2015 NBA League Pass

[Robot]

While I'm at it -- games need to be less expensive or broken up so the 'good seats' don't only contain douche business men in too tight polo shirts and khakis yaking the whole time about their golf game or whatever dumb ass deal they are trying to swindle their guest into.

It's the most unenjoyable part of seeing a Suns game. Not sure if this is true in all stadiums or not -- but in Phoenix with our nomadic population, the passion of fans is not generally represented in the best parts of the stadium. It's just a business expense to most of these guys - a way to felate their pray into thinking that the company is 'cool'

So bad. F them!

- R

[Flagrant Fowl]

I'm with Robot. This is a rip off, and IMO, it's a last effort by the NBA to milk what they can before it becomes a free for all. The writing is on the wall, free HD streams are all over the web, and it doesn't take a market analyst to know how things are trending toward the future.

If you want to support the Suns (and the NBA) buy some kind of memorabilia. This overpriced "access" to single games is a scam.

[Superbone]

I'm not sure why anyone uses LP anymore when you have sites like Ballstreams out there. I chose it primarily because it's cheaper than LP and there are no blackouts for Suns games since I'm in the Phoenix area.

I still use LP because it has a PS3 app and I can watch it in HD on the big screen. Basically the only reason.

Yep, I want to watch on my big screen in HD without lag. That's why I pay for LP.

[Mori Chu]

Also, I'm not entirely sure that Ballstreams is legal. So there's that.

[carey]

Also, I'm not entirely sure that Ballstreams is legal. So there's that.

It's not.

[Robot]

downloading free music wasn't and isn't legal either but it happens. LP should be affordable - if it was closer to the cost of a SONG or a TV episode rather than a HD movie download more people would legally purchase games

$6.99 is $4.00 more than a rental of a HD episode of HBO on ITunes [ ie. Silicon Valley ] or any show . A movie rental [ say Ex-Machina ] is $5.99 - $1.00 less than one game . Give me a break, NBA is delusional

HBO Now - HBO's standalone [ no cable required ] streaming service which offers EVERYTHING from it's massive archive including everything new, first run is $15 a month or $180 a year. Your saying the NBA is worth $200 for a season ? Dude's gotta be on that wolf of wall street kitchen scene drugs.

it's counter productive for the NBA to charge such an insane cost for a single game and thus people will continue to pirate them .

I agree with FF - this is the last attempt to cash in

I understand that the payroll is at an all time high but us fans are not making millions and shouldn't be expected to float the costs of the league. Meanwhile the NBA regular season has become more un-interesting . It's a playoff based league now , most of the excitement is concentrated in a few teams, a few story lines, and several teams dialing it in hoping to cash in on the future. Games 1-52 are tepid at best .

- R

[In2ition]

I agree with Robot. With that said, if they didn't black out the local team, I would buy LP and then the could make their money.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

I'm not sure why anyone uses LP anymore when you have sites like Ballstreams out there. I chose it primarily because it's cheaper than LP and there are no blackouts for Suns games since I'm in the Phoenix area.

I have no blackouts issues either, but is that thing legal?

Not to jump into a high moral pedestal, but I'm not into that "everything must be free in the internet" argument, moreso along the free rider dilemma.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Aztec, we have more than one option internationally, but all of them now comes with all teams. 2013 I was given the choice to get a limited number of teams, but that package didn't include playoffs.
I signed premium last season, but with the dollar rising like it is in Brazil, I probably will get the cheaper package this season.

Here in Mexico, there was only the full league package and a premium with extra NBA TV content, not options for a limited choice of teams, or a single team pass. 6.99 per single game it's not worth it if you watch two games a week, maybe even for a sinlge game per week, you still end up paying less for the full season pass once the playoffs starts.

It's an interesting discusion to enter into the "given this item it's so expensive it's ok to download it/copy it/ rip off it/ steal it" territory.

So, if I can afford a new car, it's ok to take one "borrowed"?

Not pointing fingers, just very interested on how this argument works.

[Furlanfufi]

I don't watch pirate since they launched league pass here, so I can't say much.

I always watch 2 or 3 games a week, most of the playoffs, so is really worth the price.

As I said, won't buy the premium package this year, 5 dollars difference is a lot in the state of Brazilian economy and could be more with the discount they give to old subscribers.


Enviado de meu XT1097 usando Tapatalk

[Zeratul]

I use Ballstreams but I know a lot of people in Europe buy the LP in Africa or Bengladesh through a proxy. No blackouts, dirt cheap...
However I think to do that in the US you have to use the proxy each time you watch a game so probably not worth it

[pickle]

Internationally, there's only the choice to buy the full LP. I mostly watch Suns' games, with none of that blackouts you mention. But still, is a hefty price for a couple games a week I manage to catch, but I grew tired of watching streaming games with chinese audio

i don't know if you speak chinese... or live in china. i do. all i can say is, listening to that chinese commentary makes me want to throw shit at my tv... i honestly can't stand it. the only reason i don't turn the sound completely off is that i want to hear the whistles. going without really takes away from the game experience.

i've even thought a bit about doing commentary for them, for free... but i doubt anybody is interested in my services.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Internationally, there's only the choice to buy the full LP. I mostly watch Suns' games, with none of that blackouts you mention. But still, is a hefty price for a couple games a week I manage to catch, but I grew tired of watching streaming games with chinese audio

i don't know if you speak chinese... or live in china. i do. all i can say is, listening to that chinese commentary makes me want to throw shit at my tv... i honestly can't stand it. the only reason i don't turn the sound completely off is that i want to hear the whistles. going without really takes away from the game experience.

i've even thought a bit about doing commentary for them, for free... but i doubt anybody is interested in my services.

