How American Sports Leagues Sold Out and Shattered Sports Culture

[Westheim]

Those Roku games aren't new (like two seasons now?) and they always start at 11-something local time.

Alas, balkanization!

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Alas, balkanization!

I balk at Balkanization! ()

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

I balk at Balkanization! ()

I do not back Balkanization. I do not bank on Balkanization. I do not bask in Balkanization. I don't even bark at Balkanization. I simply balk at Balkanization!! ()

[Antonin]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

What the what in the what??? Streamers take your money and then want MORE for "marquee matchups"??? Screw that!

Never paid one centavo for any streaming. Probably never will. Feeling pretty good about that, right now.

We don't subscribe to any streaming services. When all of our Cleveland teams go to streaming only, we will just stop watching. And we rarely go to any games, because it's just too darned expensive. We didn't attend any Cavs games this past season, and probably won't see the Guardians either.

I used to be a big fan of MLS and the Columbus Crew. But when MLS switched to streaming via Amazon Prime, I figured they no longer wanted fans like me. So I watch NWSL on Ion. In my opinion, it's a better kind of soccer, anyway. And when the WNBA comes to Cleveland, we will go to the games because we simply can't afford the Cavs.

Watching sports on TV should be simple. I refuse to jump through hoops. But I have to give credit to the entertainment industry for being able to convince millions of people that they should jump through hoops and pay more.

On one forum I stated that "watching sports on TV should be simple." Some guy replied that it is simple, you just buy this little thingy if you don't have a smart TV, then download this app, then set it up, then create an account, then blah blah blah.

Me, I just want to turn on the TV, press a button and watch.

[Antonin]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

I balk at Balkanization! ()

For most of my career I worked for a company that gathered and processed business information. We read about every industry you can think of, and wrote about what we'd read.

In the early days of the cable industry we were excited, because all the corporate big shots and analysts said the proliferation of channels and the gathering of those channels under certain distributors would make entertainment cheaper and easier to access. One company, hundreds of available channels! Cable came first to Cleveland's suburbs, then to Cleveland. I used to visit a friend's house in a western suburb in order to watch MTV. And he would tape movies for me off HBO.

We have gone from "one company, hundreds of channels" to "let's slice off a few channels here and there and charge you separately for them." Earlier this year I sat down one morning and researched Roku. Getting Roku and subscribing to all the packages we would need in order to have the same programs we watch now would actually cost us more than our overpriced cable service.

Not for me.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Antonin

For most of my career I worked for a company that gathered and processed business information. We read about every industry you can think of, and wrote about what we'd read.

In the early days of the cable industry we were excited, because all the corporate big shots and analysts said the proliferation of channels and the gathering of those channels under certain distributors would make entertainment cheaper and easier to access. One company, hundreds of available channels! Cable came first to Cleveland's suburbs, then to Cleveland. I used to visit a friend's house in a western suburb in order to watch MTV. And he would tape movies for me off HBO.

We have gone from "one company, hundreds of channels" to "let's slice off a few channels here and there and charge you separately for them." Earlier this year I sat down one morning and researched Roku. Getting Roku and subscribing to all the packages we would need in order to have the same programs we watch now would actually cost us more than our overpriced cable service.

Not for me.

The trick is to impart this wisdom on younger folks, which are the targets of this Balkanization strategy. It's not a matter of elders being stuck in the mud or pensioners unwilling to part with a dime. It really is wisdom versus naiveté. Teach them to recognize the manipulation and do the math.

[Antonin]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

The trick is to impart this wisdom on younger folks, which are the targets of this Balkanization strategy. It's not a matter of elders being stuck in the mud or pensioners unwilling to part with a dime. It really is wisdom versus naiveté. Teach them to recognize the manipulation and do the math.

Impossible. You can't teach people who won't listen. On other message boards where I've compared the growing complexity of watching sports on TV to the simplicity of turning on the TV and picking a channel, people have actually insisted to me that I'm an old guy stuck in my ways and that following steps A, B, C, D and E does not amount to added complexity.

To me, having to do more than I do now to watch sports equals added complexity. That seems pretty obvious.

It's funny to me to see so many people complaining on various message boards that "I subscribe to so-and-so app and this other app but I still can't see the game! What should I do???"

On one forum, when I said how dumb it would be for me to pay extra for Apple TV or Amazon TV or whatever it is just to watch MLS, which used to be shown on regular cable, some guy actually told me anybody could afford it, even if all they did was sell a pint of blood a month.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Antonin

Impossible. You can't teach people who won't listen. On other message boards where I've compared the growing complexity of watching sports on TV to the simplicity of turning on the TV and picking a channel, people have actually insisted to me that I'm an old guy stuck in my ways and that following steps A, B, C, D and E does not amount to added complexity.

To me, having to do more than I do now to watch sports equals added complexity. That seems pretty obvious.

It's funny to me to see so many people complaining on various message boards that "I subscribe to so-and-so app and this other app but I still can't see the game! What should I do???"

On one forum, when I said how dumb it would be for me to pay extra for Apple TV or Amazon TV or whatever it is just to watch MLS, which used to be shown on regular cable, some guy actually told me anybody could afford it, even if all they did was sell a pint of blood a month.

Meh. I like to think that at least some of what I say gets through to a few people and thus makes it worth the while. Besides, when I said "young folks", I did not necessarily or exclusively mean young adults. Teach your children well.

[Cobra Mgr]

W/prices going the way they are, sooner or later people are going to have to make decisions. Food or football? Health insurance or baseball? Rent or soccer? Live sports continues to have a smaller & smaller place in my life. I find my wi-fi gives me way more entertainment options than network TV ever did.

[Antonin]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

...Teach your children well.

We don't have any. Every time we turn on the TV, we are glad we don't.