League Pass

[spurraider21]

Thinking about getting it for the first time. For those of you that have it, do you buy it directly through nba.com? Or is it better through other platforms like Prime or YouTubeTV

[scott]

Thinking about getting it for the first time. For those of you that have it, do you buy it directly through nba.com? Or is it better through other platforms like Prime or YouTubeTV

I have purchased it directly through NBA.com before, but the last two seasons I get it free with NBA2k (there is a pre-order edition that includes it and you end up only paying like $80 for it for the whole season).

I love it. Most games in CA get blacked out (I live in HI), some of them I have the local channel for, others I do not. I also had it when I lived in MA. Almost always can get the Spurs broadcast which is nice. I have noticed Samsung TV's don't have an NBA app, so I have to access it via my Roku. If it is the same price, it might be worth it to get it through YouTubeTV so that you can watch it in a native app.

[spurraider21]

My only blackout games would be wizards where I’m at

i have a Hisense Roku tv so i can easily use the nba app directly. I just dno if people have had better experiences getting it thru another service like YT or prime or if there’s no meaningful difference

[kxs783kms]

Get it through YouTube TV so you can watch it on TV. If you get it through the app, you'll have to watch games on your phone if you can't get the NBA app on your tv.

[scott]

My only blackout games would be wizards where I’m at

i have a Hisense Roku tv so i can easily use the nba app directly. I just dno if people have had better experiences getting it thru another service like YT or prime or if there’s no meaningful difference

The NBA app is pretty easy to use, but sometimes gets a little buggy. If I had to choose, I'd probably get it via YouTubeTV. Both will be equal in terms of access on any device, the YT experience just might be a little smoother. And if you subscribe via YT, I believe you can link it to your NBA.com account and access it that way anyway (but you can't do it the other way around).

[CorrectCrusader]

I could not fathom paying for it just to not be able to see spurs games (I'm in Tennessee)

[spurraider21]

I could not fathom paying for it just to not be able to see spurs games (I'm in Tennessee)
I’m in Virginia, so if it’s not on National tv I’m always having to stream it. Which means I’m dealing with delays, meh quality, temporary freezes, needing to refresh page, etc. and more annoying if i want to set it up on tv.

[SpursFan86]

I’m not local in SA anymore so I got it through Prime. Pretty solid experience IMO - $15 a month isn’t bad and I haven’t had any issues with the service.

Definitely worth it IMO…streams are obviously fine and get the job done but $15 a month is well worth it to have a smoother and more “legitimate” experience. Final straw for me was when I missed the first minute of the OT game against Houston because the stream I was using shit the bed :lol

Went with Prime because I knew the app would already be on most any phone/TV.

[jhfenton]

I buy it through NBA.com and use the NBA app, on the TV or on my iPad, laptop, or desktop. We have two kids in college, so we have the student discount this year. I'm in Cincinnati, so the only Spurs games blacked out are national TV games and the two games against the Cavs. For those, I find alternate streams (for the national TV games) or use my VPN (for the Cavs games).*

* Older son and I are going to the Spurs game in Cleveland in January, so that one will be moot this year.

[spurraider21]

I buy it through NBA.com and use the NBA app, on the TV or on my iPad, laptop, or desktop. We have two kids in college, so we have the student discount this year. I'm in Cincinnati, so the only Spurs games blacked out are national TV games and the two games against the Cavs. For those, I find alternate streams (for the national TV games) or use my VPN (for the Cavs games).*

* Older son and I are going to the Spurs game in Cleveland in January, so that one will be moot this year.
My wife’s a student so we should be able to benefit from that too. Is the discount only available if done directly thru nba.com?

as far as i could tell, yeah. whatever. just got it thru nba.com directly. already have the app on my tv so good to go

first time having league pass. wemby effect

[DPG21920]

I’ve had it basically since inception and I always buy through NBA directly - mainly because of habit, but its also nice being able to so easily download the nba app and use via any device; especially if you do not have streaming cable.

Theres probably a few other perks via user interface and features too IMO, but for most part it should not matter much where you buy.

[jsandiego]

I’ve had it on whatever cable subscription I’ve owned over the last 25 years - Cox cable, AT&T, DirecTV, YouTube TV, and currently with Dish Network.

I prefer Dish because I can stream when I’m not at home, but the satellite is so much more responsive, no buffering like YouTubeTV or any app/streaming. Plus, Dish has a 30 second forwarding button - perfect for skipping a pair of free throws and 3 minutes worth of commercials if I’m watching on a delay after putting kids to sleep.

[CGD]

Thinking about getting it for the first time. For those of you that have it, do you buy it directly through nba.com? Or is it better through other platforms like Prime or YouTubeTV

I got it for first time this year, and using it via Prime which is good so far. Only small detail to consider: I bought the single team pass for $80, but it turns out that if the Spurs are playing on NBATV (not the same as League Pass I’ve learned) you won’t get the game unless you ALSO have an NBATV subscription (which is like $6/mo). I’d expect that it won’t be an issue as the season moves forward and Spurs get less National games, but between the PHX first game on NBATV and a few others on TNT/ESPN, I’ve only caught two on league pass proper.

Aside: Good news on TNT is there it looks like HBO Max is now carrying those games.

[BacktoBasics]

With all the push from the league to modernize and be relevant and accessible to the masses it is beyond me why they haven’t figured out how to put an end to blackouts. It is the single most archaic thing about the league. I hope next year the whole league adopts some kind of single team subscription that anyone can buy.

