Packers Huddle

Waldo wrote: ↑

11 Mar 2021 09:37

The NFL's entry point into the new media ecosystem is way, way behind due to their dreadful agreement with DirecTV.

The DirecTV story is fascinating. AT&T rolled out their Uverse offering and thought they could capture a lot of market share, but it didn't materialize for a variety of reasons - including DirecTV. AT&T even took the step of sending out reps door-to-door in neighborhoods to push their new service and beat out cable/satellite.

And what they heard over and over is that the DirecTV customers wouldn't switch because of Sunday Ticket. So AT&T finally decided to stop fighting and just buy DirecTV. But that purchase hasn't worked out at all, they are losing money like crazy and they are trying to divest DirecTV for about 25 % of what they paid for it.
The only reason we have DirecTV is because of the football and the only reason I haven't pulled the plug yet is because I have a DVR filled with Packer games that gets me through the offseason. NFL is so powerful and such a huge part of our lives that multi-billion dollar orgs like AT&T spent billions just to acquire the rights to a package of out-of-market games on Sunday. AT&T didn't need a satellite provider, they already had a full network of copper and fiber cables reaching every home in America, including internet.

Completely pulled the plug when we moved this past year. Hooked up an antenna to get Packer games. Running fiber to the house this spring. Streaming everything now.

DirecTV's top package with HBO was almost $200 with the last bill. Not including internet. I pay less for Hulu Live/DIsney+, Netflix, Prime, and Fiber Internet.

Sunday Ticket at the prices they wanted the last few years was outrageous. Glad I got most of the Packer games.

So I don't have to have DirecTV because somehow I am labeled, "can't have a satellite". This allows me to get Sunday Ticket through streaming without having DirecTV.

I use my wife's dental school email address to get their college student promotion price which I think cost me basically like $160 for Sunday Ticket online streaming as well as included NFL Gamepass for the entire year. (it was cheaper in 2020 because of Covid pricing)

Honestly....I can't complain about that as I live in Cincinnati. I need Sunday Ticket for a lot of games.

What made it even sweeter is I share the code with a buddy in Sioux Falls which usually when the Vikings block in South Dakota, I can watch in Ohio and when another team blocks here in Ohio, my buddy gets it in Sioux Falls.

I think what I hate most Sunday Ticket is I can't pause or rewind the game at all. However, not a huge deal as I can NFL Gamepass it later.

Honestly NFL Gamepass is totally worth it. I don't need to save Packers games anymore. Gamepass has all of it.

Never had Sunday Ticket. I stopped using cable I think 4-5 years ago. I’ve streamed everything ever since.

The rest of the world has live Gamepass. The only reason we don't is the DirecTV deal.

Years ago, before they got wise to it, Gamepass would be free in other countries, so you could just set your browser to that country and enjoy live streamed NFL games free, the NFL's stream which is MUCH better than DirecTV's. Then they plugged the browser method, but you could still use a VPN to do it. Not sure if that still works.

Waldo wrote: ↑

11 Mar 2021 15:27

The rest of the world has live Gamepass. The only reason we don't is the DirecTV deal.

Years ago, before they got wise to it, Gamepass would be free in other countries, so you could just set your browser to that country and enjoy live streamed NFL games free, the NFL's stream which is MUCH better than DirecTV's. Then they plugged the browser method, but you could still use a VPN to do it. Not sure if that still works.

The thing is, I will gladly pay for it. Just give me an option to do so that doesn't involve 25 year old technology sitting atop my house.