Fans sue NHL over broadcast access

[leaffan]

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/article/1154529--disgruntled-fans-sue-nhl-over-broadcast-access

Kind of a long article but what its touching on is the fact people in New York can order the NHL center ice package but not get rangers or islander games because MSG has the exclusive right to them and black out the broadcast.

The same situation happends to me where if I order the center ice package i won't get any leaf games or any HNIC broadcasts because they are blacked out by the leafs and cbc.

Will be interesting to see what the ruling is as it would be nice to be free of blackouts so I can actually have some sort of choice as to what package I want for my NHL games.

[Warner2BruceTD]

The lawsuit also attacks the NHL’s tactic of charging customers $179.80 for its full-season offering of games available on cable and satellite providers. Again, both of those packages, known as NHL Center Ice, black out in-market games.

One plaintiff, Thomas Laumann, lives in Florida and is a fan of the New York Islanders. Laumann would prefer not to purchase a full out-of-market package to get Islanders games — or subscribe to pay TV to watch Isles games involving the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, which are blacked out when he tries to watch them through NHL Gamecenter Live.

I don't understand what this particular person wants.


They don't want to spend the $179.80 for Center Ice, and they don't wan't to buy the local cable package, which means they can't watch the Islanders when they play in Florida.

Well boo-fucking-hoo. It is not your God given right to watch Islanders games.

If this person wants to see all of the Islanders games bad enough, they can do so buy purchasing the Center Ice package and the local cable service.

Or, they can buy the Center Ice and miss the games when the Islanders play in Florida.

Or, they can buy the local cable package, and just watch the Islanders when they play in Florida.

Or, don't do any of the above, and keep missing the games.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Kind of a long article but what its touching on is the fact people in New York can order the NHL center ice package but not get rangers or islander games because MSG has the exclusive right to them and black out the broadcast.

The problem in NY is a little different.

Cablevision (which owns MSG) are real douchebags about the network, and are always fighting with the other cable companies. So people who do not have Cablevision do not get MSG Network. Thus, even with Center Ice, these peopel still get blacked out of the local games due to being in the home market, despite not even having the option of paying for MSG Network. That gripe, I can understand.

The guy in Florida who wants to watch the Islanders has the option to see every single Islanders game, he just doesn't want to pay. Well, the NHL is in business, and the product cost money. And it cost more if you live out of market of your favorite team. Its the same for any sport.

[EmpireWF]

The problem in NY is a little different.

Cablevision (which owns MSG) are real douchebags about the network, and are always fighting with the other cable companies. So people who do not have Cablevision do not get MSG Network. Thus, even with Center Ice, these peopel still get blacked out of the local games due to being in the home market, despite not even having the option of paying for MSG Network. That gripe, I can understand.

The guy in Florida who wants to watch the Islanders has the option to see every single Islanders game, he just doesn't want to pay. Well, the NHL is in business, and the product cost money. And it cost more if you live out of market of your favorite team. Its the same for any sport.

That's not entirely accurate. FIOS and Time Warner customers get MSG in NY.

Dish Network people do not get MSG or YES.

[leaffan]

I don't understand what this particular person wants.


They don't want to spend the $179.80 for Center Ice, and they don't wan't to buy the local cable package, which means they can't watch the Islanders when they play in Florida.

Well boo-fucking-hoo. It is not your God given right to watch Islanders games.

If this person wants to see all of the Islanders games bad enough, they can do so buy purchasing the Center Ice package and the local cable service.

Or, they can buy the Center Ice and miss the games when the Islanders play in Florida.

Or, they can buy the local cable package, and just watch the Islanders when they play in Florida.

Or, don't do any of the above, and keep missing the games.

What he wants is to be able to buy a specific package for the Islanders only which in his situation is a problem because he probably doesn't care about any other team other then the islanders.

Another good scenario is with myself.

If I subscribe to NHL center ice and dump my cable there is no legal way of me getting "any" leaf games. Every single game will be blacked out. So I either have to setup a proxy to the states and then have game center think I'm there so I can get leaf games or I can just buy it on standard cable and deal with it. The main problem with this is I like watching all kinds of hockey and the center ice package when I've had it was great but I can't justify spending the 200 bucks a year on something which I'll watch maybe 2 or 3 times a week and also include my normal $70 cable bill for tv alone I'm forced to pay because I have to have all 3 channel leaf games are on. Its fucking brutal and there is nothing I can do about it outside of just pay for it blindly or goto a new frontrowsports.com and watch all the games there.

