OT: Why NBA League Pass is so shady?

[naabzor]

Hello guys, I'm an Italian basketball fan and I want to see the up & coming NBA season. The only legal service online seems to be NBA League Pass. So I went on the official site and I saw that it is expensive: 26,99€ a month for the premium one and 20,99€ dor the standard one. I don't care about the little stuff that they give you for 6 euros a month (the historic vault is cool, but whatever) so I was heading toward the standard one.

But I want to know more details of the service and i can't find it. For example, what are the resolution available? The videos are 30 fps or 60 fps? What's the Bitrate? I heard it's "adaptive", but I remember that you can choose between some fixed presets but I can't find anything on the site that tells you all these technical stuff.

Can you please help me? And what do you think of NBA LP in general? It is a good service?

Thanks guys.

[Calvin Klein]

Yes, INTERNATIONAL League Pass is pretty good. I've had it for the last 5 seasons. The only complaint I have is that it's becoming pretty expensive.

[Slava]

LP is usually reliable but its not very professionally run, which is a shame for an organization like the NBA. They are not shady or mean any harm, its just that the service is severely underdeveloped. I used to get the full LP broadband previously but opted for a single team pass last season for $99. It was well worth it for me. This time I'm out of the country so I need to assess if the ILP is cheaper r if its better to get the US LP and use a VPN or something.

[ken6199]

Sometimes you just have to work with what you have. I think without bbalstream you are not left with too many choices aside from crappy online streams.

My home is stuck with Comcast because of their superior internet speed in my area, but lucky for me I don't watch a lot of games other than Rockets games. Weekly TNT/ESPN/ABC national games are enough for my limited spare time... Occasionally when I go eat out with friends from other fan bases I would like to turn on my mobile device and play some other games that's when I wish I had the league pass. Other than that, I am set with my service provider - just need to endure Clyde Drexler's constant nonsense.

[-Sammy-]

Sometimes you just have to work with what you have. I think without bbalstream you are not left with too many choices aside from crappy online streams.

My home is stuck with Comcast because of their superior internet speed in my area, but lucky for me I don't watch a lot of games other than Rockets games. Weekly TNT/ESPN/ABC national games are enough for my limited spare time... Occasionally when I go eat out with friends from other fan bases I would like to turn on my mobile device and play some other games that's when I wish I had the league pass. Other than that, I am set with my service provider - just need to endure Clyde Drexler's constant nonsense.

Drexler, Sean Elliot, and Austin Carr need to have their own weekly analysis show on NBA TV... maybe bring Mike Smith on for guest spots from time to time.

[naabzor]

What is ILP? Oly thing I saw is NBA leaguepass, maybe I just saw one thing because I'm in europe but it said NBA LEAGUE PASS.

[breatnach]

What is ILP? Oly thing I saw is NBA leaguepass, maybe I just saw one thing because I'm in europe but it said NBA LEAGUE PASS.

The I stands for International. You can only order it with a foreign IP and billing address. You will also not be able to use it if you travel to the US on vacation.

[Devilzsidewalk]

Main thing holding me back from springing for league pass (besides not being too keen on the price) is the blackout restrictions. They really need to figure that out. They obviously know it's a problem since they all but give you a direct link to a VPN on their FAQ:

What Happens If I Change My Location?
If your location changes, your blackout restrictions for live, locally televised games may also change. Blackouts are specific to your current location.

How Does the NBA Determine My Location?
Your location is determined by your zip code (if watching via a satellite television provider), a combination of zip code and cable system distribution territory (if watching via a cable television provider), or by the IP address associated with your internet connection or your mobile device's GPS coordinates (if watching via your computer, phone, tablet or connected device). If you feel we have made a mistake, please contact customer support.

[Movics]

There is an alternative for streaming games online in high quality. Check out *redacted*

Don't post links to illegal websites in this thread. Its against RealGM TOS.

-Slava

[Sabas11]

LP is usually reliable but its not very professionally run, which is a shame for an organization like the NBA

Compared to watching the official Euroleague streaming service, ILP is TV orgasm for me. I like it quite a lot except for the steep cost. I don't know what the differences are between LP and ILP though.

Can you please help me? And what do you think of NBA LP in general? It is a good service?

Sorry I am not computer-savvy enough to answer the technical questions, but ILP has worked like a charm for me for the last 6 years. I have noticed a few dropoffs in stream quality for some games (and that's only the Sunday games for some reason) but it's the only thing I can think of and it's not very common.

The only thing is I would not recommend buying the complete package, unless you REALLY have a lot of free time. There are just too many NBA games, it gets frustrating after a while in my opinion. I think the packages where you can pick which team(s) you want to watch work best - as someone said earlier already.

