you want Suns games and live within the Suns market then you'll need Bally's.

 

[Chaplin]

Sorry I said anything.

 

[95pro]

Im wondering how many devices one account will support

The past 5 years i've just been using my parents DTV account with the app on my roku. Works but i get kicked out every now and then.

YouTubeTV was the shizz when they carried the suns games. Best channel linuep for the best price...then everyone got greedy.

 

[Superbone]

Sorry I said anything.

You are forgiven for this great misdeed. On a message board, no less.

 

[95pro]

Unrelated to Ballys but ESPN is no longer on Sling. Seems like you have to have multiple subscriptions now to get all channels again.

 

[Hoop Head]

Unrelated to Ballys but ESPN is no longer on Sling. Seems like you have to have multiple subscriptions now to get all channels again.

ESPN should be included with an ESPN+ subscription. ESPN+ sucks from what I've seen. I get it for free because of the Disney+ and Hulu bundle but only ever use it on their website for a handful of articles that I can't believe are behind a paywall.

 

[Phrazbit]

ESPN should be included with an ESPN+ subscription. ESPN+ sucks from what I've seen. I get it for free because of the Disney+ and Hulu bundle but only ever use it on their website for a handful of articles that I can't believe are behind a paywall.

Yeah, and I dunno about you, but ESPN's website frequently bugs out and doesn't register that I have article access. It's happened twice now and each time I've had to use their customer service chat to fix it.

 

[Hoop Head]

Yeah, and I dunno about you, but ESPN's website frequently bugs out and doesn't register that I have article access. It's happened twice now and each time I've had to use their customer service chat to fix it.

It logs me out frequently. Probably 2-3 weeks I need to log in to access their + articles. It's definitely annoying with how much they put behind that paywall.

 

[SunsTzu]

Just need Bezos to buy the team an put the games on Prime.

 

[Muggz]

I'm not gonna tell you how vpn... google it vpn. But there are ways to watch ANYTHING vpn you want for free vpn.
Watch it on your vpn computer vpn and its even vpn easier.

 

[NashDishesDimes]

VPN probably the best but i just decided to cancel youtube TV and go with Direct TV stream since i believe it is the only streaming service with Bally. I cant believe they didnt sort this out in the offseason. Imagine how many viewers Suns have lost with this disaster. I love Suns but hate the cable companies more.

 

[Phrazbit]

VPN probably the best but i just decided to cancel youtube TV and go with Direct TV stream since i believe it is the only streaming service with Bally. I cant believe they didnt sort this out in the offseason. Imagine how many viewers Suns have lost with this disaster. I love Suns but hate the cable companies more.

As I understand it, this is not a local issue. A ton of teams around the league are with Bally and they've screwed them all.

The league ought to be pissed. Their goal should be to make as many games as accessible as possible.

 

[Muggz]

VPN probably the best but i just decided to cancel youtube TV and go with Direct TV stream since i believe it is the only streaming service with Bally. I cant believe they didnt sort this out in the offseason. Imagine how many viewers Suns have lost with this disaster. I love Suns but hate the cable companies more.

Bushleague for sure hope they sort it out. You could prob get season tickets for say 1/2 the season for under 200 bucks.
If you want to sit down near me I recommend a reverse mortgage a rich parent or a wife in love with Booker.
YEP my wife pays for the tickets call me a simp or whatever im ok with that.

 

[Proximo]

As I understand it, this is not a local issue. A ton of teams around the league are with Bally and they've screwed them all.

The league ought to be pissed. Their goal should be to make as many games as accessible as possible.

No, the league is quite happy with ballys. They paid a fortune for the tv rights, and without cable willing to pay them several dollars per subscriber anymore 20 a month is what ballys figures it needs to charge to still make money.

the only thing that has changed is non watching cable subscribers are no longer subsidizing the people who do watch.

 

[NashDishesDimes]

As I understand it, this is not a local issue. A ton of teams around the league are with Bally and they've screwed them all.

The league ought to be pissed. Their goal should be to make as many games as accessible as possible.

Correct. I think it is like 1/3 of the league with the same issue but i would have guessed the power of the NBA would have resolved this by now.

 

[Covert Rain]

Evidently, Bally's has a ton riding on this. It's rumored to be a do or die situation financially for them. I hope they go belly up. Local blackouts need to stop.

 

[Proximo]

Evidently, Bally's has a ton riding on this. It's rumored to be a do or die situation financially for them. I hope they go belly up. Local blackouts need to stop.

Won't change anything.

Somebody will pay just as much for the TV rights next time around, and since people are leaving cable their will be no subsidizing.

Doesn't matter what company owns the rights, price will be about the same as it is now if not higher.

 

[1tinsoldier]

"sharing the cost with buddies" and "this may be an improvement because i pay a couple hundred dollar's a month for cable now" is not really relevant to how much this Bally's price HIKE sucks. And, again, it doesn't suffice to say, "well that's what the market will bear" and it's justified by the "new TV deal" and absurd "new salary caps and player contracts."