Whats even worse is there is a 5 channel sportsnet package (West, Central, Southern Ont, Northern Ont, Eastern. Think of them like the fox sports networks where you'll get the 50 to 60 games of local coverage on them but for Canada). I subscribe to that package as its bundled with another one which has LeafsTV in and lets say Calgary is playing the coyotes or sharks or something I can't watch it because they blackout those games because I'm not in their local market. Fuck you cable, satellite and all the other tv channel bs. To remedy this I have to buy Center Ice even though I already pay for those dam channels but I don't live near them. Pure 100% bullshit.

[EmpireWF]

Every sport has the clause where you can't watch games that take place in your home market. MLB is worse b/c there are some spots in the country that for some strange reason have links to several teams.

Congress would have to get involved to fix all of this but they won't. And the Commish's wont change a damn thing since they're already making big money from the TV contracts.

[leaffan]

Every sport has the clause where you can't watch games that take place in your home market. MLB is worse b/c there are some spots in the country that for some strange reason have links to several teams.

Congress would have to get involved to fix all of this but they won't. And the Commish's wont change a damn thing since they're already making big money from the TV contracts.

That happends with the Jays up here. Sportsnet Ontario is the only one that shows all 162 blue jay games. I've never had MLB TV to see if the local blackout is the same as the NHLs though.

[Warner2BruceTD]

That happends with the Jays up here. Sportsnet Ontario is the only one that shows all 162 blue jay games. I've never had MLB TV to see if the local blackout is the same as the NHLs though.

It's the same for MLB, NBA, and NFL. "Local" teams are blacked out on the packages in all cases.

[Ravin]

My dad always gets pissed at this because the Ottawa Senator games are always blacked out on sportsnet Ontario, and we live in fucking Ontario. And on a night where there is nothing on TV, you may want to watch the Ottawa/Tampa game just to watch hockey, but it is also out unless you live in that region.

I think it was killgod who said he bought centreice or something, and they blacked out his sharks games or other games for no reason. I just remember us talking about how we are like 3000 miles from LA/San Jose and those games are not available to watch. To me, if it is something called NHL Centre Ice, it needs to be no blackouts and all NHL. I should be able to watch every single game if I had enough TV's to do so.

[Warner2BruceTD]

What he wants is to be able to buy a specific package for the Islanders only which in his situation is a problem because he probably doesn't care about any other team other then the islanders.

Another good scenario is with myself.

If I subscribe to NHL center ice and dump my cable there is no legal way of me getting "any" leaf games. Every single game will be blacked out. So I either have to setup a proxy to the states and then have game center think I'm there so I can get leaf games or I can just buy it on standard cable and deal with it. The main problem with this is I like watching all kinds of hockey and the center ice package when I've had it was great but I can't justify spending the 200 bucks a year on something which I'll watch maybe 2 or 3 times a week and also include my normal $70 cable bill for tv alone I'm forced to pay because I have to have all 3 channel leaf games are on. Its fucking brutal and there is nothing I can do about it outside of just pay for it blindly or goto a new frontrowsports.com and watch all the games there.

Whats even worse is there is a 5 channel sportsnet package (West, Central, Southern Ont, Northern Ont, Eastern. Think of them like the fox sports networks where you'll get the 50 to 60 games of local coverage on them but for Canada). I subscribe to that package as its bundled with another one which has LeafsTV in and lets say Calgary is playing the coyotes or sharks or something I can't watch it because they blackout those games because I'm not in their local market. Fuck you cable, satellite and all the other tv channel bs. To remedy this I have to buy Center Ice even though I already pay for those dam channels but I don't live near them. Pure 100% bullshit.

I understand why all of this is annoying, but the bottom line is the NHL is a business and they have the right to distribute and charge for the games the way they see fit. I don't see this lawsuit going anywhere.

