How are we going to watch Suns Basketball This year?

[Puff]

I think this deserves it's own thread at least until we can come up with some answers.

I live in Arizona and have always watched Suns Basketball via Fox Sports Arizona.

Last year just prior to the Suns 2019 / 2020 season I reupped with Dish Network without checking whether or not I could watch Fox Sports Arizona via Dish. Well Dish got into a fight over the price with Sinclair Group, who owns/opperates Fox Sports Arizona, wanted to charge them. It was too much for Dish to pay so they dumped them.

I was still able to watch all the Suns basketball games 2019/2020 and in the bubble via Fox Sports Arizona by subscribing to YouTube TV which carried this until Octobler, now YOuTube TV has dumped the Sinclair Group.

I started today by checking out the upcoming Suns Basketball games and found out that You Tube TV and all the other streaming services, that used to show all the games on Fox Sports Arizona dumped the Sinclair Group. They "ALL" are unwilling to pay the price the Sinclair group wants for Fox Sports Arizona.

Sinclair's 2 services that apparently are going to have Fox Sports Arizona are:

1. AT&T/ Direct Tv - Reportedly AT&T is trying to sell Direct TV and that could happen in early 2021. That is just around the corner.
2. Cox Communications - Their pricing is outrageous and am not sure they still have an agreement with the Sinclair Group.

This is undoubtedly is the most excited I have been in Phoenix Suns Basketball games in over a decade. I know we have national games and I may be able to get some away games via NBA Team Pass but I want to watch every game. Hell we probably will not be able to go to any games.

Are there any solutions or streaming services that will be showing these games.

I know a lot of you folks are much smarter than I and would appreciate your input/Links to Streaming services that you are aware of so that we can watch Suns Basketball- in Phoenix.

Sorry for the length of this post but it is damn frustrating

I hope Sinclair Group loses their ass. Who are they going to sell their advertising to? Nobody is going to be watching. I hope all companies pull their ads from these idiots.

Frustrated Suns Fans - Help - Please

[bigfoot]

I'm certainly bummed as I have been watching on Hulu Live. I'll be reverting to free sites that stream the games. Sucks because my Mac is older and I dislike running cables from Mac to TV. I'll just end up watching on my small mac screen. My guess is something will be worked out partway through the season.

[bwgood77]

There was discussion on this and a couple of streaming options listed in the offseason thread. Maybe we can post on the first post of game threads.

[cberry78]

Nice try, FCC.

[jcsunsfan]

I am not going to watch I guess. I am not buying cable or satellite just for the Suns. I have no other use for it.

Too bad nba league pass is geoblocked. It is hard to believe that the NBA has so little control over how it’s fans view the league. How does revenue come in when a vast percentage of fans are cut off from watching it?

[SlovenianDragon]

Ill probably try to go to a game if they let some fans in.

Watch on YouTube

speaking of watching at home... Streams are the way to go...free and better than what the NBA puts out.

You should be able to get everything the NBA puts out for like 5.99 a month. LOTS of people would pay for this and they would make more money.

Then with the money they make they could invest in off-season content for people to be subscribed year round.

OR IDK CHARGE PEOPLE 199 DOLLARS... lul

[Puff]

There was discussion on this and a couple of streaming options listed in the offseason thread. Maybe we can post on the first post of game threads.

Thanks that is what I am looking for.

If you can find them give me general directions as to which thread they were posted in and I will take the time to look them up and post them here as well as the new game threads.

Thanks

[sasquatchBob]

Either watch live streams for relatively early games (I'm European) or watch free replays the next day on one of these sites:
https://nbahdreplay.com/
https://nbafullhd.com/

[sunsbg]

Either watch live streams for relatively early games (I'm European) or watch free replays the next day on one of these sites:
https://nbahdreplay.com/
https://nbafullhd.com/

Those sites are good, but older games are not accessible. There is a torrent site which uploads most games before I wake up. I put interesting games on usb drive and watch on tv when I'm bored during the offseason.

[MathiasPW]

League Pass can be MUCH cheaper if you live in another country.

Or if your internet connection does...

[MathiasPW]

Also, I think some sporting bet sites stream the games if you have any credit in their system. You don't need to bet, just make an initial deposit of small amount

[bwgood77]

There was discussion on this and a couple of streaming options listed in the offseason thread. Maybe we can post on the first post of game threads.

Thanks that is what I am looking for.

If you can find them give me general directions as to which thread they were posted in and I will take the time to look them up and post them here as well as the new game threads.

Thanks

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2016450&start=4180#p86946528

[bigfoot]

League Pass can be MUCH cheaper if you live in another country.

Or if your internet connection does...

Apparently, the NBA is cracking down on VPN usage for the league pass. Some recent (3-day old) Reddit posts indicate as much.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I bet this is a very interesting topic at the nba league office. They can't be happy that a huge chunk of their viewers won't be able to get the RSNs that cover local games. The NBA audience is younger and the types that cord cut.

Have to wonder if they consider another distribution channel in the future but it's hard for the league to pass up the millions of guaranteed money they get from the RSNs and without exclusive access the RSNs aren't paying that so it's a pickle for the league.