I do not speak chinese, so I get completely cut out of any insight comentary on the play, the players or the game. Also kept the audio on because of the whistles and the crowd. Good to know that I'm not missing that much hehe

They just launched single teams packages, but without the playoffs, so I'm good with my renewal discount, will try to catch more Warriors games, what other teams would you folks recomend around here?

[cardoso31]

I have ILP here in Mexico (que hay Aztec!) but like they say, the price is a bit high for the whole year, since a couple years ago I pay for it monthly, its like 13USD a month, so thats ok, its like 200 pesos a month for me, it works except they still bill you during the offseason, but now I get to watch the exiting preseason..

I think they sent me an email promoting team league pass Aztec and Furlan, we might want to check it out since it sould be like a 40% difference betwen packages. Oh, but canceling and switching plans is a pain in the A*. I think you even have to write them an email and wait for a response in a couple days for cancelations.

[cardoso31]

Yeah I've just checked. The is a Teamm Pass in mexico its MXN$1,199.99 (around $72 USD) for the Annual membership, no monthly option. And my monthly fee its now MXN$239. Stupid dollar.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Good to see you around Cardoso!

I paid for the year 116.99 UsD, playoffs included, wich the team pass does not, and also got hit by the depreciation. It's a bit expensive, but hassle free. If only the NFL would offer something similar, I could cancel cable and then both passes would paid by itself in less than half a year.

[pickle]

I do not speak chinese, so I get completely cut out of any insight comentary on the play, the players or the game. Also kept the audio on because of the whistles and the crowd. Good to know that I'm not missing that much hehe

They just launched single teams packages, but without the playoffs, so I'm good with my renewal discount, will try to catch more Warriors games, what other teams would you folks recomend around here?

good lord the chinese commentary is stupid. but i won't go into that any more.

starting this year, a local internet giant paid some outrageous money to the nba to secure exclusive rights to the internet broadcast thereof in china, and the lucky thing is, this is now both legal and free (the downside being, again, the commentary. yeah i know i'm a broken record). but i am not sure what games they broadcast. in the past i could always find all the games (albeit very low resolution) every day, now they may be more selective, and in china it's always the rockets, the lakers, and whatever team jeremy lin plays for that get featured.

as for other teams to follow, there's the big name teams like okc and gsw and cleveland, but as far as relatively obscure options go, i'm intrigued by the bucks.

[Superbone]

You've got me curious, pickle. What's so bad about the Chinese commentary?

[pickle]

to me there are two parts to the commentary... first is your actual basic professionalism, whether you speak clearly and know not to talk over your co-host when they are trying to make a point. the other is your basketball knowledge... i'm not even talking about telestrating which is far beyond what most of these chinese basketball pundits are capable of; i'd be happy if they could just talk a little bit about what each team's general strategies are or the styles of some of the players... or something.

during the lakers heyday, some commentator mistook sasha vujavic (can't spell his name) for paul gasol because both guys happen to be european and have curly hair; last season i remember this dude who called drew gooden eric gordon because the two last names sound similar and he clearly couldn't be bothered to actually read a list of the player names before he starts broadcasting a game; and a third guy, while broadcasting a game between the warriors and the spurs (regular season, but later in the season), couldn't stop complaining about how the fact that the game went into overtime will interfere with his travel plans as he has less and less time to get home, pack, and hit the airport to get to his next paying engagement and that he was definitely rooting for the game to not go into a second OT coz he was definitely out of the studio if that happens blah blah blah.

part of the problem is that these guys don't do play by play, so they have to fill the time. the second problem is that the people who have real broadcaster training don't know basketball, and the ones that have spent their lives in the basketball world have so little education and general awareness of how they sound that the general quality is just outrageous. these guys constantly give advice to the TV and pretend that they know better than the referees who are being paid to do this as a career, and i don't mean things like "that's not a foul you idiot" but rather more patronizing statements like "we hope that the professional referees paid to watch over this highly critical game of basketball are not biased against yao ming like the whistles seem to suggest, that they adhere to a certain sense of professionalism and fairness" blah blah blah. for some reason that really gets on my nerves.

the list goes on and on and on... but i don't want to keep beating the dead horse. suffice it to say, this is a constant turnoff for me when i try to watch.

[Superbone]

Interesting stuff. Thanks pickle.