Sabres to Have 15 National Broadcasts this Season

[Brawndo]

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Looks like we have made the big time.

[JohnC]

Under Granato, the Sabres have become a fun team to watch. That doesn't mean that a fan can't at times be exasperated when watching them but its indisputable that they are an entertaining team. Thankfully, the Krueger era was a short inglorious era. It nearly strangled my interest in this team and in hockey in general. 

[Zamboni]

TNT, ESPN and ABC I can catch no problem. ESPN+ I can catch as long as my cousin continues to have the Hulu account that I grab from him. 

[Brawndo]

Here are the games 

 

The Sabres' national TV schedule for 2023-24 is as follows:

Oct. 17 vs. Tampa Bay - 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
Nov. 1 at Philadelphia - 7 p.m. on TNT (exclusively on MSG in the Buffalo broadcast market)
Nov. 24 vs. Pittsburgh - 6 p.m. on TNT 
Dec. 5 vs. Detroit - 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
Dec. 13 at Colorado - 9:30 p.m. on TNT
Dec. 27 vs. Boston - 7:30 p.m. on TNT
Jan. 17 vs. Chicago - 7:30 p.m. on TNT (exclusively on MSG in the Buffalo broadcast market)
Feb. 10 vs. St. Louis - 1 p.m. on ABC
Feb. 27 at Florida - 7 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 2 vs. Vegas - 7 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 6 at Toronto - 7 p.m. on TNT
March 9 vs. Edmonton - 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 14 vs. New York Islanders - 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 30 vs. Toronto - 7 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
April 7 at Detroit - 1 p.m. on TNT 

[#freejame]

Looks like I’ll be maxing out at 74 games this year. Oh well. Still better than the Bills schedule. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

16 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Here are the games 

 

The Sabres' national TV schedule for 2023-24 is as follows:

Oct. 17 vs. Tampa Bay - 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
Nov. 1 at Philadelphia - 7 p.m. on TNT (exclusively on MSG in the Buffalo broadcast market)
Nov. 24 vs. Pittsburgh - 6 p.m. on TNT 
Dec. 5 vs. Detroit - 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
Dec. 13 at Colorado - 9:30 p.m. on TNT
Dec. 27 vs. Boston - 7:30 p.m. on TNT
Jan. 17 vs. Chicago - 7:30 p.m. on TNT (exclusively on MSG in the Buffalo broadcast market)
Feb. 10 vs. St. Louis - 1 p.m. on ABC
Feb. 27 at Florida - 7 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 2 vs. Vegas - 7 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 6 at Toronto - 7 p.m. on TNT
March 9 vs. Edmonton - 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 14 vs. New York Islanders - 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 30 vs. Toronto - 7 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
April 7 at Detroit - 1 p.m. on TNT 

March 30th will be the national game on HNIC ..

 

[mjd1001]

13 minutes ago, #freejame said:

Looks like I’ll be maxing out at 74 games this year. Oh well. Still better than the Bills schedule. 

At the moment, I'm the opposite of you. We have the streaming services to get all those national games, but I haven't decided to spring for the expensive cable package or MSG plus subscription. That might/probably will change, but maybe I'll give it a month or so (of watching games at a friends house or restaurant/bar) before deciding to go all-in.

[msw2112]

22 minutes ago, #freejame said:

Looks like I’ll be maxing out at 74 games this year. Oh well. Still better than the Bills schedule. 

I assume that ESPN+ without Hulu will have all of the MSG games - basically all of the games that are not on TNT - which is how you calculated 74.

Last season, I had NHL Center Ice through DirecTV, but I cut the cord this year and have moved to YouTubeTV.  Thus, I believe that I need to get ESPN+ in order to get the lions share of the games.  

So my current Plan A is to get ESPN+ which would get me those 74 games when combined with the national games.  Plan B is if the wife and kids nag me to get Disney+, in which case I'll get the "bundle" with Hulu and then I should get all 82.  I think it's only an extra $4 (from $9.99 to $13.99) if I get the version with ads, but goes up to $19.99 to go ad free.  Having never had the service in the past, I don't now how intrusive the ads would be.  Live hockey games have commercials anyway, but I could see the kids getting upset if Encanto or Frozen is interrupted with ads.  If ad-free means I could watch an entire Sabres game without commercials and intermission (because I'm in the west and watch games hours after they've been played), I'm all in for that.  

Any insight from someone out-of-market who used it last year?

Edited August 30, 2023 by msw2112

[Doohicksie]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

Great, an additional 4 games where unplugged people will be complaining about not being able to watch through their normal means.

[IKnowPhysics]

15 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Great, an additional 4 games where unplugged people will be complaining about not being able to watch through their normal means.

We have our grandmother's cable logins for streaming, normie.

[LTS]

5 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Great, an additional 4 games where unplugged people will be complaining about not being able to watch through their normal means.

Who are unplugged people?

Are the complaints without merit?  It seems fair to complain about the NHL breaking up coverage the way they do.  Pretty sure last year the TNT games that were broadcast on MSG in the local Buffalo market excluded Rochester.  No problem, I'll get ESPN+! Oh.. for ESPN+, Rochester is in the local Buffalo market.

