Bally’s Sports+

nashman

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It’s not really that bad $20 bucks for a lot of games every month. Yeah it would be great if they were still on free tv but is what it is for now. I used the app tonight for Portland game and stream was good no issues at all…
 

Hoop Head

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Question for those that have it, do you get any other games like the Coyotes or college sports or is it just Suns?
 
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Covert Rain

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so, can anyone tell me if the game was also available on Bally's (despite not being listed as such)?
If the game is not listed on Bally's it's not available there. They don't have the rights to every Suns game. Also, $20 is a rip-off. Especially, considering how the cost keeps going up for all the other streaming services. All those streaming services put together is approaching old cable/sat prices when looking at the overall cost. More people would subscribe if it was $10 but Bally's is desperate. They are saying that if this doesn't work they might go under. Luckily, I can watch these games anyway.
 
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Phrazbit

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@cheesebeef @AzStevenCal and any other out of state fans.

I did some research and, yes, if you get the Bally App and use a decent VPN when connecting to it, you can watch Suns games by connecting to an Arizona IP address. You will also be able to watch any other Bally locations by connecting to their IP addresses.

So, with a 20 dollar Bally subscription and a 5 dollar VPN (use on of decent reputation, like Nord) you will have access to over half the league's games.

Downside, you're basically restricted to watching on a PC... or through a TV connected to your PC.

You can get a smart TV to connect to a VPN but it requires some IT mumbo jumbo that I dunno how to do.
 
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Chaplin

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Obviously you get the national games, but League Pass has worked for me for years. Now, the app having issues is a whole other thing, but I've been able to see every game over the past several years because of it.

I did find a way to fix the NBA app problem on the Xbox. I have a high-end Samsung TV so I just use league pass on my iphone and Airplay it to the TV. I did it on the Blazer game and it worked really well. The XBOX ESPN and TNT apps worked surprisingly well also. Only issue is with the NBA app.
 

Bada0Bing

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Question for those that have it, do you get any other games like the Coyotes or college sports or is it just Suns?

Yeah, I think so. We just watch Suns games though. $120 for the season isn't that bad. That's a lot of entertainment for the fam. Something like 50-60 games we'll watch with the subscription.

It just seems so shortsighted by the NBA. They're pushing an entire generation of Suns fans to watch for free via streaming. Those folks are probably never going to pay anything once they get used to streaming for free.
 

Hoop Head

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Yeah, I think so. We just watch Suns games though. $120 for the season isn't that bad. That's a lot of entertainment for the fam. Something like 50-60 games we'll watch with the subscription.

It just seems so shortsighted by the NBA. They're pushing an entire generation of Suns fans to watch for free via streaming. Those folks are probably never going to pay anything once they get used to streaming for free.

Was just curious, I'm not a big hockey fan but the more content the better. Are the Suns games only available live or are they available on-demand at all?
 

Bada0Bing

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Was just curious, I'm not a big hockey fan but the more content the better. Are the Suns games only available live or are they available on-demand at all?

They're on-demand. We usually start 15-30 min late and fast forward thru commercials for a bit. Not sure how long the games are available though.

That's another thing I hated about streaming for free...no rewind/fast-forward. I felt like I was living in the 90s again!
 

Yuma

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I got to comment for the NFL on a phone call once. My point on the black out rule is I grew up without blackouts. I did get to see the teams play for free. Because I did get to see the teams for free I became a bigger fan, which drove me to buy tickets to games, and purchase merchandise. I told them, if I never get to see the product, I won't have any interest in it. I would have never became a fan. I also told them, that out of market teams in Yuma, like the Dodgers, had way more fans than other close by teams, because we got to see all the games on TV on the network in Yuma. So people planned vacations to see a Dodger game, and buy merchandise, from Yuma which is not their normal ticket buying area.
 

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If its not on TV you can find it online. I don't give a hot steamy butt muffin what Bally Sports does.
 

jf-08

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The owner of the Bally Sports network is heading towards bankruptcy, with major implications for local sports networks.

Diamond Sports Group is currently negotiating with creditors and sports leagues as its financial situation deteriorates.

