Absolutely this. It speaks a lot that it's easier for a millionaire to pirate the game than to get it legally. Make it easy and cheap and people will use it.

[–] antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 52 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It’s simply a service problem. NFL offers great streaming for those abroad because they don’t have exclusive deals with networks. If you want to watch NFL you need numerous subscriptions, and hope you don’t live in the wrong area.

[–] shaserlark@sh.itjust.works 50 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Based NFL player is based. Idc how much money you make, piracy is a lifestyle

[–] AVincentInSpace@pawb.social 20 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

WHEN YOU CAN'T AFFORD STREAMING ON AN NFL PLAYER SALARY, PRICES ARE TOO DAMN HIGH

[–] fibojoly@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 weeks ago

It's a service problem, though. Not a money problem. This is a perfect example of that very fact.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

His team owner gonna punish him for this

[–] realcaseyrollins@thelemmy.club 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The NFL should fine him the $40 it would have cost him to sign up for Sling TV Blue. Or the $20 the introductory first month should have cost him.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

His owner gonna extract value in another way.

These guys are deff elite rich but they are not owner class.

And there is one thing a daddy hates the most, a bitch who is causing him problems and not making him money.

Strapping young jock is doing both here, daddy mad, daddy punish

[–] skulbuny@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

These guys are literally the bottom of the totem poll (none of them are managers etc), there's a reason theres a players union

They're rich, but they ain't likely upper class

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 1 points 3 weeks ago

Still higher up the food chain vis-a-vis modal fedi poster

[–] BonerMan@ani.social 4 points 3 weeks ago

Based

[+] Pyflixia@kbin.melroy.org 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (6 children)

[deleted]

[–] Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 37 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah but blackouts are bullshit. Exclusive rights to games are bullshit. Everything that's been done in the name of profit above all else is bullshit. Everyone deserves to sail.

[–] realcaseyrollins@thelemmy.club 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Was he pirating because of blackouts though? That part isn't clear.

[–] Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 weeks ago

The concept alone is enough justification for me so i guess to each his own.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 25 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's more than likely a problem of service, not price. Even if you have all the money in the world, bad service is bad and people's time and patience aren't infinite.

[+] Pyflixia@kbin.melroy.org -2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

[deleted]

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Someone like him raking in the money, money can guarantee better service than average joe's pull.

Huh? How does that even work? He's rich, but they're not making a custom app or server for him. He still has to deal with the same buggy nonsense as tour average Joe.

[–] skulbuny@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Can we not shift this from the very important issue of how stupid this streaming situation is into the much less important, albeit still valid, "one rich athlete spends slightly less than his fair share in this one instance"—no one is defending this guy because he's rich, only because it's the irony of the situation

The more people who pirate, the better. It doesn't matter who as long as everyone is getting away with it equally

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 23 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The last time I tried to use the official stream for a hockey game, I couldn't get it to load. Not in the app, nor the browser, neither from my cable provider nor the network itself. I gave up and went back to the pirate stream, which played in one click. (It does freeze sometimes and the quality isn't quite as good, but at least it plays!)

[–] sOlitude24k@lemmy.myserv.one 6 points 3 weeks ago

I feel that. Getting the official steam working, plus dealing with blackouts is a nightmare. I usually just listen to the game on the radio and check the box score every period on my phone. It's unbelievable how much the official stream costs compared to the low quality of the app. And still being subject to blackouts at that price is insane.

Not to mention that my team is basically a factory of sadness anyways, so once regular season is over there's not much for me to keep up with.

[–] LunchMoneyThief@links.hackliberty.org 16 points 3 weeks ago

Maybe he just doesn't want to run DRM in his browser.

Maybe he wanted use a a least-friction streaming option.

Maybe he doesn't want the NFL to correlate and data broker his viewing activity.

Maybe he has some ethical qualm with the NFL or their streaming infrastructure choice.

Maybe "It's Free, it's for Me" was meant as in liberty and not price.

[–] Cube6392@beehaw.org 11 points 3 weeks ago

he knows the nfl is stealing the value he creates. he doesn't need to pay them

[–] Biskii@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 weeks ago

I'm so conflicted

[+] realcaseyrollins@thelemmy.club -13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Usually I get pirates' points, but I mean...this game was on freaking FOX. The dude's a millionaire and can afford the most expensive streaming package in the world, and even if he couldn't, Sling TV Blue is only $40/mo and has FOX on it.

With all the popup ads, piracy for live television is actually MORE cumbersome and inconvenient than just paying for live television. If you're out of market or the game is on a channel that's obscure or only on something that charges like $70/mo, I'd understand this a bit more.

[–] klisurovi4@midwest.social 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Sling TV Blue is only $40/mo and has FOX on it.

If this guy is anything like me or a fuckton of other young people, he just doesn't watch TV. Paying 40 bucks just so he can watch a single game is ridiculous and exactly the point most commenters are trying to make. As long as there's no easy and cost-effective way to access certain content, people will pirate it, even if they can afford to pay.

I'm not a millionaire by any means, but I'm pretty well off. I can afford to pay for the shit I watch too, but I refuse to support an industry that makes me jump through hoops, juggle multiple services, get package deals and so on, just so I can watch a TV show. Provide a service that is at least on par with the experience pirates get and I'll gladly pay for it. Valve managed it, why can't the movie/TV industry?

[+] realcaseyrollins@thelemmy.club -9 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I've never heard of a piracy website that's more convenient than live streaming services.

[–] klisurovi4@midwest.social 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Pretty much all of them. You go on one, search for what you want and either download it or just stream it, depending on the site.

Meanwhile with streaming services first you gotta figure out which one has the thing you want to watch. Then you hope it's actually available in your country. If it is you can then watch it, but not in high resolution, that's for the higher subscription tier, not the one you have. Oh wait, actually, you can't watch it, cause your mom is currently using your account on her own pc, and you can't stream on two devices at the same time. Are you starting to see my point?

I admit I am exaggerating slightly, but not by much imo. Streaming services have so many restrictions and random hoops you have to jump through that piracy is just the better option. And it's a hell of a lot cheaper on top of that.

[–] realcaseyrollins@thelemmy.club -1 points 3 weeks ago

The ones I'm most familiar with are stream2watch.me and also the LiveNetTV app for Android. Both were worse experiences than using legitimate streaming services. stream2watch.me had TONS of pop-up ads that were absolute hell to wade through. LiveNetTV is pretty good as far as piracy apps go, but there are pre-roll ads whenever you pick a channel which is kind of annoying.

Meanwhile with streaming services first you gotta figure out which one has the thing you want to watch. Then you hope it’s actually available in your country.

That's not that hard to figure out though unless you're trying to watch like Australian rugby in the Bronx or something. Most people aren't going to run into that problem unless American sports blackouts come into play.

If it is you can then watch it, but not in high resolution, that’s for the higher subscription tier, not the one you have.

What service keeps you from watching live channels in SD using a tiered system lol

Oh wait, actually, you can’t watch it, cause your mom is currently using your account on her own pc, and you can’t stream on two devices at the same time.

This doesn't apply 1:1 to most live streaming services but you do have a point here (Sling Orange only allows 1 simultaneous streams), especially if you have either a large family like the one I'm in, or you're trying to watch a bunch of live games at the same time.