A quick run through in my head.. a Spectrum intro plan would be my best plan to get ALL the games.  That would be $59.99 for MSG/TNT/ESPN (12 mos. intro) + $20 local broadcast surcharge (ABC) + whatever ESPN+ costs (I have Disney + Bundle so I pay $16.99.  That puts me at $96.99 plus whatever other hidden fees Spectrum wants to lump in.  Oh.. and their app is not on FIrestick, so I have to hope my TV can get the Spectrum app or I have to shell out for  cable box.

All other courses of action are easily over $100 per month.  Basically we're talking $700+ to see all Sabres games... the pain of living in market.  But the out of market won't be that much cheaper.

I'm only going to see the MSG+ and ESPN+/Hulu games I presume.  That's most of the games for $47 per month or so.  Basically half the cost to get the vast majority of the games.

Meanwhile I pay $80/year and I get every F1/F2/F3 race and more.  Interesting...

 

 

 

[SwampD]

2 hours ago, msw2112 said:

I assume that ESPN+ without Hulu will have all of the MSG games - basically all of the games that are not on TNT - which is how you calculated 74.

Last season, I had NHL Center Ice through DirecTV, but I cut the cord this year and have moved to YouTubeTV.  Thus, I believe that I need to get ESPN+ in order to get the lions share of the games.  

So my current Plan A is to get ESPN+ which would get me those 74 games when combined with the national games.  Plan B is if the wife and kids nag me to get Disney+, in which case I'll get the "bundle" with Hulu and then I should get all 82.  I think it's only an extra $4 (from $9.99 to $13.99) if I get the version with ads, but goes up to $19.99 to go ad free.  Having never had the service in the past, I don't now how intrusive the ads would be.  Live hockey games have commercials anyway, but I could see the kids getting upset if Encanto or Frozen is interrupted with ads.  If ad-free means I could watch an entire Sabres game without commercials and intermission (because I'm in the west and watch games hours after they've been played), I'm all in for that.  

Any insight from someone out-of-market who used it last year?

There are no ads on Disney+.

ESPN+ only has ads when you first go to the channel. There is no pre or postgame because MSG sucks and won’t work out a deal with them. They also run their own promos during breaks, sometimes.

There are ads on Hulu,… I don’t mind them.

1 hour ago, LTS said:

Who are unplugged people?

Are the complaints without merit?  It seems fair to complain about the NHL breaking up coverage the way they do.  Pretty sure last year the TNT games that were broadcast on MSG in the local Buffalo market excluded Rochester.  No problem, I'll get ESPN+! Oh.. for ESPN+, Rochester is in the local Buffalo market.

A quick run through in my head.. a Spectrum intro plan would be my best plan to get ALL the games.  That would be $59.99 for MSG/TNT/ESPN (12 mos. intro) + $20 local broadcast surcharge (ABC) + whatever ESPN+ costs (I have Disney + Bundle so I pay $16.99.  That puts me at $96.99 plus whatever other hidden fees Spectrum wants to lump in.  Oh.. and their app is not on FIrestick, so I have to hope my TV can get the Spectrum app or I have to shell out for  cable box.

All other courses of action are easily over $100 per month.  Basically we're talking $700+ to see all Sabres games... the pain of living in market.  But the out of market won't be that much cheaper.

I'm only going to see the MSG+ and ESPN+/Hulu games I presume.  That's most of the games for $47 per month or so.  Basically half the cost to get the vast majority of the games.

Meanwhile I pay $80/year and I get every F1/F2/F3 race and more.  Interesting...

 

 

 

I’m out of town and it’s not even close to that amount.

$35/m - SlingTV for TNT games
$16/m - ESPN+ (w/ the Disney bundle)
$0/m - Antenna on the roof for ABC games (best picture of them all, but no pausing or watching later)

I remember a day when the current number of unavailable games to some people, was the total number that an out of town fan was maybe able to see. I have no problem with the current situation and haven’t for years.

Edited August 30, 2023 by SwampD

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

Here are the games 

 

The Sabres' national TV schedule for 2023-24 is as follows:

Oct. 17 vs. Tampa Bay - 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
Nov. 1 at Philadelphia - 7 p.m. on TNT (exclusively on MSG in the Buffalo broadcast market)
Nov. 24 vs. Pittsburgh - 6 p.m. on TNT 
Dec. 5 vs. Detroit - 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
Dec. 13 at Colorado - 9:30 p.m. on TNT
Dec. 27 vs. Boston - 7:30 p.m. on TNT
Jan. 17 vs. Chicago - 7:30 p.m. on TNT (exclusively on MSG in the Buffalo broadcast market)
Feb. 10 vs. St. Louis - 1 p.m. on ABC
Feb. 27 at Florida - 7 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 2 vs. Vegas - 7 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 6 at Toronto - 7 p.m. on TNT
March 9 vs. Edmonton - 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 14 vs. New York Islanders - 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
March 30 vs. Toronto - 7 p.m. on ESPN+/Hulu
April 7 at Detroit - 1 p.m. on TNT 

Just don't put any games on NHLN.

