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only apple tv hang-up... live sports!

coachaaron

coachaaron

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 14, 2008
12
0
Atlanta
i'll admit right upfront, i don't know everything about the new apple tv. undoubtedly, the product will get many more features as competitors crop up over the next few months. still, the major feature i'm looking for is the ability to stream or even purchase a live or very near-live sporting event.

i absolutely despise the cable industry. i'm tired of paying $85 a month to dvr the 6 or 7 shows me and my wife watch. so the apple tv, is a thing of beauty for us! still, really the only reason i could ever miss cable is live sports, and i know i'm not the only one that thinks that.

so, as far as i understand apple tv will offer movie and tv rentals along with netflix streaming, and itunes streaming of music and podcasts. is that all? what about app support?

i really have no doubt that the live sports issue will be addressed in the coming months, if not by apple, then by some one in this new-ish type industry. so my question is, how do you all think apple (or whoever) will make live sports available on these devices? will this be through a future subscription app(s)? or will this be seperate one-off purchases of each game/sporting event?

i really only follow a few teams, and i know that the MLB, NFL, and NCAA would likely never offer direct, specific team only purchases as this market stands today, just because of the bigger-picture money scale they are likely to pull in. but i do feel like this type of live sports, even live team specific coverage, is coming and will likely be demanded as cable companies begin to be overtaken by all these set top streaming boxes in the next few years.

imagine the ability to choose and only pay for YOUR teams games. i'm pretty excited about where this tech will take the TV industry, it's going to save people money, and i feel like the first company to correctly figure out the streaming live sports issue will end up on top.
 
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emaja

macrumors 68000
May 3, 2005
1,706
11
Chicago, IL
A lack of sports is the only reason that I cannot ditch cable. I torrent or buy TV shows and rent or purchase movies, but there is no way to get sports without cable.

Yes, I know I can get most of it over the air, but in Chicago the Blackhawks and Cubs (my teams) are mostly on cable. To make is worse, Comcast makes me get a more expensive package just to get Comcast Sports Net and WGN.

Unfortunately, I do not see any of the leagues doing anything direct to the consumer - and certainly not for less than getting it on cable.
 
ipedro

ipedro

macrumors 603
Nov 30, 2004
6,228
8,483
Toronto, ON
I've been cable free for over 3 years. I guess I'm lucky to not be interested in watching sports in my living room. I'd much rather go to a live game or watch them in a pub.

I do hope that sports leagues will see the light and let people buy pay per views of games online. This will open the possibility of streaming live games from an iPad to AppleTV.

The cable industry has its days numbered and they know it.
 
coachaaron

coachaaron

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 14, 2008
12
0
Atlanta
the MLB has a nice model that i've already pretty much decided to purchase next season, because by then i'll have cut cable. MLB TV is $40 a year, and you can see/stream any baseball game you want on the net. that's nota bad price for the entire season, and you can get that on your iphone or ipad. i'd love to see something like that work on apple tv, do you guys think it would?
 
bruinsrme

bruinsrme

macrumors 604
Oct 26, 2008
7,174
3,036
Fear not the cable companies,being a major player in delivering hi speed access, will make up for it in other ways such as increasing your monthly subscription for Internet. Or worse pay per usage.
 
drsmitty

drsmitty

macrumors newbie
Jun 8, 2008
5
0
It would be nice if ESPN3 (formerly ESPN 360) had an app to stream their content on an AppleTV-like device since it shows a lot of live sports directly to your web browser. Live sports is one of the only reasons I still have DirecTv.
 
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Doc750

macrumors 6502a
Aug 11, 2010
803
4
I have a feeling with in 6 months, you'll hear an announcement to bring sports to appletv. it might even be the cable companies make their own app to stream it to you.
Initially it will be offered as an addition to your current cable tv subscription, but later on you'll be able to pick it up separately.

cable tv as we know it, is dead.
 
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emegmac

macrumors regular
May 19, 2007
107
0
The problem lies not with apple but the leauges. I get MLB and NHL thru yearly subscriptions. Then apps like boxee or plex has plug ins to stream them. Apple offers nothing but they may get an mlb app like on the iphone where they will charge you 15 bucks just for the app. Nfl and nba have nothing. These leagues are very very greedy. Look at how much you have to pay thru direct tv to watch every nfl game. They are making billions now on the deals they have set up and will not change for a long time. The league signs contracts with companies or networks to stay exclusive.
I use plex and love it. I pay a hundred bucks a year for mlb and a hundred for nhl and watch them thru plex. The problem with thses if you live in the viewing area of your favorite team you dont get to watch that team without setting up a proxy. For ncaa football and the nfl i go to friends or sports bars and i have an antenna to get your local channels that will get you a few games each week. Also plex has an espn3 plug in to get it.
If you are a sports fan you dont have a lot of options and wont for some time to come with the deals they have with cable companies. Cable companies know they are loosing customers and will do everything they can to keep sports locked down.
If you really are thinking of ditching cable look at the boxee box or the plex and lg blueray players coming out next year. Apple tv will not be getting anything.
 
bigpatky

bigpatky

macrumors regular
Sep 7, 2007
246
33
you can't depend on a league's streaming app to watch all of your team's games.

if you live in your favorite team's tv market, that game is blacked out from streaming. you need cable to watch it.

if you don't live in your favorite team's tv market it's better but not perfect. just hope you don't live in the market of another team in the division because that's 20 games a year that will be blocked from streaming.

this would be the same for the NHL and NBA streaming options.

even w/ all games streaming, you need cable. it's frustrating as a fan.
 
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