MSG's Sabre Games: No Cable Needed Next Season

[Cooperstown fan]

I’m in Florida. Last year and for part of this year I could stream the MSG games to my iPhone and cast them to my TV in the RV. Now I can no longer get the games on my MSG go app. MSG blames DIRECTV. It’s useless calling them. I get the games on MSG in Central New York. I still get Rangers and Islander games down here but no Sabres. I have to resort to watching them on ESPN + on my phone because ESPN + doesn’t cast to my TV. 

[SwampD]

They still better be a part of the whole NHL package. It will be complete bullshizz if we have to pay for just MSG games on their service and have to pay for another service to get the rest of the NHL games.

For all the kvetching people did about the price of cable and wanting ala carte television, well, here it is, and it sucks.

[Eleven]

1 minute ago, SwampD said:

For all the kvetching people did about the price of cable and wanting ala carte television, well, here it is, and it sucks.

$210 / year for Sabres and apx. $150 / year for one streaming service at a time (which is all I have time to watch) is MUCH less expensive than cable.

[Cooperstown fan]

It looks like the game will be on MSG for me in Florida. It’s a mystery why the others weren’t. Go Sabres!

[mjd1001]

on a related note that came out today:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/espn-wants-to-be-the-hub-of-all-live-sports-streaming-even-if-it-helps-its-competition/ar-AA1897WC

DIsney's ESPN wants to be the hub for all live sports streaming — even for its competition.

The sports network has held conversations with major sports leagues and media partners about launching a feature on ESPN.com and its free ESPN app that will link users directly to where a live sporting event is streaming, according to people familiar with the matter.

That could include national or global streaming services, such as Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video, or a regional sports service such as Sinclair's Bally Sports+ or Madison Square Garden Entertainment's MSG+.

[mjd1001]

It just seems like they want more than I expected. Again, the NFL makes sure your local team is televised to everyone for free.

How many people have Hulu plus/ESPN and will just pay a few dollars a month for a VPN instead of subscribing to their package, where if the price they are asking was a bit more reasonable they wouldn't go through the trouble?

[Taro T]

40 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

It just seems like they want more than I expected. Again, the NFL makes sure your local team is televised to everyone for free.

How many people have Hulu plus/ESPN and will just pay a few dollars a month for a VPN instead of subscribing to their package, where if the price they are asking was a bit more reasonable they wouldn't go through the trouble?

For more than 40 years the NFL went out of its way to make sure that if every single seat in the local mausoleum wasn't paid for then nobody could watch locally.  Didn't matter if only 10 seats were empty, a couple million people weren't allowed to watch the game without taking a road trip.  Even if tickets were only on sale for less than a week, if you didn't have every single seat spoken for, you couldn't watch your team.

What changed?  Did the magnanimous masters of the NFL find Jesus?  Nope.  They found multiple $BILLIONS in TV revenue.  And TV networks don't like to have the local markets blacked out.  Your local TV provider makes sure your local team is televised to everyone for free.  And you'd better hope you are within the confines of the local primary TV market should your team show up on NFL Network or Amazon Prime.  Better not be in the overall market but from a 2ndary market like Ra-cha-cha or Baton Rouge.  Because you AREN'T watching your local team for free.  

And as streaming services continue to take a bigger piece of the NFL pie, locals are not going to get to watch ALL the local games for free.  Enjoy it now while you can if you're in the primary market.

[Carmel Corn]

Monitoring this thread....currently a Directv center ice customer and Spectrum internet cable.  Have streamed ESPN+ here and there.  

Welcome any advice on how to watch both future Bills and Sabres games from out of state (Indiana).

[SwampD]

12 hours ago, Carmel Corn said:

Monitoring this thread....currently a Directv center ice customer and Spectrum internet cable.  Have streamed ESPN+ here and there.  

Welcome any advice on how to watch both future Bills and Sabres games from out of state (Indiana).

I’m older, so therefore not afraid of other actual humans. I have never had a problem with going to a bar that has all the packages (it’s not hard to find out) and asking the bartender to put the tv in front of me on the Sabres or Bills game.

I had a little 12” tv in the late 90s and no cable. I don’t even think Center Ice was a thing yet. I used to drive almost an hour into NYC to meet friends at a bar in Manhattan to watch the games on ESPN (the ones that were actually on.)

We are so spoiled with the amount of hockey we are able to consume now. Love it. If I miss one game?… meh.

[That Aud Smell]

On 3/24/2023 at 7:41 PM, mjd1001 said:

How many people have Hulu plus/ESPN and will just pay a few dollars a month for a VPN instead of subscribing to their package, where if the price they are asking was a bit more reasonable they wouldn't go through the trouble?

fwiw - i tried to do this a few weeks back. my espn+ app said "looks like you have a VPN. access denied." what am i doing wrong?

[mjd1001]

8 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

fwiw - i tried to do this a few weeks back. my espn+ app said "looks like you have a VPN. access denied." what am i doing wrong?