When I was a kid, the local Mets & Yankees games moved from over-the-air TV to cable in the late 80's, and it was a huge story in NY and everybody bitched and moaned. "How can they move baseball to cable!" Unfortunately, the model is what it is. Nearly (if not all) teams in the three "everyday" sports (MLB, NBA, NHL) are exclusively on cable, so you gotta pay. If you want out of market games, they are going to force you to buy an expensive package.

They are never going to offer team by team "a-la-cart" PPV, because the current model is working. So the Islander fan in Florida, and people like him, are fucked.

The only way to make them listen is to talk with your wallet. The NFL Sunday Ticket is going to be close to $500 this season. Fuck that. It's simply not worth $500 to me to watch 16 Rams games, and flip channels or watch Red Zone the rest of the time. The overall meh NFL product is not worth it, and they have finally priced me out of the market. It used to be cheaper to order Sunday Ticket than go to the bar, but now it's swung the other way. It's significantly cheaper for me to eat some wings & milk a soda for three hours 16 times now.

But that's football. 16 games. I can't imagine going out 162 times to watch baseball or 82 times to watch NBA or whoever many times to watch NHL. So they have us by the balls, and the demand is going to dictate what they do moving forward.

[Warner2BruceTD]

My dad always gets pissed at this because the Ottawa Senator games are always blacked out on sportsnet Ontario, and we live in fucking Ontario. And on a night where there is nothing on TV, you may want to watch the Ottawa/Tampa game just to watch hockey, but it is also out unless you live in that region.

I think it was killgod who said he bought centreice or something, and they blacked out his sharks games or other games for no reason. I just remember us talking about how we are like 3000 miles from LA/San Jose and those games are not available to watch. To me, if it is something called NHL Centre Ice, it needs to be no blackouts and all NHL. I should be able to watch every single game if I had enough TV's to do so.

If those games were on Versus or NBC Sports or whatever they are calling it now, or on national TV in Canada, that may be why they were blacked out.

When MLB or NBA games are on ESPN, they are blacked out on the packages here.

[NAHSTE]

This is a hopeless argument. It's more or less the same as people who want to pay a la carte for their cable.

Broadcast rights are very valuable commodities that tv networks are not quick to surrender. Sure it sucks that they aren't giving it away, but how smart would that be on their part?

You want to watch NHL games? That's cool, but the entities that paid for the exclusive rights to broadcast those games are going to want your money in return.

[EmpireWF]

Not very realistic I guess but if it works out this way, the best route to take is to live in a market whose team you couldn't care less about (who rarely if ever plays your favorite team). Fuck cable, get good internet and go the a la carte route with whatever sports you want or shows you can download/watch online.

[leaffan]

This is a hopeless argument. It's more or less the same as people who want to pay a la carte for their cable.

Broadcast rights are very valuable commodities that tv networks are not quick to surrender. Sure it sucks that they aren't giving it away, but how smart would that be on their part?

You want to watch NHL games? That's cool, but the entities that paid for the exclusive rights to broadcast those games are going to want your money in return.

Which is all well and good. They want to charge an extra fee onto the center ice package for a "region free" option I would gladly pay for it and I'm sure others would probably do the same but having to carry an excess amount of extra charges and fee's every month just because broadcasting companies want to black out games for no other reason then where I live is stupid and something more people need to start bitching about because these companies need to get with the times.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Which is all well and good. They want to charge an extra fee onto the center ice package for a "region free" option I would gladly pay for it and I'm sure others would probably do the same but having to carry an excess amount of extra charges and fee's every month just because broadcasting companies want to black out games for no other reason then where I live is stupid and something more people need to start bitching about because these companies need to get with the times.

There is a "region free" option...ordering Center Ice (or any other sports package) in conjunction with your local cable or sat service that carries the local team you are interested in. You won't miss a single local game in that scenario.

These networks pay big money for these broadcasting rights, so they don't want people circumventing them to watch the games on a package or the internet. They would lose ratings, and thus revenue, if that were to happen. So the leagues protect the TV partners.

Maybe one day one of the leagues will figure out a way to offer a-la-cart while offering a fair split to the networks. Don't hold your breath, though. The networks and cable companies want people to subscribe, and sports is a popular carrot.