the sad history of NBA broadcasts (and where it's going?)

[1tinsoldier]

(wanted to get in on this discussion in the other thread but knew it was off topic there)

the history of milking sports fans (NBA in particular):

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

 

[JCSunsfan]

Totally agree with this except that the Suns have not been on free TV for quite some time now.

 

[Mainstreet]

An issue I see with streaming, it's hard to find all the programs and sports one wants to see with a single provider.

As an outsider, still with DirecTV, it feels streaming is like a deck of cards always being reshuffled.

Originally I thought pay television would end commercials. Now it seems like there are more commercials than ever.

 

[1tinsoldier]

the worst is sports radio because they know most listeners are trapped in the car. the ratio of talk time to commercial time is outrageous

 

[Mainstreet]

the worst is sports radio because they know most listeners are trapped in the car. the ratio of talk time to commercial time is outrageous

I used to joke, all commercials, all the time. Actually I don't listen to sports radio much unless there is a particular guest I want to hear. The good thing is it's free.

 

[Covert Rain]

The NBA is especially bad. At least in the NFL I can always watch the home team games. At the very least home team games should never be blacked out at the expense of fans. It's ludicrous. They should just do away with all blackouts. ALL OF THEM. If you want to watch an out-of-town team, I expect to pay because it's not the home team.

 

[Proximo]

An issue I see with streaming, it's hard to find all the programs and sports one wants to see with a single provider.

As an outsider, still with DirecTV, it feels streaming is like a deck of cards always being reshuffled.

Originally I thought pay television would end commercials. Now it seems like there are more commercials than ever.

I have youtube TV, but barely find myself using it anymore. In fact if it wasn't for Sports I'm not sure I would even keep it.

Streaming services are what I predominatly use now.

I think the networks are going to be effectively gone within 10 years and they know it. That's why they are starting their own ,services. But there is now too many streaming services for thier cost and so each is getting a smaller and smaller piece of the pie it seems. In one way it's good, more quality content is being produced than ever before due to the competition.

With streaming services the commercials can be targeted to the individual, because they know who you are and everything about you, so I don't think they are going anywhere unless you pay a higher rate to get the commercial free package.

I think eventually the NBA is going to directly do it's own streaming, because if people are going to be pay high prices to watch, they aren't going to want to pay a high price for a bunch of sports they don't watch as well like you are forced to with something like ESPN.

 

[Superbone]

I still have DirecTV only because of the NBA and the Suns. It's important to me to be able to time shift and skip commercials. The problem with streaming is that you can't do that unless you wait until the game it totally over. I want to be able to start during the game and catch up near the end at the earliest.

 

[Mainstreet]

I have youtube TV, but barely find myself using it anymore. In fact if it wasn't for Sports I'm not sure I would even keep it.

Streaming services are what I predominatly use now.

I think the networks are going to be effectively gone within 10 years and they know it. That's why they are starting their own ,services. But there is now too many streaming services for thier cost and so each is getting a smaller and smaller piece of the pie it seems. In one way it's good, more quality content is being produced than ever before due to the competition.

With streaming services the commercials can be targeted to the individual, because they know who you are and everything about you, so I don't think they are going anywhere unless you pay a higher rate to get the commercial free package.

I think eventually the NBA is going to directly do it's own streaming, because if people are going to be pay high prices to watch, they aren't going to want to pay a high price for a bunch of sports they don't watch as well like you are forced to with something like ESPN.

I'm waiting for all this to come to fruition but right now it's not here in the format I want.

In the future, DirecTV may be all streaming as well.

 

[Covert Rain]

I'm waiting for all this to come to fruition but right now it's not here in the format I want.

In the future, DirecTV may be all streaming as well.

They will be. DirecTV and Dish have both made statements that the future is streaming. Both companies have shifted most of their spending towards their streaming services verses the SAT hardware which used to account for the bulk of company expenses.

 

[Finito]

Totally agree with this except that the Suns have not been on free TV for quite some time now.