According to Bloomberg, the largest owner of local sports networks is heading towards a massive “$8.6 billion debt restructuring,” and betting on a “new direct-to-consumer streaming service.”

Diamond Sports bought the regional networks just a few years ago in 2019, only to see cable subscriptions plummet afterwards.

Despite carrying local games for Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL, their financial struggles have reached a breaking point......
 

puckhead

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The owner of the Bally Sports network is heading towards bankruptcy, with major implications for local sports networks.

Diamond Sports Group is currently negotiating with creditors and sports leagues as its financial situation deteriorates.

According to Bloomberg, the largest owner of local sports networks is heading towards a massive “$8.6 billion debt restructuring,” and betting on a “new direct-to-consumer streaming service.”

Diamond Sports bought the regional networks just a few years ago in 2019, only to see cable subscriptions plummet afterwards.

Despite carrying local games for Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL, their financial struggles have reached a breaking point......

Something's got to give. There are so many entertainment options now competing for the same dollars. Plus, let's face it, it's super easy to workaround all these fees.
 

puckhead

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The owner of the Bally Sports network is heading towards bankruptcy, with major implications for local sports networks.

Diamond Sports Group is currently negotiating with creditors and sports leagues as its financial situation deteriorates.

According to Bloomberg, the largest owner of local sports networks is heading towards a massive “$8.6 billion debt restructuring,” and betting on a “new direct-to-consumer streaming service.”

Diamond Sports bought the regional networks just a few years ago in 2019, only to see cable subscriptions plummet afterwards.

Despite carrying local games for Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL, their financial struggles have reached a breaking point......

Hopefully we get more than lip service from Bettman this weekend.

17. [NHL] Commissioner Gary Bettman has his annual media address on Saturday. I’d expect him to say something along the lines of, “We’re going to figure it out,” or “I’m not worried” when it comes to the Bally’s/Diamond Sports potential bankruptcy, but teams across the NHL, NBA and MLB warily eye this storyline.

Bloomberg reported last week that Sinclair, which owns the company and holds $55 billion in sports media rights, is prepared to skip a $140-million interest payment next month. The big question is: where does this take us? In the NHL, Bally’s broadcasts games for Anaheim, Arizona, Carolina, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis and Tampa Bay. There are a lot of unanswered questions, first among them being: Will Sinclair try to cut back payments or cut contracts outright under bankruptcy? If so, what could that mean for payments to teams and, as an extension of that, the salary cap?

A couple of sources indicate that there isn’t a clear answer to these questions, but the affected teams are prepared for the possibility of some financial pain. We all knew that cord cutting would push teams closer to their own streaming plans. We’re moving closer to that, but the worry has always been if streaming your own content will ever make “rights-fee” money. MLB in particular did big business off the regional television model because it’s the big summer sport. Fills up hours and hours of programming when there’s not a lot of competition. One exec called this “the biggest sports story no one is paying attention to.”

 

Proximo

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Something's got to give. There are so many entertainment options now competing for the same dollars. Plus, let's face it, it's super easy to workaround all these fees.
It's easy to work around the fees, but the experience totally sucks by comparison. I watched all the games online last year and now use Bally's and I think it is worth the money, but I guess it depends on how much income you have.

I don't see it getting any cheaper, probably just more expensive since everyone thinks the national deals are going even higher despite falling ratings - which is counter intuitive, but I guess live viewing is coveted by advertisers because people actually watch the ads.

I feel like the whole ad model may start changing though where ads are incorportated into programing, it almost has to since ads are so easily skipped now.
 

puckhead

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...

I feel like the whole ad model may start changing though where ads are incorportated into programing, it almost has to since ads are so easily skipped now.

No doubt! In the Coyotes games they have been inserting local ads onto the boards using some digital keying superimpose technology. It's pretty cool, but glitches a bit on certain jersey colors. In addition to that they've added sponsor logos on helmets, jerseys, and on the ice surface itself. So, I'd say that's already in action. It's not subtle! :shocker:
 

puckhead

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Not great. Like a 5/10. It takes a couple tries to stream a game. I finally get it to stream when there are like 7 minutes left to go in the first quarter.:(

That's unfortunate.
 

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