[SwampD]

34 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Just don't put any games on NHLN.

Or on all three of the local sports networks.

Actually, now that I think about it, those actually save me money, cuz I go to my buddy’s house and drink his booze while we watch.

Edited August 30, 2023 by SwampD

[Buffalonill]

Gross 

[SwampD]

23 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

Gross 

 I know I’m going to regret asking this, but what is gross?

[ROC_exEMT]

On 8/30/2023 at 5:46 PM, LTS said:

A quick run through in my head.. a Spectrum intro plan would be my best plan to get ALL the games.  That would be $59.99 for MSG/TNT/ESPN (12 mos. intro) + $20 local broadcast surcharge (ABC) + whatever ESPN+ costs (I have Disney + Bundle so I pay $16.99.  That puts me at $96.99 plus whatever other hidden fees Spectrum wants to lump in.  Oh.. and their app is not on FIrestick, so I have to hope my TV can get the Spectrum app or I have to shell out for  cable box.

I think the 1st Spectrum box is free if you go that route unless you want the dvr package.  You can also get a Roku for $35-40 and the Spectrum App streams on that.

[Claude Balls]

On 8/30/2023 at 5:46 PM, LTS said:

Who are unplugged people?

Are the complaints without merit?  It seems fair to complain about the NHL breaking up coverage the way they do.  Pretty sure last year the TNT games that were broadcast on MSG in the local Buffalo market excluded Rochester.  No problem, I'll get ESPN+! Oh.. for ESPN+, Rochester is in the local Buffalo market.

A quick run through in my head.. a Spectrum intro plan would be my best plan to get ALL the games.  That would be $59.99 for MSG/TNT/ESPN (12 mos. intro) + $20 local broadcast surcharge (ABC) + whatever ESPN+ costs (I have Disney + Bundle so I pay $16.99.  That puts me at $96.99 plus whatever other hidden fees Spectrum wants to lump in.  Oh.. and their app is not on FIrestick, so I have to hope my TV can get the Spectrum app or I have to shell out for  cable box.

All other courses of action are easily over $100 per month.  Basically we're talking $700+ to see all Sabres games... the pain of living in market.  But the out of market won't be that much cheaper.

I'm only going to see the MSG+ and ESPN+/Hulu games I presume.  That's most of the games for $47 per month or so.  Basically half the cost to get the vast majority of the games.

Meanwhile I pay $80/year and I get every F1/F2/F3 race and more.  Interesting...

 

 

 

That's still cheaper than my DIRECTV. Not to mention, I also pay for Prime, Hulu and Netflix. So many streaming services. Not sure what the cheaper route would be. 

[LGR4GM]

On 8/30/2023 at 3:19 PM, Brawndo said:

 

This just reminds us all that you need 5 separate channels/apps to watch Sabres games. The NHL is a dumpster fire when it comes to how they broadcast their product. 

[Claude Balls]

On 8/30/2023 at 3:19 PM, Brawndo said:

 

Seems as though the media has realized that the Sabres are the up and coming team in the NHL. They are a really fun team to watch. A huge step up from what they used to be. I think Meatballs is building something special. Not only is he great with the young kidd, but he also got Skinner to be the player he used to be, before Krueger ruined him. 

[Claude Balls]

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

This just reminds us all that you need 5 separate channels/apps to watch Sabres games. The NHL is a dumpster fire when it comes to how they broadcast their product. 

Same with the MLB and NFL. It's pretty ridiculous imo. Sad to admit, but I'm a Yankees fan, and YES shows a lot of their games, but a lot of the Friday games are on either Prime or Apple. Everyone is selling out.

Edited September 1, 2023 by Claude Balls

[Zamboni]

I just heard that spectrum is blacking out ESPN right now.

I haven’t had a chance to check my TV to verify,

[mjd1001]

Just now, Zamboni said:

I just heard that spectrum is blacking out ESPN right now.

I haven’t had a chance to check my TV to verify,

They sure are.

Got up and wanted to watch the F1 practice from Monza and no Espn. Or espn2, O or FX, or about a dozen other channels owned by disney.

For me they have until 7am Sunday morning to get this fixed, or else we are canceling. I don't really need to resubscribe to the ESPN/Hulu Bundle either, we just dropped that after the price increases last month. I'll live without ESPN.  I'm not a big fan of college football, so the games I do watch I'll watch over the air.

Wife and I talk about this often.  95% of what we watch is done on a streaming network. And as the prices go up, we just rotate which ones we subscribe to. The vast majority of the content we want we can 'pick and choose' and not get cable. Even news now and highlights from most sports we can find online or a streaming option.

[Stoner]

14 minutes ago, Claude Balls said:

Seems as though the media has realized that the Sabres are the up and coming team in the NHL. They are a really fun team to watch. A huge step up from what they used to be. I think Meatballs is building something special. Not only is he great with the young kidd, but he also got Skinner to be the player he used to be, before Krueger ruined him. 

Don't forget how he ruined young Ras before Donnie saved him. Why Ralph told him to do jumping jacks when the puck went over his head I'll never know.

Edited September 1, 2023 by PASabreFan