Spurs on Dish Network in Austin question

[tthorn]

Hey, guys - lurker turned poster here from Austin.

Thinking of switching from Time Warner to Dish Network for the 2007-08 season but am afraid of blackouts. While Time Warner says they blackout all Spurs games on League Pass, they won't actually do so if the Austin local stations or FoxSW don't carry it.

My question is - does Dish do the same thing? Or do they rigidly enforce the dumb blackout rule?

Any help would be appreciated so I'm not kicking myself in November.

- Tom in Austin

[infinite styles]

Wow I was about to ask this same question because I'm about to move to Round Rock next month and wanted to know if they blackout league pass and all that.

[Obstructed_View]

Unless something has changed, it's a geographical thing, and everyone is subject to the same rules, which the NBA dictates. If one provider is required to black out games, then it's because of your location, and all providers will have to black them out. I don't remember the size of the region, but the Mavericks' region stretched as far as Waco the last time I checked. It might be worth a phone call, but I'd be shocked if you could get one provider to do it while another couldn't.

[tthorn]

Yeah, for whatever reason, while the screen will say "Blackout" for all Spurs games in Austin on league pass, if said game isn't on NBATV, TNT, ESPN, FOX SW, or the Austin WB/UPN channel, they'll show it anyway (you just have to know it's on there and overlook the "Blackout" description). But I don't know if the satellite guys do this. I'm guessing not, which is why I'm scared to switch.

[shelshor]

We have Directv--Even when the main FoxSW channel is blacked out, you can usually find it on one of the alternate feeds

[tthorn]

Thanks, shelshor. Good to hear it.