Blackout rules make watching hockey in Canada confusing, frustrating and expensive

[darthma]

I pay for nhl live. I just want to be able to watch it across devices including on my tv with minimal hassles. That said... man do i hate it. I paid by CC and it autosubscribed me for autorenewal next year. There was literally no way online to turn autorenew off. I had to phone them. The guy who helped me was really nice and sympathetic. He confirmed there was no way to turn it off and he had to do it manually. Lol. What a joke. He then told me that people couldnt update their cc info from last yr so he had been dealing with valls all day simply helping people update their cc info automatically. What a joke. Haha.

I tried to log on my xbox and then it wouldnt take my password. Did i enter it wrong? I tried so many times. I googled it. Nope. Turns out the xbox app is messed up. I had to uninstall and reinstall to get it to work.

I live in Vancouver. So... Calgary plays Van TEN TIMES this year. Blackouts. So ~1/7 of the flames season is blscked out. Amazing.

Turns out the i ly thing I am crazy for is being a fan and paying money for it. And dont get me started on the iphone app. Fuuuuuuuuu. *sigh*

[Two Fivenagame]

Yup, cancelled my NHL sub a few days ago. Paying $30 a month and I couldn't watch Calgary vs Montreal. Fine, I'll find a source elsewhere/don't actually really care to watch the Flames anymore.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Freddy

I pay for NHL live and find the NHL app sucks for choppy buffering, not to mention the regional restrictions being super annoying. The other day i checked out an illegal stream and it was as high def (or better) and had no buffering issues, leaving me wondering how the NHL can justify a crappier product to its paying fans.

Because they're getting enough money from offering a terrible service people are willing to pay for. Plus is probably some Rodgers contract obligation - which in that case is incredibly outdated, and yet another reason why the uber long contract that's not done until 2026 sucks.

Until more people take the pirate route to force the NHL's hand to give a service that offers it's consumers needs, they don't have an incentive to change it.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Mass_nerder

Even when you pay for it?

Are we saying someone is breaching their contract with consumers? I get it’s irritating, not going to deny that.

Love reading about how people rationalize illegal feeds. In the end it’s all about money I guess.

[btimbit]

The best way to get people to pay for a service is to deliver a better product than pirating. Pretty sad when the easiest way to watch hockey is the illegal way. I want to give you my money, NHL, but you've literally made it impossible

[Toonage]

I have a Sportsnet subscription on my satellite which gives me Sportsnet Now and I subscribe to NHL live. Every game is available to me. I'm not having these issues everyone else is having but I live in the Flames broadcast region.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by CM ONE

It’s weird. I couldn’t get the Flames game tonight on sportsnet now because I didn’t have sportsnet “overflow”. Which I’d never heard of. But I can watch the Punjabi telecast on the same subscription. I can figure out what they are saying just fine. Might actually prefer it lol.

I had troubles getting the game on Sportsnet Now as well, but eventually found that SN 360 had the game so I was able to catch it. Look for that next time.

Biggest problem I have with the streaming is the quality. I get 10 minutes of 720p per game then it seems to drop down to 480 or 240. Have a feeling it’s a Sportsnet issue being cheap, but not certain. All I know it’s definitely not my network speed as the replays are always crystal clear.

[nomad]

I have the $20/month sportsnet now plan, live in Calgary, get all the Flames games including tonight's game against the Habs (apparentlyit was on SN360). Quality is not as good as cable.

Don't understand why I don't get certain weeknight Canucks games. Games will be listed on the sportsnet now schedule but when I select a game I get the blackout message. It's not like it would prevent me from buying a ticket to the game seeing as I don't live in Vancouver. You'd think they'd want to grow the game but I guess they think they'll force me to buy NHL Live. Fat chance. And just so there's no confusion, I detest the Canucks but enjoy watching in division games.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[btimbit]

Even if you completely ignore the blackouts, paid services are incredibly choppy, 720p if you're lucky and expensive.

I watch the NHL illegally because there is no better option if you don't have cable. I am more than willing to pay, if you give me access to the games I want, smoothly, and in HD

[Traditional_Ale]

The free legit stream of the game from the CBC website tonight for me was very good. Not sure if relevant, just sayin'.

[billybob123]

I subscribed to GCL the year it switched over halfway through to NHL.tv. The quality and reliability of the stream immediately went in the toilet. I contacted Rogers and got an essentially "GFY we're working on it" response. They claimed it was my connection, which was laughable as I wound up bailing completely on the service I paid for to go to other streams, which worked flawlessly. It took them over a month to fix it. So, after that season was done, I never subscribed again. If they don't want to earn my money, I won't give it to them. I also discovered that I can live without "out of town hockey" and stopped even watching other streams. It's disappointing.

