Any sports fans successfully given up cable?

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[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 13, 2005
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With the indroduction of Hulu and the growing Netflix online library I feel it is now possible to give up cable and go with the OTA channels and get any other show content from other sources.

The only thing holding me back is the fact that I am a huge sports fan. Though ESPN has grown and continues to improve its ESPN3 site I would still be missing alot of sports.

NBA - puts alot of games on TNT (Playoffs especially) plus I would need a way to stream Fox Sports Net for my local team.
MLB - I can get via their package online but it would block out my local team which is on Fox Sports Net
NFL is good...CBS, FOX, and NBC OTA and MNF is on ESPN3
College Football would be plenty of games, all of the big games would be on CBS, ABC, or ESPN3 BUT....my school is a Big XII school and most of there games would be on Fox Sports Net if they were picked up.

This is what is holding me back from ditching high priced cable and saving $80 a month maybe more.

I have looked into different streaming sites and found channel surfing.net but am not sure of the quality or realiability.

Anyone have any suggestions, or am I just screwed because I am a sports fan?
 
I'm about to cancel television completely.


Right now with cox cable, i pay about 110 bucks a month... FOR

ESPNHD
ESPN2HD
FSCHD....

3 f'n channels. That's like 35 bucks PER month, PER channel i could give a shit about. I don't think i'm signing up again until somebody makes a bold step, and lets the CONSUMERS choose what channels they want, instead of bundling them together in a price fixing mess.

Luckly i have http://foxsoccer.tv that will take the place of FSC, and espn3 that takes the place of espn. All the other college football games i care to watch will probably be OTA anyway.
 
Right now with cox cable, i pay about 110 bucks a month... FOR

ESPNHD
ESPN2HD
FSCHD....

3 f'n channels. That's like 35 bucks PER month, PER channel i could give a shit about. I don't think i'm signing up again until somebody makes a bold step, and lets the CONSUMERS choose what channels they want, instead of bundling them together in a price fixing mess.
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This is exactly why I am investigating getting rid of the cable. I watch the other channels too, but most if not all of that content I can get delivered over the internet. HULU plus Netflix seem to be a good start. ESPN will broadcast any game they air over the net. My major concern is Fox Sports Net as that is where my college team will be broadcast most of the time.

I think cable is an absolute ripoff...pay 110 dollars a month for content they could stream to me over the internet, Oh and each additional room you want is an extra $5-$7 a month for the "box". Bullcrap.
 
I pay $15 a month for limited basic cable. Get the OTA channels in HD which is good enough for me. All I miss in MNF.
 
OP

channelsurfing.net is reliable, but the quality of the picture is almost always piss poor.

NFL - OTA HD, except MNF (which is so bad these days I almost don't miss it)
MLB - this season I got in on a deal where the mlb.tv hd package was $20. It was an extremely hot deal that lasted about an hour a half. That being said, the service is really nice for me because I live in Chicago and root for the Twins.
Soccer - I only watch the big stuff (WC and EURO) and that's on espn3 now
NBA - boring as hell, don't care

I look at it like this. Almost every game I want to watch is either OTA or streamed online. If not, I go to a bar and watch it. I enjoy going to the bar and just watching the game by myself, however, and I know that isn't everyone's favorite. With the money you save in cable bills though, a couple beers is more than paid for.
 
I paid around $200 a month for DirecTV with DVR, tons of channels, sports packages, etc.

That was in addition to my Verizon Phone/FiOS charges (FiOS TV is not available in my area).

I have an antennae on the roof, but I haven't set it up yet. I haven't even needed to with hulu and espn3, and all the other services out there. I may end up breaking down and getting a capture card and setting up OTA but really, I enjoy tv minus commercials or the limited ones that hulu give.

Sounds like a general use right? Well, like I said I am a sports fanatic, but specifically football (soccer) and hockey. The club I support, Arsenal FC, has an online streaming service that I subscribe to for $12 a month. cbc.ca, bbc and sky sports also have streaming services similar to espn. With all of this available I don't miss TV at all and catch all the games I am interested in LIVE.

Hulu Pro should be coming out soon and I plan on buying that, for $10 a month it is a good bargain if everything works as planned.
 
How do you watch Sky in the USA?


I watch Serie A and some EPL every now and then, if http://foxsports.tv shows all the programming on FSC i think i should be fine.

College football is what will be tricky, although in my experience, http://espn3.com does a terrible job with their blackouts.
 
ESPN3 Also...

ESPN3 delivers thousands of live games and events like College Football and Basketball, NBA, MLB, UEFA Champions League Soccer, The Masters and US Open Golf, all 4 Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and more. Plus you get a fully interactive experience with real time in-game stats and scoreboards and live chat.
 