ALL of that sucks, stinks, is bad, wrong, and greedy, and is ruining the sport for average to below average income earners

from the other related threads:

the Suns games were on free tv not so long ago
everything was on free tv
cable was introduced as a pay service -- because they had no commercials
then they added commercials
and raised the prices
and raised the prices
2 years ago, you could watch the Suns through Sling with their $20 per month package
and Hulu and others also included Fox Sports
but the streamers couldn't afford to carry it after the latest price hikes

this year, you couldn't even watch the NCAA Final on free tv

i'm no business man
but it seems to me that the best way to grow a sport is to make it as accessible as possible
get young people interested, and people with all degrees of incomes etc..

now tickets selling for thousands, and broadcasts still being blacked-out locally
addictive gambling extracting so much income from fans that the bet takers can afford to flood the air with commercial advertising
and players extracting thousands of dollars per minute to put a ball through a hoop
(or a hole in the grass)

love the game
hate the greed

actual reality, is that WE pay every salary. We pay the media. that's why the average ticket price is $100 and playoff tickets go for thousands. That's why there are blackouts. We pay every celebrity endorsement by paying more for the products they endorse.

want to see pro basketball on national network TV today? Your only option is the WNBA or Big3 for retired players because they can't squeeze you for every dollar the "market can bear." Yes, there are enough people that can bear the outrageous prices of the NBA market, and, for example, the housing market, but millions of below-average income makers, and many average earners can't.

it doesn't have to be this way. My parent's owned a house, raised 4 kids in it, sent them college, and cared for my grandmother in it at the same time -- all on my father's one, lower-middle-class salary!

and guess what? i watched every damn Knicks game (and most Bulls games with the GOAT and highest paid player of that time, named Michael Jordan) on free TV

so don't tell me "that's the way it is/works" as if the guy who can throw a ball through a hoop better really should be collectively paid by us literally 1,000 times more per hour than someone who does the work you do. That's the way it is, only because too many people just say "that's the way it is"

aargh
everyone keeps talking about the "tv deal" as if not directly connected to our cable bill going up.
again!
what the "market will bear" is exactly what WE will bear

credit to Hulu, Sling and the rest for fighting the fight and not going along with the Sinclair/Bally's Sports price hike. but that leaves fans with few options

at a minimum, could we just stop rationalizing their greed and making excuses for the industry? i may be a sucker too. but i'm not going to just grin and "bear it" without trying to get them to "hear it"

 

[Covert Rain]

Won't change anything.

Somebody will pay just as much for the TV rights next time around, and since people are leaving cable their will be no subsidizing.

Doesn't matter what company owns the rights, price will be about the same as it is now if not higher.

Do you have a crystal ball? Rights have changed a ton in the last 3 decades. Fox regional sports had the rights at one point. Local affiliates that were part of larger corporations have previously bought the rights (Paramount affiliates). You have no way of knowing any of this.

 

[1tinsoldier]

does anyone know if the $19.95 Bally's Sports per month package will include all the regular season games and playoffs or will it be blacked out for ESPN and TNT games?

i'm already annoyed with their operation -- It's a fundamental question but the details are not available on the FAQ for the site

 

[Proximo]

Do you have a crystal ball? Rights have changed a ton in the last 3 decades. Fox regional sports had the rights at one point. Local affiliates that were part of larger corporations have previously bought the rights (Paramount affiliates). You have no way of knowing any of this.

Have no way of knowing who will buy the rights, but I do know the price only goes up.

 

[Proximo]

does anyone know if the $19.95 Bally's Sports per month package will include all the regular season games and playoffs or will it be blacked out for ESPN and TNT games?

i'm already annoyed with their operation -- It's a fundamental question but the details are not available on the FAQ for the site

It will include all regular season and playoff games that aren't National only games. TNT has exclusive rights to some games, and I think that might be the case with some ESPN games as well.

A bunch of playoff games are exclusively ABC, ESPN and TNT I believe.

Basically if you want to see all the games you have to have Bally's, ESPN, TNT, and ABC - or you can just stream the games for the networks you don't have, which is annoying but does actually work.

 

[Covert Rain]

Have no way of knowing who will buy the rights, but I do know the price only goes up.

Unless a regional sports network picks it up or another network. Like I said, we have seen the Rights change hand many times over the past several years. At one point, it was owned by paramount who owned UPN 45. That wasn't a separate fee. At one-point regional Fox affiliates which again was part of most packages if you had Sat/Cable.

So yes, it could change everything depending on who owns the rights. You wouldn't necessarily have to go to a "Bally's" to watch.

 

[Yuma]

We usually get one game a year snagged by NBA TV, and they wouldn't let Bally's broadcast it. I used to not have NBA TV available and I hated that policy.

 

[1tinsoldier]

It will include all regular season and playoff games that aren't National only games. TNT has exclusive rights to some games, and I think that might be the case with some ESPN games as well.

A bunch of playoff games are exclusively ABC, ESPN and TNT I believe.

Basically if you want to see all the games you have to have Bally's, ESPN, TNT, and ABC - or you can just stream the games for the networks you don't have, which is annoying but does actually work.

thanks for the info
what that means, however, is that in the first week alone, our 2 biggest games, Mavs & Warriors, will not be on Bally's
and many of the playoff games will also be exclusively on ESPN and TNT.