[Fizziksman]

Tempted to get it, just wish the service was better

[spurraider21]

With all the push from the league to modernize and be relevant and accessible to the masses it is beyond me why they haven’t figured out how to put an end to blackouts. It is the single most archaic thing about the league. I hope next year the whole league adopts some kind of single team subscription that anyone can buy.
Gotta be a money thing

[emanueldavidginobili]

It's great on YoutubeTV, you can even watch up to four games at the same time using the multiview.

[Chinook]

With all the push from the league to modernize and be relevant and accessible to the masses it is beyond me why they haven’t figured out how to put an end to blackouts. It is the single most archaic thing about the league. I hope next year the whole league adopts some kind of single team subscription that anyone can buy.

The NBA makes its money off fooling networks into signing horrible TV deals. The networks lose a sh'ton of money on those deals under the hope they can make it up through their own shows talking about the sports they pay for and through getting cable providers to pay to host their channels. It's that loss that drives their profits, so you can't really make it up by having direct-to-customer packages take priority over those deals. Now don't get me wrong, I do think the NBA could turn a good profit by charging an expensive but fair rate for all-access games. However they wouldn't be able to see their exploding profits, which means it's an unviable situation under our economic system. The NBA's primary customers are Disney and AT&T, and they have to make sure they accommodate those two before they can sell us the scraps.

To put it another way: Blackouts will only end if they can cut in all of the stakeholders from their current system enough to where they don't feel the need to protect their TV deals from streaming competition OR until the NBA forced to try a streaming model that can make up for the money they'd lose if the networks didn't agree to keep paying more and more each contract.

[BacktoBasics]

The NBA makes its money off fooling networks into signing horrible TV deals. The networks lose a sh'ton of money on those deals under the hope they can make it up through their own shows talking about the sports they pay for and through getting cable providers to pay to host their channels. It's that loss that drives their profits, so you can't really make it up by having direct-to-customer packages take priority over those deals. Now don't get me wrong, I do think the NBA could turn a good profit by charging an expensive but fair rate for all-access games. However they wouldn't be able to see their exploding profits, which means it's an unviable situation under our economic system. The NBA's primary customers are Disney and AT&T, and they have to make sure they accommodate those two before they can sell us the scraps.

To put it another way: Blackouts will only end if they can cut in all of the stakeholders from their current system enough to where they don't feel the need to protect their TV deals from streaming competition OR until the NBA forced to try a streaming model that can make up for the money they'd lose if the networks didn't agree to keep paying more and more each contract.
Thanks for your response.

Didn’t the Sun figure a work around for this? What was the differentiator in that case?

[Chinook]

Thanks for your response.

Didn’t the Sun figure a work around for this? What was the differentiator in that case?

Non-national games are broadcasted by regional networks as part of contracts with individual teams. The teams control their own non-national broadcast rights. They can stream them if they want unless they've sold the streaming rights to some company like the Spurs have with Bally Sports. It's very possible with Bally going belly-up the Spurs will have to consider selling their rights directly to fans or in the very least selling the streaming rights and broadcasting right separately.

EDIT: So to clarify, the Suns aren't streaming their national games. Those are still blacked out. They didn't get around the rule at all. They just are doing local streams for anyone in the local area. The Spurs actually did something similar a couple of years ago. I don't remember if that was for a pre-season game or some special circumstance.

[BacktoBasics]

Non-national games are broadcasted by regional networks as part of contracts with individual teams. The teams control their own non-national broadcast rights. They can stream them if they want unless they've sold the streaming rights to some company like the Spurs have with Bally Sports. It's very possible with Bally going belly-up the Spurs will have to consider selling their rights directly to fans or in the very least selling the streaming rights and broadcasting right separately.

EDIT: So to clarify, the Suns aren't streaming their national games. Those are still blacked out. They didn't get around the rule at all. They just are doing local streams for anyone in the local area. The Spurs actually did something similar a couple of years ago. I don't remember if that was for a pre-season game or some special circumstance.
That’s might solve a huge problem for us in Corpus. We’re considered local. If

So if I buy league pass it’s blacked out but none of the local channels here carry the games. I have to pay for Bally and use their app. I’d pay for League Pass if they treated us for what we really are. Out of market.

If they make streams available like the Suns do and still consider us local that might work better.

[MI21]

Not sure if possible in the US, but why can't you guys just sign up to International League Pass via somewhere cheap (lots of options for arounf $70US) on a trial VPN. Once signed up, you don't need to use the VPN and can carry on as usual - I've been doing this for around 8 years.

[Trueblood]

Get it through YouTube TV so you can watch it on TV. If you get it through the app, you'll have to watch games on your phone if you can't get the NBA app on your tv.

You can watch them on TV with league pass. Just download the nba channel. It's on any roku TV. I have it on all of mine. I'm in Mississippi so I miss the Memphis and New Orleans games, but the most annoying thing is when they block out nationally televised. You can't get anything on TNT or ESPN. As the team gets better there will be more of those making the league pass less and less worth it

[spurraider21]

0-1 since getting league pass.

bad product

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

Lol imagine paying for streams

Baa Baa sheep

[Arcadian]

I just signed up for the free trial on NBA.com because that's the only way to get "League Pass Premium" with no commercials. Apparently the non-premium has unskippable ads that interrupt the game.

I used LP for several years when I was living in Dallas and always had a good experience with it. I can confirm that the app itself has improved over the years. It's a notably better UX than it was 10 years ago.