ESPN3 right now has 3 MLB baseball games coming up in the next 3 days. I'm not much of a baseball fan but I'd need more NFL programming to give up cable in favor of ESPN3.

Any more information?
 
I'm in the same boat as you guys. It's the Football (football) that is the deal killer for me. I love all college football games. I don't care what team is playing, if it's a close game, it has my attention. On Saturdays when all the espn channels, the couple fox sports channels, and then the big 4 are all playing College football, I'm in heaven. It sucks to have to pay so much for the few channels we watch. Wish the cable companies would just have a sports package.
 
Rob Black said:
I wish the NFL would offer a season pass online.
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they do, unfortunately it is tied up with their directTV "sunday ticket" deal. My parents get the TV package and I pay them the add-on to get the online package. We can all watch the packers from our respective out of state locations.
 
no good options. we have to spend 1000s of dollars to see sports. NBA is pretty bad cause a lot of the games are on TNT and ESPN now and therefore blackout on league pass broadband.

Being an NFL fan is really the best. Lots of OTA and very few games per season.


You can always go out to watch games. Go to a friends house or a bar.


Luckily there are few shows I like to watch on cable so I don't feel too bad for spending all this money and sports in HD are sexy.
 
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I used to watch the cowboys games(in So-Cal) online thanks to p2p4u.net, but since they've changed their site, alot of stuff doesnt work like it used to...
 
Maybe i 'm getting that old.. but i remember when you paid for cable channels, you got cable channels(ie no commercials)

If the cable channels are making revenues off commercials, why the hell are we paying for them?
 
My wife and I were recently looking into this and MLB was the stopping point for us. We can get everything else except for Rockies games because the Rockies are on FSN Rocky Mountain.
 
svet-am said:
My wife and I were recently looking into this and MLB was the stopping point for us. We can get everything else except for Rockies games because the Rockies are on FSN Rocky Mountain.
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You can get MLB online in virtually HD quality. Not that expensive either - only about $130 a year if I remember.
 
Verge said:
Maybe i 'm getting that old.. but i remember when you paid for cable channels, you got cable channels(ie no commercials)

If the cable channels are making revenues off commercials, why the hell are we paying for them?
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Your paying the cable company to bring those channels to your house. It costs money to do that.

Some networks do charge the cable company to re-broadcast them though which increases the cost even more to you.
 
Not when you live in Denver and all Rockies games are blocked out for us online.
 
not sure why all the MLB fans are so upset about not getting games, you can watch the grass grow for free in your own backyards.

invite some Golf friends over and have a party!
 
Great conversation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was thinking this same thing that if I could just stream live TV I would not need Cable.

I want an NFL package it's sad they do not offer it in the United States, otherwise I would totally pay for it.
 
i'm a big sports fan, and I don't get cable.. i either watch the games i want at bars, or at a friends house. mainly college football..
 
i am so happy i got rid of cable tv! having to pay for channels i dont even watch sucked. I also had that scare when I left cable, where will i watch my sports!!!! now reading through this thread i discovered so many new options. i was only using esp3. Since switching over to an htpc im trying to convince the whole world cable tv is a rip off!!! the few games I cant access via internet, i take out the family or just my wife and watch in a restaurant/bar/family or friends house. I love it

gonna bookmark this thread for sure! thanks guys for all the great options left on here.
 
I'm sure the legality of this would be sketchy at best, but someone needs to set up an internet streaming service for sports in HD. I would pay almost anything for that.
 
What about Free 2 Air? It would require some initial investment for sure and certainly some upkeep. I've no first hand experience with it, but I always hear good things about it from a guy that knows a guy, if you don't mind the upkeep.
 
Most FTA that i know of is code name for "i'm stealing dish network."


There are fta channels, but most of them are niche and rather crappy IMO.
 
You do realize that for like regular channels... basic cable but without the box in your home... all you have to do is get cable internet from that provider.. and just run a splitter... one into the back of your tv for tv.. one into the cable modem for your internet... it works for me..and im not doing anything illegal with the splitter since it was installed in my home by the cable company... i only pay $45 a month for internet...

I just got sick of paying ridiculous amounts of money.. so i canceled my cable... about 4 months later.. football season was about to start.. and i was jonesing... so on a whim i plugged the cable into my tv and it worked... you arent breaking any laws.. its a known issue due to the cable internet.. the box only allows you get pay channels... but you get basic cable... like channels 2-70 roughly...unfortunately no soccer channel..but you get espn...espn 2...
 
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