Direct TV Sports Package

[rowech]

Can someone tell me if I'm wasting my money with this package? It seems as soon as any game comes on TV, it immediately gets blacked out. NHL right now but I'm sure NBA and MLB will be the same. Is this always the case? What in the hell is the point of this package if everything is always blacked out?

[LloydLungs]

Can someone tell me if I'm wasting my money with this package? It seems as soon as any game comes on TV, it immediately gets blacked out. NHL right now but I'm sure NBA and MLB will be the same. Is this always the case? What in the hell is the point of this package if everything is always blacked out?

I'd say if you're more interested in pro sports, you'd be better off just buying the corresponding sports packages (MLB Extra Innings, NBA League Pass, etc) rather than the regional sports channels. The regional channels are really good for college sports, though -- although some of those are blacked out as well, they have a LOT of games independent of the college sports packages (ESPN Gameplan, ESPN Full Court). Great for fans of mid-majors.

[cartman]

Yeah, for the pro sports the Individual packages are the way to go. The reason they get blacked out everywhere except the home market is because of those packages.

[rowech]

Man...that's just dumb. Now I have to decide between sports packages and Fox Soccer Channel. I'm starting to wonder if I made a terrible mistake switching from Time Warner.

[rowech]

This keeps getting better.......in order to get the sports packages, do I need a land based phone line?

[MrBug708]

I like the Sports package. I get all of the local teams (due to the contracts they have) as well as all of the regional fox channels

[rowech]

I like the Sports package. I get all of the local teams (due to the contracts they have) as well as all of the regional fox channels

How do you get to watch anything though? Everything gets blacked out.

[RendeR]

No you do not need a phone line, they say you do left and right but the only requirement for having a phone line is ordering pay per view with your remote control.

if they persist in telling you you do tel them to wake up and understand that you're not an idiot and that you've researched the issue.


As for the sports package vs the pro sports specialty packages, I'm in agreement with you. If I'm paying them money to get the regional sports channels then what right do they have to black them out anf force me at wallet -point to pay them MORE money to see the games I should be seeing on the FOX reginal channels.

I will say that I took the sports package for a single channel also (MSG) so we could watch every Sabres game live. So at this point, the sports package is great for college sports and a few random individual sports channels.

[MrBug708]

How do you get to watch anything though? Everything gets blacked out.

Define everything though? I've never seen UCLA, Lakers, Dodgers blacked out

[rowech]

Define everything though? I've never seen UCLA, Lakers, Dodgers blacked out

Any pro game (except preseason NBA) has been blacked out when I go to watch it. EVERY pro event. You've probably never seen those teams blacked out because you live there. Just like I don't see Columbus Blue Jackets or I wouldn't see the Reds blacked out.

[MrBug708]

Any pro game (except preseason NBA) has been blacked out when I go to watch it. EVERY pro event. You've probably never seen those teams blacked out because you live there. Just like I don't see Columbus Blue Jackets or I wouldn't see the Reds blacked out.

Maybe my local teams just have much better packages?

[cougarfreak]

I have the sports pack for the soccer, the college baseball, and HS football. Most, if not all pro events are blacked out of it. You have to buy the season passes for that stuff.

[Logan]

As for the sports package vs the pro sports specialty packages, I'm in agreement with you. If I'm paying them money to get the regional sports channels then what right do they have to black them out anf force me at wallet -point to pay them MORE money to see the games I should be seeing on the FOX reginal channels.

I don't have the packages, nor do I have any idea about the details...this is just a guess, so please correct me if I'm wrong.

The regional sports packages are probably cheaper than the league-specific ones, right? If you were to buy whatever you needed to, it would cost less than it would be if you bought the NHL, NBA, and MLB packages. So why should you be able to see all those games without paying as much for them?

[markprior22]

I went through this with DISH Network (before quickly switching back to cable). If you buy the sports package, you get all the Fox Sports Networks, etc but all pro sports covered by those networks are blacked out (except for your local FSN). For example, here in the Midwest, I was able to watch FSN Midwest for Cardinal games, but all other baseball on FSN channels was blacked out. That's why they have the "pay packages" like MLB extra innings, NBA League Pass, etc. DISH really misled me about this and actually told me just the opposite...that all local games would be subject to blackout but out of market games would be available. They either don't know what they are talking about or are trained to say anything to get a sale...probably the latter.