I remember when Jerry put certain games on PPV in the 90s

 

[Phrazbit]

(wanted to get in on this discussion in the other thread but knew it was off topic there)

the history of milking sports fans (NBA in particular):

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

I would imagine the NBA (and the MLB) are rather unhappy with Bally Sports. They signed these broadcast deals with Fox Sports back when it was on basically every streaming, cable and satellite carrier. Bally buys them up, asks for more money from the carriers and now almost no one has em.

The blackouts are because Bally owns the local rights, the Suns don't have a say over that and won't until the next TV contract comes up.

EDIT: Turns out my thoughts are outdated, the NBA recently reworked their deal with the company that owns Bally.

Here is an article about the NBA's thinking and where it is headed.

Sports Media: An inside look at the NBA’s streaming deal with Sinclair

When the NBA started negotiating a new streaming deal with Sinclair at the end of last year, league executives knew they held a lot of leverage. After all, Sinclair was looking for additional financing to fund its Diamond Sports subsidiary. The NBA realized that Diamond, which operates the Bally...

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

 

[Covert Rain]

I would imagine the NBA (and the MLB) are rather unhappy with Bally Sports. They signed these broadcast deals with Fox Sports back when it was on basically every streaming, cable and satellite carrier. Bally buys them up, asks for more money from the carriers and now almost no one has em.

The blackouts are because Bally owns the local rights, the Suns don't have a say over that and won't until the next TV contract comes up.

EDIT: Turns out my thoughts are outdated, the NBA recently reworked their deal with the company that owns Bally.

Here is an article about the NBA's thinking and where it is headed.

Sports Media: An inside look at the NBA’s streaming deal with Sinclair

When the NBA started negotiating a new streaming deal with Sinclair at the end of last year, league executives knew they held a lot of leverage. After all, Sinclair was looking for additional financing to fund its Diamond Sports subsidiary. The NBA realized that Diamond, which operates the Bally...

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

They are hoping for another DirecTV NFL scenario.

 

[Bufalay]

I remember when Jerry put certain games on PPV in the 90s

Man, that really sucked. I remember home games used to be on cable (ASPN or whatever) and road games were on channel 45. I watched all the road games and listened to the home games on the radio. Good old days with Al McCoy and Dick Van Arsdale.

 

[JCSunsfan]

The Suns last showed games on free tv at the end of the 2011-12 season, when Fox Sports AZ took over as the sole local purveyor of Suns games. Up until then KUTP channel 45 had shown a pretty substantial package of away games.

There are LOTS of kids in this valley who did not grow up watching Suns games. It's pretty self-defeating and sad.

 

[vince56]

I am 100% the Suns target market, and ever since the Suns signed with Bally Sports I only see playoff games. No regular season games at all, even if they're on ESPN, I get pre-game, but as soon as the game starts, the blackout hits.

That's a problem and remarkably poor business.

 

[95pro]

I use my parents dtv account and they’re 300 miles away from phoenix. Works all the time on ballys

 

[DJ Tabooh]

Question and I appreciate the thread. I’ve probably watched 70 Suns games this season. Buddy of mine has league pass and let’s me use it on my YouTube TV. It’s great. However, before he got it connected, I used a site to watch the game. Something I wasn’t proud of doing but love watching our Suns.

How do y’all feel about illegal streaming? By no means am I saying it’s right but if you could watch the Suns, would that be an option if there are blackouts that occur?

 

[AzStevenCal]

Question and I appreciate the thread. I’ve probably watched 70 Suns games this season. Buddy of mine has league pass and let’s me use it on my YouTube TV. It’s great. However, before he got it connected, I used a site to watch the game. Something I wasn’t proud of doing but love watching our Suns.

How do y’all feel about illegal streaming? By no means am I saying it’s right but if you could watch the Suns, would that be an option if there are blackouts that occur?

To me it's not much different than shoplifting or cheating on your taxes. I know I'm in the distinct minority here and I'm not trying to stand in judgement of others but it's just not something I'd be willing to do.