Rant: NBA League Pass

[jim]

This is basically the same as MLB Extra Innings or NHL Center Ice and I could have the same exact rant about those. The video quality is HORRIBLE. Forget that they don't have HD where I live - which pretty much makes it a show stopper - but the feed must go through 100 different places each taking some quality away. It's way worse than normal regular definition TV.

It's 2012. People generally watch sports in HD. Putting out a product that is even worse than SD - not going to work.

Are these packages like this everywhere else - no HD and really crappy SD? If so I don't know how they sell this product.

[MrCrowesGarden]

This is basically the same as MLB Extra Innings or NHL Center Ice and I could have the same exact rant about those. The video quality is HORRIBLE. Forget that they don't have HD where I live - which pretty much makes it a show stopper - but the feed must go through 100 different places each taking some quality away. It's way worse than normal regular definition TV.

It's 2012. People generally watch sports in HD. Putting out a product that is even worse than SD - not going to work.

Are these packages like this everywhere else - no HD and really crappy SD? If so I don't know how they sell this product.

It's HD if you use DirecTV. My parents have it.

I can only have cable in my apartment, so I have a semi-crappy SD feed. But, it looks better than MLB or NHL.

[jim]

I may not have the name right but you know what I'm talking about .. and where I live the picture is every bit as bad as it is for baseball. There is a free trial of the equivalent of mlb.tv, the broadband streaming service, and that is nice. I like the interface much better than mlb. The only thing I don't like is the price - it's almost $200. Since the team I root for is local, and also since I can get a good mix of marquis games on Wed/Fri nights plus when the Sunday games start, I can't justify it. Well, let's say I'm trying to justify it and I haven't done it yet. To get the entire thing it's almost $200 ... to get 5 teams it's $119 for the year.

[MrCrowesGarden]

I may not have the name right but you know what I'm talking about .. and where I live the picture is every bit as bad as it is for baseball. There is a free trial of the equivalent of mlb.tv, the broadband streaming service, and that is nice. I like the interface much better than mlb. The only thing I don't like is the price - it's almost $200. Since the team I root for is local, and also since I can get a good mix of marquis games on Wed/Fri nights plus when the Sunday games start, I can't justify it. Well, let's say I'm trying to justify it and I haven't done it yet. To get the entire thing it's almost $200 ... to get 5 teams it's $119 for the year.

League Pass is the right name. I've had all three before at some point. And, maybe the quality is the same for SD, but it definitely doesn't look it. In my experience, League Pass>Extra Innings> Center Ice in terms of video quality. It really should be the other way around, since the puck is black and the ice is white. But, so far, League Pass has definitely looked the best, even though I can only get SD games through cable.

I can't speak for any of the online versions since I have not bought them before (and probably won't.)

[cardsfansince82]

I read an article recently (pretty sure it was on Grantland) about the NBA's online service being really bad.

[thrill]

I read an article recently (pretty sure it was on Grantland) about the NBA's online service being really bad.

Deadspin had one. It's all true, too. I still buy the online package because it's cheap.

[jim]

I read an article recently (pretty sure it was on Grantland) about the NBA's online service being really bad.

Deadspin had one. It's all true, too. I still buy the online package because it's cheap.

Cheap? It's like $200/year. That's almost double of what mlb.tv is.

[thrill]

I read an article recently (pretty sure it was on Grantland) about the NBA's online service being really bad.

Deadspin had one. It's all true, too. I still buy the online package because it's cheap.

Cheap? It's like $200/year. That's almost double of what mlb.tv is.

The league pass broadband I bought is $119. It's still a rip off, but I'm out of market for the Bulls, so...

[jim]

I read an article recently (pretty sure it was on Grantland) about the NBA's online service being really bad.

Deadspin had one. It's all true, too. I still buy the online package because it's cheap.

Cheap? It's like $200/year. That's almost double of what mlb.tv is.

The league pass broadband I bought is $119. It's still a rip off, but I'm out of market for the Bulls, so...

Yeah but you only get to choose 5 teams. For mlb.tv, it's $119 and you get all teams, plus way more games. Given that I'm in market, the only reason I'd consider it is if I got all teams. I mean I could pick 5 - Lakers/Heat/Thunder etc... but guess what? Those guys are on TNT or ESPN all of the time. I watched Portland/Phoenix (archived) last night on the free pass, and those are the types of games I would want it for - teams I generally dont' get to see on TNT or ESPN.

As far as the overall product, it's worse than mlb.tv? Because I actually liked the interface and had no problems with the feed.

[thrill]

I read an article recently (pretty sure it was on Grantland) about the NBA's online service being really bad.

Deadspin had one. It's all true, too. I still buy the online package because it's cheap.

Cheap? It's like $200/year. That's almost double of what mlb.tv is.

The league pass broadband I bought is $119. It's still a rip off, but I'm out of market for the Bulls, so...

Yeah but you only get to choose 5 teams. For mlb.tv, it's $119 and you get all teams, plus way more games. Given that I'm in market, the only reason I'd consider it is if I got all teams. I mean I could pick 5 - Lakers/Heat/Thunder etc... but guess what? Those guys are on TNT or ESPN all of the time. I watched Portland/Phoenix (archived) last night on the free pass, and those are the types of games I would want it for - teams I generally dont' get to see on TNT or ESPN.

As far as the overall product, it's worse than mlb.tv? Because I actually liked the interface and had no problems with the feed.

Yeah there's no DVR functionality and no archived games. You have to watch it live or not at all.