[Number 39]

I live in the GTA. Cord Cutter for years and usually the Flames blackouts dont impact me due to being in the GTA. I subscribe to the NHL app for my hockey fix and usually don’t have an issue unless the Flames play the Leafs. This season however its a bigger issue so I have had to resort to other less legit sites to watch certain games. Seems so dumb.

[CalgaryFan1988]

I'm honestly a little surprised that in 2021 you can't buy Flames TV and never miss a Flames game, like you can with the Leafs. The fact you buy Sportsnet and then are subject to blackouts is very stupid.

[IGGYRULES]

Sports are surging this year due to the pandemic. Sports + Surge = missed revenue for nhl

[Boreal]

If you have both cable and NHLTV you can watch blacked out games on the app by logging in through your cable subscription on the app on a phone, but not on a AppleTV.

Idiots.

[curves2000]

Let's just call it like it is and let's just be honest about the entire situation. I love the Calgary Flames, I love the NHL and I love hockey.

The NHL, it's broadcast partners (mostly Rogers Sportsnet) and hockey as a whole are really non factors in the global sports world. Sure there is a fan base, sure some people make big money and there are some big stars, no questions about it. Hockey is generally a bottom performing sport in the global sense of importance.

The fact that a die hard NHL and Calgary Flames fan who lives in the interior of BC, some mere km's from the border of Alberta, needs to jump through hoops to see their team on live tv, is absurd. It's not logical, there is very little justification for this.

I am not someone who's affected, but I have always wondered if I didn't live in Calgary and have Sportsnet, how much Flames hockey would I watch??

The NFL doesn't make a lot of their games unique, a lot of the games are broadcast on plain old regular TV. CBS, ABC, Fox. You can watch a ton of your own games nationally. Sure it's nice to have cable for ESPN or NFL network but it's not really required for a lot of people.

Back to hockey for the moment, the two largest markets in the country from a fan base perspective is Toronto and Montreal. The fact that fan bases of those teams also need to dig deep and have how many different options to watch their teams, is also wild to me.

That would be the equivalent of most large countries where soccer or futbol is the #1 sport, the fan bases of the largest and most powerful teams isn't readily available and easy to view. It's nuts!

Know your clients, know your fans, promote your product, work collectively, copy the winners in sports, upgrade the broadcast talent and more. The NHL can do this!

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by darthma

I pay for nhl live. I just want to be able to watch it across devices including on my tv with minimal hassles. That said... man do i hate it. I paid by CC and it autosubscribed me for autorenewal next year. There was literally no way online to turn autorenew off. I had to phone them. The guy who helped me was really nice and sympathetic. He confirmed there was no way to turn it off and he had to do it manually. Lol. What a joke. He then told me that people couldnt update their cc info from last yr so he had been dealing with valls all day simply helping people update their cc info automatically. What a joke. Haha.

I tried to log on my xbox and then it wouldnt take my password. Did i enter it wrong? I tried so many times. I googled it. Nope. Turns out the xbox app is messed up. I had to uninstall and reinstall to get it to work.

I live in Vancouver. So... Calgary plays Van TEN TIMES this year. Blackouts. So ~1/7 of the flames season is blscked out. Amazing.

Turns out the i ly thing I am crazy for is being a fan and paying money for it. And dont get me started on the iphone app. Fuuuuuuuuu. *sigh*

Is this actually true? I think all the games are nationally televised or on Sportsnet West and not only on sportsnet pacific, which is the only time you wouldn't get to watch the game. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure we get every game.

I agree in general that it is confusing and a struggle to figure out what the package actually gets you. There are technical hiccups that annoy me about the service, but generally I find I do get almost all if not all Flames games.

Anyhow I hope since its being talked about in a national media source means they'll start improving things.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by curves2000

Know your clients, know your fans, promote your product, work collectively, copy the winners in sports, upgrade the broadcast talent and more. The NHL can do this!

They can, but they make more money taking billions from Sportsnet for a contract with all these idiotic exclusivity clauses. Make no mistake, every blackout, every botched streaming option, every low-quality feed, all comes back to Sportsnet wanting to prevent people from cutting the cord – and the NHL shrugging and taking their money.

It was shortsighted as hell when they signed the deal, and it's obviously stupid now. But they really have no choice but to go on taking the money until the contract runs out, no matter how much they piss off their audience in the meantime.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by curves2000

The fact that a die hard NHL and Calgary Flames fan who lives in the interior of BC, some mere km's from the border of Alberta, needs to jump through hoops to see their team on live tv, is absurd. It's not logical, there is very little justification for this.

Retaliation for your government threatening to close the border without justification or logic

[curves2000]

Originally Posted by DownhillGoat

Retaliation for your government threatening to close the border without justification or logic

For full disclosure, I do live in Calgary. A few friends in Invermere, Radium etc have to suffer this nonsense all the time.