I'm not sure. I watch the sabres games on television but we have a basic VPN service, so I decided to try it just out of curiosity on my laptop in the basement....and it worked.

I was able to use the VPN and the sabers game was available.

Maybe it is the VPN provider....some they catch and others they dont?

[nucci]

On 3/24/2023 at 10:44 PM, Carmel Corn said:

Monitoring this thread....currently a Directv center ice customer and Spectrum internet cable.  Have streamed ESPN+ here and there.  

Welcome any advice on how to watch both future Bills and Sabres games from out of state (Indiana).

I dropped directv for youtube TV and disney bundle so watch Sabres  on ESPN+ and will get Sunday ticket this fall for Bills. Youtube will offer Sunday ticket for non youtube subscribers

[Captain Caveman]

On 3/2/2023 at 10:41 AM, That Aud Smell said:

This is good news, I think.

Also, I called it!

 

 30$ a month is ridiculous, it's like a 3rd the cost of cable

 

[That Aud Smell]

10 minutes ago, Captain Caveman said:

 30$ a month is ridiculous, it's like a 3rd the cost of cable

who's your provider? it has been years since i had cable - but it was at least ~$150/month when i dropped it. i'd imagine the same package is $200/month now.

[Captain Caveman]

3 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

who's your provider? it has been years since i had cable - but it was at least ~$150/month when i dropped it. i'd imagine the same package is $200/month now.

 

i don't have cable right now.  I pay ~ 100$ a month for internet, and could add cable for another 60 right now. 

[Mango]

I live in the capital region and use FuboTV at $75 per month. I registered my zipcode as 14217 so I get all things MSG no problem. It also gets me all the Bills games. Plus it allows me to log into ESPN and the ESPN app for all the other sports I want to watch.

$29.99 per month is waaaay too much for MSG+. That is insane. 

[That Aud Smell]

48 minutes ago, Mango said:

I live in the capital region and use FuboTV at $75 per month. I registered my zipcode as 14217 so I get all things MSG no problem. It also gets me all the Bills games. Plus it allows me to log into ESPN and the ESPN app for all the other sports I want to watch.

$29.99 per month is waaaay too much for MSG+. That is insane. 

I think they are specifically and exclusively targeting people who live in the blackout area.

[LTS]

21 hours ago, Mango said:

I live in the capital region and use FuboTV at $75 per month. I registered my zipcode as 14217 so I get all things MSG no problem. It also gets me all the Bills games. Plus it allows me to log into ESPN and the ESPN app for all the other sports I want to watch.

$29.99 per month is waaaay too much for MSG+. That is insane. 

You're likely at $89 a month now that they raised the RSN fees.

[mjd1001]

Just got my welcome email for MSG plus....

When you get it, it gives you the page telling you how much it costs to watch Sabres games this year without a cable package.

When I tried to 'connect for free with your provider', I entered the required credentials for Spectrum and it gave me an error message.

Day one of them advertising this on July 12th not going so well so far...

[Doohicksie]

On 3/2/2023 at 9:41 AM, That Aud Smell said:

This is good news, I think.

Also, I called it!

 

$29.99 per month?  $309.99 per season?  You might as well get cable.

[mjd1001]

Yep, just tried again with the cable TV credentials (restarted computer, cleared browser cache, entereted everything all over) and still getting an error message.

Maybe don't send out the welcome email for your product until you make sure its working correctly that moment?

[Doohicksie]

On 3/2/2023 at 10:48 AM, Taro T said:

You get bouncey ball too.

Not everyone likes bouncey ball, and of those that do, most don't like the Knicks.

On 3/2/2023 at 11:56 AM, That Aud Smell said:

Also: Is "7" the correct number to use when multiplying

I reckon that, if the Sabres' season goes longer than 7 months, I will not care what I am paying for extended viewing access. Right?

MSG won't be carrying the playoff games; they move to national streamers/broadcasters.

[Taro T]

39 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Not everyone likes bouncey ball, and of those that do, most don't like the Knicks.

MSG won't be carrying the playoff games; they move to national streamers/broadcasters.

So, then it isn't likely that they'll get many full year subscribers in WNY. 

[That Aud Smell]

44 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

$29.99 per month?  $309.99 per season?  You might as well get cable.

When I cut the cord (several years ago), my monthly bill from what is now Spectrum (?) was many times greater than the cost quoted above. Otoh, it was a bundled package of some kind (cable, internet, landline?), so I can't recall how much the cable piece was. But it was a lot more than $30 a month, that's for sure.  

[inkman]

I’ve read a lot of people commenting on picture quality in this thread.  Outside of pirate streams and AHL TV, are there issues. With the quality of your picture?  I’ve used every streaming platform known to man and rarely if ever have picture quality issues.  Even the pirate stuff with porn ads and ***** pills all over the screen.  

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

$29.99 per month?  $309.99 per season?  You might as well get cable.

$30 a month used to be the start up pricing for Spectrum.  Then by month 12 you are paying upwards of $200 with the package I want.