What the league is probably hoping for is someone like Amazon or Google to jump in and try to land these local TV deals.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

[cberry78]

I bet this is a very interesting topic at the nba league office. They can't be happy that a huge chunk of their viewers won't be able to get the RSNs that cover local games. The NBA audience is younger and the types that cord cut.

Have to wonder if they consider another distribution channel in the future but it's hard for the league to pass up the millions of guaranteed money they get from the RSNs and without exclusive access the RSNs aren't paying that so it's a pickle for the league.

What the league is probably hoping for is someone like Amazon or Google to jump in and try to land these local TV deals.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

In reality, cord-cutters make up a relatively small market share (that is growing, yes) and I'm sure it's an even smaller share of the sports market because of exactly this issue. I really don't think the League cares all that much over this minimal lost revenue - especially when they can go after the illegal streamers and make up some of it.

Although, this past year and the coming are going to be extremely impactful on team and league revenue with empty 20,000 seat arenas across the country.

[bwgood77]

I bet this is a very interesting topic at the nba league office. They can't be happy that a huge chunk of their viewers won't be able to get the RSNs that cover local games. The NBA audience is younger and the types that cord cut.

Have to wonder if they consider another distribution channel in the future but it's hard for the league to pass up the millions of guaranteed money they get from the RSNs and without exclusive access the RSNs aren't paying that so it's a pickle for the league.

What the league is probably hoping for is someone like Amazon or Google to jump in and try to land these local TV deals.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

Amazon Prime should. They already have NFL games. They have one tonight. I wonder if it would be difficult to localize it.

Amazon probably wouldn't care about that but if Amazon showed all the game to everyone, no one would buy league pass.

The more I think about it, the more I doubt Google or Amazon would want to get into local market stuff. They are too big to mess with that.

Fox is just stupid to not sell a la carte their localized channels. They would probably sell a ton of them if they just had an app for each one.

[bwgood77]

I bet this is a very interesting topic at the nba league office. They can't be happy that a huge chunk of their viewers won't be able to get the RSNs that cover local games. The NBA audience is younger and the types that cord cut.

Have to wonder if they consider another distribution channel in the future but it's hard for the league to pass up the millions of guaranteed money they get from the RSNs and without exclusive access the RSNs aren't paying that so it's a pickle for the league.

What the league is probably hoping for is someone like Amazon or Google to jump in and try to land these local TV deals.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

In reality, cord-cutters make up a relatively small market share (that is growing, yes) and I'm sure it's an even smaller share of the sports market because of exactly this issue. I really don't think the League cares all that much over this minimal lost revenue - especially when they can go after the illegal streamers and make up some of it.

Although, this past year and the coming are going to be extremely impactful on team and league revenue with empty 20,000 seat arenas across the country.

You really think cord cutters make up a relatively small share?

Edit: Founds some stats

[cberry78]

I bet this is a very interesting topic at the nba league office. They can't be happy that a huge chunk of their viewers won't be able to get the RSNs that cover local games. The NBA audience is younger and the types that cord cut.

Have to wonder if they consider another distribution channel in the future but it's hard for the league to pass up the millions of guaranteed money they get from the RSNs and without exclusive access the RSNs aren't paying that so it's a pickle for the league.

What the league is probably hoping for is someone like Amazon or Google to jump in and try to land these local TV deals.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

In reality, cord-cutters make up a relatively small market share (that is growing, yes) and I'm sure it's an even smaller share of the sports market because of exactly this issue. I really don't think the League cares all that much over this minimal lost revenue - especially when they can go after the illegal streamers and make up some of it.

Although, this past year and the coming are going to be extremely impactful on team and league revenue with empty 20,000 seat arenas across the country.

You really think cord cutters make up a relatively small share?

Edit: Founds some stats

I'm surprised the numbers are that high, but I still stand by my point that sports fans are not the majority there for the exact reason we're talking about here.

But, I guess those numbers of fans that are actually affected by this sort of thing aren't in the majority anyway since most NFL game in on network TV and same with MLB and driving-fast-and-turning-left is also on network TV.

[Fo-Real]

I'm one of the idiots who have not cut the cord. Hell, my wife still has us with cable, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu!! Just paying for **** because the kids and her parents like having access to diffrent shows.

[bwgood77]

In reality, cord-cutters make up a relatively small market share (that is growing, yes) and I'm sure it's an even smaller share of the sports market because of exactly this issue. I really don't think the League cares all that much over this minimal lost revenue - especially when they can go after the illegal streamers and make up some of it.

Although, this past year and the coming are going to be extremely impactful on team and league revenue with empty 20,000 seat arenas across the country.

You really think cord cutters make up a relatively small share?

Edit: Founds some stats

I'm surprised the numbers are that high, but I still stand by my point that sports fans are not the majority there for the exact reason we're talking about here.

But, I guess those numbers of fans that are actually affected by this sort of thing aren't in the majority anyway since most NFL game in on network TV and same with MLB and driving-fast-and-turning-left is also on network TV.

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if sports fans have made up a very large portion of pay tv solely due to live sports...everything else on cable is terrible unless it's premium channels which you can now buy apps for.

And much of those who subscribe for sports are probably subscribers for their local sports coverage like NBA games.