[Slava]

LP is usually reliable but its not very professionally run, which is a shame for an organization like the NBA

Compared to watching the official Euroleague streaming service, ILP is TV orgasm for me. I like it quite a lot except for the steep cost. I don't know what the differences are between LP and ILP though.

MLB's league pass and ofcourse NFL red zone are a different tier compared to the NBA. Which is why I don't think its well run and underserved. With basketball being the fastest growing sport in the world, the ILP is a cash cow if the NBA puts more effort into it.

They could even sell the internet streaming rights to a third party like youtube, facebook or twitter and still rake in cash doing nothing.

[Sabas11]

LP is usually reliable but its not very professionally run, which is a shame for an organization like the NBA

Compared to watching the official Euroleague streaming service, ILP is TV orgasm for me. I like it quite a lot except for the steep cost. I don't know what the differences are between LP and ILP though.

MLB's league pass and ofcourse NFL red zone are a different tier compared to the NBA. Which is why I don't think its well run and underserved. With basketball being the fastest growing sport in the world, the ILP is a cash cow if the NBA puts more effort into it.

They could even sell the internet streaming rights to a third party like youtube, facebook or twitter and still rake in cash doing nothing.

Fair enough, I trust you on that as I am not familiar with the MLB or NFL at all, so my only point of comparison is the Euroleague. I find their streaming service atrocious, and this is coming from someone who has low pretty low demands. Maybe that's why I am very happy with ILP and perhaps sound like a shill lol

[TinmanZBoy]

Sometimes you just have to work with what you have. I think without bbalstream you are not left with too many choices aside from crappy online streams.

My home is stuck with Comcast because of their superior internet speed in my area, but lucky for me I don't watch a lot of games other than Rockets games. Weekly TNT/ESPN/ABC national games are enough for my limited spare time... Occasionally when I go eat out with friends from other fan bases I would like to turn on my mobile device and play some other games that's when I wish I had the league pass. Other than that, I am set with my service provider - just need to endure Clyde Drexler's constant nonsense.

i found using an iPad NBALP is enjoyable, it is more flexible, if you don't like Clyde's commentating, you can switch to the opposing team's broadcasting, i enjoyed Celtics (Scal)'s work and some other teams like Trailblazers, Jazz etc...

[ManyaWarrior]

Im from South America and im very tired of **** websites with bad sound and poor quality. I think that 20US$ a month is a bit too expensive but im going to pay it anyway , i heard some good comments about it

[Darko Miliminutes]

This will be my 3rd year not getting league pass. I'm an xfinity/comcast subscriber. I had gotten league pass every year since it's inception, minus the very first year. They can raise prices every year, if they want to, and i'd still keep paying!

Every game is recorded in HD. But they only give one HD channel per night to show a game in HD. Comcast has 100's of unused channels and all games are filmed in HD. I've complained for a few years now, and it's done now good. I wish somebody else would come with some proper broadband, so i can finally tell comcast to piss off, for good.

[meekrab]

LP is crap because it directly competes with the likes of ESPN and ABC who pay the NBA a ton of money for rights to broadcast games. If LP subscription rates soar then the tv rights will be worth less. And two, all the other streaming services are technically illegal.

[boren]

I had a love-hate relationship with ILP for most of the 6 years I'm subscribed to it, but ever since they (silently) added keyboard shortcuts support last year, it's been all good. I highly recommend it.

[HotRocks34]

I think if ILP has no blackouts (including for games that are nationally broadcast in the USA), then I would definitely get it. Even though it is costly and it should be better than what it is.

If I could get the ILP version of LP here in the USA, then I would have few problems with it. I just hate the local and national blackouts.

[ken6199]

I think if ILP has no blackouts (including for games that are nationally broadcast in the USA), then I would definitely get it. Even though it is costly and it should be better than what it is.

If I could get the ILP version of LP here in the USA, then I would have few problems with it. I just hate the local and national blackouts.

I absolutely hate blackouts - I understand what they are trying to achieve, but they seem to have no regards to people who don't watch TV at all. How about still giving me the local stream but with some add-on charge which gets partially distributed to the local providers?

Like myself, the only reason I have cable at home is because of Houston Rockets. I have no time watching anything else. I would have been comfortably on league pass even if it costs dear, but what good it is if I either lose all Rockets games (except national ones) due to blackout or forced to go cable?

i found using an iPad NBALP is enjoyable, it is more flexible, if you don't like Clyde's commentating, you can switch to the opposing team's broadcasting, i enjoyed Celtics (Scal)'s work and some other teams like Trailblazers, Jazz etc...

Fo sho. I love Bull, don't mind Worrell, but Clyde is just on a different level even if as a die hard fan I can manage all his crazy homerism. Clyde has the complete package! All time time I wish there is a selective mute function on my TV based on a selected pitch. Yes, always enjoyed listening to the Portland and Utah crews.

[teerfour+40LG]

None of you League Pass users have answered OP's questions yet.