(08-25-2018 05:23 PM)SENOREIDA Wrote:  

(08-25-2018 10:51 AM)solohawks Wrote:  If you sign up for an annual $40 ESPN Insider subscription by the end of the month, not only will you get ESPN plus access for football season, you will get ESPN the magazine and be grandfathered in at the $40 price

Has this been verified? (aka has anyone tried this with success?)

Just a little hesitant, and then be stuck with $100 total, when it is all said and done.

I already had a year subscription to ESPN plus so I did not do the insider annual subscription for that very reason. I did do the monthly subscription of $5 so that when they merge them next week my account will show as being grandfathered in to the ESPN magazine subscription that comes with ESPN insider right now.

Their Twitter and news articles confirmed that insider subs will keep the magazine so I figured a one time additional payment of $5 would be worth it.

(08-25-2018 05:24 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(08-25-2018 05:15 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  

(08-25-2018 03:41 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  If its billed every 30 days from the time you sign up, its only $15-20 to have ESPN Plus for most or all of the football season. Unless the AAC signs some sort of deal this fall pushing a bunch of content to ESPN+, I'll probably drop it after November.

I think the industry is starting to settle on some price points.

-Sports are working out to being about a $30 dollar add on to a cable or IPTV package.

-IPTV packages with live TV + sports are settling into the $40-$45 dollar price point. Without live TV + sports its in the package its a $12 dollar on-demand type service. Limited live TV a $20 dollar service.

Its set up where the subscriber can pay $30 dollars extra a month for the college football season to subscribe and then conveniently drop it once the football season is done.

These IPTV's have integrated with premium channel add on's but they've done nothing in the way of offering ESPN+ as an add on. Consumers aren't interested in picking up a bunch of stand alone subscriptions. They want to be able to subscribe/unsubscribe from one platform.

Thus its going to be easy for most consumers to just forget about ESPN+ then to adopt when they have to pay $30 already for the major sports channels.

I think both linear and streaming will thrive. The big change is the big giant all inclusive cable bundle as we currently know it is going to be a much much smaller part of the subscriber TV universe. Al a Carte-and-skinny-bundles is where we are eventually headed---like it or not.

The mega bundles are all but extinct actually.

Cable companies are already grouping genres into bundles that someone can add and delete. That includes movies channel which you can add and delete from cable like you can with a good IPTV package.

What cable still has on IPTV is they have bundling. For instance I pay 90 dollars right now for an internet/cable bundle with HBO/Showtime included. Without cable and with the slowest speed offering its 74 dollars. The TV basically isn't costing me anything.

The real threat to cable isn't the IPTV but its the mobile broadband companies who are rolling out 5G networks with speeds that are comparable to DSL. For 70 dollars you can have unlimited hotspot and on a phone and run home internet service from it. Then from there add an IPTV package on top of it.

Instead of this:
-80 dollar 4G cell plan.
-120 dollar cable/internet combo.
$200 total

It becomes this:
-70 dollar 5G cell plan w/unlimited hotspot.
-40 dollar IPTV package.
$110 total

The cable providers actually don't mind legal IPTV because they can set their prices above that with superior delivery in most cases from a set top box.

The Insider deal is a good one but I'm already to the good giving up MLS Direct Kick.

I was happy they added Serie A until I actually watched. The announcers sounds like they are calling a golf match.

(08-27-2018 11:10 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  The Insider deal is a good one but I'm already to the good giving up MLS Direct Kick.

I was happy they added Serie A until I actually watched. The announcers sounds like they are calling a golf match.

I signed up this weekend to catch the Rice game. Production wise---it looks just like ESPN-3 to me. I signed up because I like having access to all the G5 football games. However, once football is over, unless there is some major change in the content---I'll probably drop ESPN+ after football season. Im not as big a geek when it comes to college basketball. Im fine with whatever games I can get on cable for college basketball season. So, it will only cost me $15-20 bucks a year.

