Between Netflix, HBO, YouTube, and iTunes rentals I feel my Apple TV solves all my entertainment needs. Sports however, and in particular live sports, is a different matter altogether. I'd love to have easy pay-per-view access, as easy as iTunes rentals, to various sports events (think the Olympics, world cup of X, that sort of thing) and for some select sports a season pass (huge NHL fan here – go Rangers!)
Alas, there's nothing like that. :o(
I have to either get some weird NHL package, which only gets me out-of-market games since those other games are exclusive to whatever local channel may have bought the rights, and since you have different broadcasters to things like the Olympics depending on where you live, and which year it is, you don't know where to go for those either.
Surprisingly, smaller sports franchises that haven't sold off all their media rights typically do this much better. Handball for instance is pretty easy to get a live stream of, because they're so starved for attention that they put it out there just to get people to watch the thing in the first place.
In short, I would love a Netflix for sports that would also do live streams. Viasat in Europe comes close, but their subscriber deals are expensive, they don't have all the rights, and their apps are terrible.
> I'd love to have easy pay-per-view access, as easy as iTunes rentals, to various sports events (think the Olympics, world cup of X, that sort of thing) and for some select sports a season pass (huge NHL fan here – go Rangers!)
There's no legal way to get live access to sporting events, since those are held by TV channels that have a vested interest in you buying back into a bundle (especially for the Rangers -- their ownership structure includes the TV channel that airs their games).
However, you can get delayed games. The out-of-market package puts up replays 48h after the game broadcast finishes, and various online shops have a curated selection of games each year[0].
Basically, the whole situation is a toxic mess that's built on a crumbling foundation. Teams are owned by cable operators that retain the exclusive live broadcasts for their sports networks (or sell the rights at a premium to national channels), and have no incentive to step outside the bundle. It's a bubble, through-and-through.
> Basically, the whole situation is a toxic mess that's built on a crumbling foundation.
Yes, exactly. I'd love there to be an iTunes/Netflix for sports, but understand why there isn't.
I've gotten by with some shady tricks, like buying access to NHL on the playstation because they don't geoblock access like they do on NHL.com or on the iOS apps, and only use whatever country a user listed as their origin. I've still paid for the access, and I'm happy to pay for it, but it's literally a situation of me not being able to access these things the way you probably should, simply for reasons. I always try to find a way to pay for access, and usually Viasat will have what I'm looking for. When all else fails I go for some shady live stream from Russia or something. It's certainly not ideal.
(I stopped having a proper TV with a tuner about a decade ago, so just getting a cable package isn't an option.)
Alas, there's nothing like that. :o(
I have to either get some weird NHL package, which only gets me out-of-market games since those other games are exclusive to whatever local channel may have bought the rights, and since you have different broadcasters to things like the Olympics depending on where you live, and which year it is, you don't know where to go for those either.
Surprisingly, smaller sports franchises that haven't sold off all their media rights typically do this much better. Handball for instance is pretty easy to get a live stream of, because they're so starved for attention that they put it out there just to get people to watch the thing in the first place.
In short, I would love a Netflix for sports that would also do live streams. Viasat in Europe comes close, but their subscriber deals are expensive, they don't have all the rights, and their apps are terrible.