So what if you're one of those fools that subscribed to both? I picked up ESPN Insider with a mag subscription a few years ago for super cheap and kept forgetting to stop it. I picked up ESPN+ since they monopolized on all non-baseball summer sports (MLS, CFL, etc.), and knew it would come in handy for college games. But now they're combining it for a low cost and here I am paying for both.

This is what the $39.99 or $49.99 subscription gives you.. A List of ESPN+ live events:

* One MLB game every day during baseball season.
* One NHL game every day during hockey season.
* A “selection of exclusive main event” boxing fights, and more undercard fights.
* Every out-of-market MLS game (subject to blackouts) and local-market Chicago Fire games.
* College sports from these conferences: “America East, ASun, Big South, Big West, Horizon, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Missouri Valley, NEC, Southern Conference, Southland, Summit League, Sun Belt, WAC.”
* PGA Tour coverage including Thursday, Friday, and “some” Saturday and Sunday play.
* Grand Slam tennis coverage that’s billed as a “complement” for tennis fans.
* Rugby and cricket coverage.

So for the out-of-market MLS junkie, ESPN+ looks like a godsend. That may also be true for the college sports fans who cheer on a team outside of a Power Five conference also. But it’s hard to see who else this service appeals to. That list of ESPN+ live content reads like a group of castoffs: programming not valuable enough to appear on one of ESPN’s eight cable networks. No mention of the NFL or NBA at all....

I am thinking most (Cable Cutters) will just subscribe to Hulu, or Live Youtube (If they have not yet.. for about the same price as ESPN+) and use the watch ESPN App for most sports coverage from ESPN’s eight cable networks...

(08-27-2018 02:16 PM)GTFletch Wrote:  This is what the $39.99 or $49.99 subscription gives you.. A List of ESPN+ live events:

* One MLB game every day during baseball season.
* One NHL game every day during hockey season.
* A “selection of exclusive main event” boxing fights, and more undercard fights.
* Every out-of-market MLS game (subject to blackouts) and local-market Chicago Fire games.
* College sports from these conferences: “America East, ASun, Big South, Big West, Horizon, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Missouri Valley, NEC, Southern Conference, Southland, Summit League, Sun Belt, WAC.”
* PGA Tour coverage including Thursday, Friday, and “some” Saturday and Sunday play.
* Grand Slam tennis coverage that’s billed as a “complement” for tennis fans.
* Rugby and cricket coverage.

So for the out-of-market MLS junkie, ESPN+ looks like a godsend. That may also be true for the college sports fans who cheer on a team outside of a Power Five conference also. But it’s hard to see who else this service appeals to. That list of ESPN+ live content reads like a group of castoffs: programming not valuable enough to appear on one of ESPN’s eight cable networks. No mention of the NFL or NBA at all....

I am thinking most (Cable Cutters) will just subscribe to Hulu, or Live Youtube (If they have not yet.. for about the same price as ESPN+) and use the watch ESPN App for most sports coverage from ESPN’s eight cable networks...

They've also added at USL soccer and Serie A soccer. It's pretty much a must have for the soccer fan now. As I've said before those of us who subscribed MLS Direct Kick are saving $10 a year (more if you subscribe annually or during season only).

Given the demographics of the average US soccer fan tends to overlap with the cordcutter demographics, it's not a bad long-term strategy.

My ISP did not give access to ESPN3, will I be able to watch ESPN3 content if I subscribe to ESPN+?

(08-29-2018 12:23 PM)chidave Wrote:  My ISP did not give access to ESPN3, will I be able to watch ESPN3 content if I subscribe to ESPN+?

Still have to have TV provider authorization to watch ESPN "linear" channels or ESPN3 via any kind of streaming, whether it's over a computer, through the ESPN app, Roku, Apple TV, etc.

(08-29-2018 12:37 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 12:23 PM)chidave Wrote:  My ISP did not give access to ESPN3, will I be able to watch ESPN3 content if I subscribe to ESPN+?

Still have to have TV provider authorization to watch ESPN "linear" channels or ESPN3 via any kind of streaming, whether it's over a computer, through the ESPN app, Roku, Apple TV, etc.

I have Sling, but I can't watch ESPN through their App with that (I can watch it via the Sling App). I have a feeling I won't be able to watch ESPN3, but guess I can try the free trial.

(08-29-2018 12:53 PM)chidave Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 12:37 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 12:23 PM)chidave Wrote:  My ISP did not give access to ESPN3, will I be able to watch ESPN3 content if I subscribe to ESPN+?

Still have to have TV provider authorization to watch ESPN "linear" channels or ESPN3 via any kind of streaming, whether it's over a computer, through the ESPN app, Roku, Apple TV, etc.

I have Sling, but I can't watch ESPN through their App with that (I can watch it via the Sling App). I have a feeling I won't be able to watch ESPN3, but guess I can try the free trial.

ESPN says that you should be able to use your Sling login to access ESPN channels on the ESPN mobile app on your phone. Sling is listed as one of the providers you can use to authenticate.

(08-26-2018 01:20 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  

(08-25-2018 05:24 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(08-25-2018 05:15 PM)Kittonhead Wrote:  

(08-25-2018 03:41 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  If its billed every 30 days from the time you sign up, its only $15-20 to have ESPN Plus for most or all of the football season. Unless the AAC signs some sort of deal this fall pushing a bunch of content to ESPN+, I'll probably drop it after November.

I think the industry is starting to settle on some price points.

-Sports are working out to being about a $30 dollar add on to a cable or IPTV package.

-IPTV packages with live TV + sports are settling into the $40-$45 dollar price point. Without live TV + sports its in the package its a $12 dollar on-demand type service. Limited live TV a $20 dollar service.

Its set up where the subscriber can pay $30 dollars extra a month for the college football season to subscribe and then conveniently drop it once the football season is done.

These IPTV's have integrated with premium channel add on's but they've done nothing in the way of offering ESPN+ as an add on. Consumers aren't interested in picking up a bunch of stand alone subscriptions. They want to be able to subscribe/unsubscribe from one platform.

Thus its going to be easy for most consumers to just forget about ESPN+ then to adopt when they have to pay $30 already for the major sports channels.

I think both linear and streaming will thrive. The big change is the big giant all inclusive cable bundle as we currently know it is going to be a much much smaller part of the subscriber TV universe. Al a Carte-and-skinny-bundles is where we are eventually headed---like it or not.

The mega bundles are all but extinct actually.

Cable companies are already grouping genres into bundles that someone can add and delete. That includes movies channel which you can add and delete from cable like you can with a good IPTV package.

What cable still has on IPTV is they have bundling. For instance I pay 90 dollars right now for an internet/cable bundle with HBO/Showtime included. Without cable and with the slowest speed offering its 74 dollars. The TV basically isn't costing me anything.

The real threat to cable isn't the IPTV but its the mobile broadband companies who are rolling out 5G networks with speeds that are comparable to DSL. For 70 dollars you can have unlimited hotspot and on a phone and run home internet service from it. Then from there add an IPTV package on top of it.

Instead of this:
-80 dollar 4G cell plan.
-120 dollar cable/internet combo.
$200 total

It becomes this:
-70 dollar 5G cell plan w/unlimited hotspot.
-40 dollar IPTV package.
$110 total

The cable providers actually don't mind legal IPTV because they can set their prices above that with superior delivery in most cases from a set top box.

DSL speeds aren't going to do it in the face of cable and fiber-optic, some of which offer gigabit service. Plus 5G is going to take a while to roll out and there's going to be issues in the early going with both service and devices, like it was with 4G. 5G promises to be an exponential improvement for cellular users but unless you're in a big city and are willing to pay for it, it's going to be a while before it's a viable primary source of data for a multiple-device home.

(08-29-2018 01:18 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 12:53 PM)chidave Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 12:37 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 12:23 PM)chidave Wrote:  My ISP did not give access to ESPN3, will I be able to watch ESPN3 content if I subscribe to ESPN+?

Still have to have TV provider authorization to watch ESPN "linear" channels or ESPN3 via any kind of streaming, whether it's over a computer, through the ESPN app, Roku, Apple TV, etc.

I have Sling, but I can't watch ESPN through their App with that (I can watch it via the Sling App). I have a feeling I won't be able to watch ESPN3, but guess I can try the free trial.

ESPN says that you should be able to use your Sling login to access ESPN channels on the ESPN mobile app on your phone. Sling is listed as one of the providers you can use to authenticate.

Thanks for that, last night I actually found an ESPN3 channel in the Sling app but it was choppy (ESPN+ was working great through the ESPN app). I'll give that a whirl. I'm using a Roku and it shows Sling as my provider in the ESPN app but doesn't give me access to channels in my subscription. I may just need to log-in manually, and will contact ESPN too if won't work since it should.

Thanks again.

The ESPN Plus links from google all seem to go to a 30 day free trial and then auto billing at 4.99 a month. What I wanted was the year subscription. Asked support@espnplus yesterday and got an auto reply at 2:29 PM EST. Just crickets since then.

Does anyone know how to get to the yearly subscription offer as even esnpplus support has yet to respond.

(08-30-2018 09:51 AM)Steve1981 Wrote:  The ESPN Plus links from google all seem to go to a 30 day free trial and then auto billing at 4.99 a month. What I wanted was the year subscription. Asked support@espnplus yesterday and got an auto reply at 2:29 PM EST. Just crickets since then.

Does anyone know how to get to the yearly subscription offer as even esnpplus support has yet to respond.

I did it from the signup screen of the app in Roku.

arkfan, only slowly stepping away from cable and no Ruku. Still have cable and internet but extras like Showtime are through AmazonPrime and started Hulu because of a lot of the series Castle Rock was filmed in the next town, which I play pool and lots of the town shots have the bar in the pictures. In fact walked into pool one day and the door was open but the cast was staging there. Did talk to JJ Abrams while he was there on another day saying this bar has a lot of character.

Back to point, do not have Ruku and have a Vizio Smart TV.

Will call during lunch with my case # and let you all know what they have to say.
1-800-727-1800.

(08-30-2018 09:51 AM)Steve1981 Wrote:  The ESPN Plus links from google all seem to go to a 30 day free trial and then auto billing at 4.99 a month. What I wanted was the year subscription. Asked support@espnplus yesterday and got an auto reply at 2:29 PM EST. Just crickets since then.

Does anyone know how to get to the yearly subscription offer as even esnpplus support has yet to respond.

You can sign up for a one year subscription without taking the free trial.

Was overly cautious. Click on the start free trial and when got to credit card or paypal info had the option to click the radio button for yearly subscript.
Agree to terms and click start subscription and will be billed on Sept 29th.

I've noticed that the availability and turn around of ESPN+ content onto YouTube or torrent platforms is quite high. Higher than a traditional broadcast game in my observation. I think there's a lot of people like me who are paying ESPN already through their ISP (WatchESPN aint free), and paying ESPN already AGAIN through a TV subscription (YouTubeTV for me), and then they just flatly refuse to be TRIPLE DIPPED by Fuhrer Mickey.

Make ESPN+ have EVERYTHING .... *****EVERYTHING***** in the ESPN catalog and back catalog and we can start talking. Bonus points if there is a discount if you're a TV subscriber.

(08-30-2018 12:35 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  I've noticed that the availability and turn around of ESPN+ content onto YouTube or torrent platforms is quite high. Higher than a traditional broadcast game in my observation. I think there's a lot of people like me who are paying ESPN already through their ISP (WatchESPN aint free), and paying ESPN already AGAIN through a TV subscription (YouTubeTV for me), and then they just flatly refuse to be TRIPLE DIPPED by Fuhrer Mickey.

Make ESPN+ have EVERYTHING .... *****EVERYTHING***** in the ESPN catalog and back catalog and we can start talking. Bonus points if there is a discount if you're a TV subscriber.

I love the Disney corporation, but like you I pay for the full suite of ESPN channels via my ISP and Cable bill (save for Deportes, I don't get that), and absolutely WILL NOT pay yet another $5 for this ESPN + stuff.

As you say, at the VERY least, those of us who are already paying for the regular channels should get a decent discount, $2 at least, off the price of Plus.