What is the sports pack good for???

[dukehoops]

I subscribed to the sports pack when I began DTV more than two years ago. I think my main reason (aside for being a sports fan in general) was that the golf channel was only available via the sports pack. Now it is included in the total choice plus pkg.

Is there any point to the sports pack?? It seems like all the regional channels play the same games, and if they don't then they are usually blacked out. I am realizing that I was tossing $12/month for more than two years.

[PDPnNJ]

The only channel that hold some value there, is NBA TV.

[tony touch]

I like the access to regional sports networks because of sports news shows. I moved from Boston to Atlanta for grad school in August, and having New England Sports Network let me keep up on the recent success of the Red Sox and Patriots.

[sabre]

I subscribed when baseball season started and found out every game was blacked out. So to me the only benefit of the sports package was the ability to watch the best damm sports show 24 hours straight. Seeing that I dont like that show I quickly canceled.

[JFriday]

Absolutley nothing!!

[Mr. Soze]

Just of the top of my head..

Fox Sports World (613) for superb soccer coverage.
I think OLN as well, which had the Tour de France.

But apart from that, you don't get a lot of the games without a special subscription package.

[Dirk Legume]

Got a friend who just signed up for DirecTV and he figured out the same thing a week into his ownership. The main reason he signed up for the sports pack was to watch out of market games from where he used to live and found out that most of the regional Fox channels were blacked out to him. He called and and asked them what the point of the package was and they gave him 10 dollars off the package for 6 months. He figures that 12.99 is way too much to pay, but it's worth 3 dollars. Maybe something similar would work for you. He also pointed out that the language on the website says you will get ALL the sports action of 20 regional sports networks and there is no "subject to blackout disclaimer that he could find. That was part of his argument and he says the CSR caved pretty quickly.

Dirk

[freddyf]

Originally posted by Mr. Soze
Just of the top of my head..

Fox Sports World (613) for superb soccer coverage.
I think OLN as well, which had the Tour de France.

But apart from that, you don't get a lot of the games without a special subscription package.

OLN is in the "plus" package as well. The other outdoor network is in the sports package.

But I agree, FSW is the only thing worth paying for in the sports package. And it's only worth paying for if you're a fan of international soccer.

[JimSpence]

Once the Golf Channel was moved to TV Plus, I dropped the sports pack. I get enough sports from the other channels.

[TAsunder]

The regional fox sports are nice if you have a certain team you like. NBA TV too. I would never pay separately for the sports pack. I have the premiere package, because of the $25/mo off deal.

[Rkkeller]

I have SP's for about 10-15 shows on the sports channels. There are a lot of gambling (blackjack/poker) type shows, a lot of non mainstream wrestling shows (TNA, Maximum, IWF), Guns & Ammo TV and a few other gun related shows, Womens Beach Volleyball when in season, fitness shows with some hot babes like Fitness Beach, etc....


Rich

[dylanursula]

Hey folks

I am from England and would love to watch the Barclays Premiership Football aka soccer inthe US. How do I find out what games they play and have played on Fox Sports World this season as the directTV website doesnt show anything more than 1 game.

D

[Directvlover]

It's completely worthless...everything is always blacked out....i've found most of directv's premium services are just as crappy. That is the one area where cable beats directv.

[frankygamer]

If your in a region with multiple (overlapping) RSNs, Sports Pak will let you view the alternate RSNs. For example I get Fox sports Chicago but I'm also eligible for Fox sports North and Midwest. Sports Pak lets me get North and Midwest.

[EMoMoney]

Originally posted by dukehoops

Is there any point to the sports pack??
Yeah, you can watch the same futbol and auto racing events on just about every channel.

[dukehoops]

Originally posted by JimSpence
Once the Golf Channel was moved to TV Plus, I dropped the sports pack. I get enough sports from the other channels.


When did this happen? I just want to know how hard to kick myself...

[bgtimber75]

I get it during the College Football season just so I can Watch the FSU shows on Sunshine Network. Other then that there's nothing on there. The games are blacked out all the time so the local one that's FREE was the only one worth watching for me.

[Bob Coxner]

If you're a fanatic for basketball at your old college, and it's out of market to you, then it's useful. I turn it on (online) for 1 day at a time, whenever the Univ of Arizona basketball game is on Fox Sports Arizona but not on my local RSN, and then turn it off the next day. The cost is about 80 cents per game for me.

[Mr. Soze]

Originally posted by dylanursula
Hey folks

I am from England and would love to watch the Barclays Premiership Football aka soccer inthe US. How do I find out what games they play and have played on Fox Sports World this season as the directTV website doesnt show anything more than 1 game.

D http://msn.foxsports.com/fsw (http://)
About 2/3 down on the left side they have a listings section.

[bidger]

I saw a commercial on one of my local OTA stations for a cable package where you could subscribe to a select group of out-of-market FSNs and, I believe, watch baseball, basketball, etc. without being blacked out. I think it was 3 or so, but if DirecTV offered that for ~$14.99mo., I'd be interested, but I know they won't.

[Jackanapes]

For transplanted NYC-sports fans, sports pak also gives you YES, which simulcasts the Mike & the Mad Dog sportstalk radio show from 1-6pm ET. All Yanks & Nets games are blacked out though.

[DeputyTIVO]

I subscribe during baseball season so I have access to my local MLB team ... but cancel in the offseason.

[dtivofan23]

i get the yes network and i dont subscribe to the sports pack

[arc6th]

Originally posted by DeputyTIVO
I subscribe during baseball season so I have access to my local MLB team ... but cancel in the offseason. My understanding is that you should always get your local regional sports channel, but maybe not....

from DirecTV.com regarding their Total Choice package
If you're into sports, we've got you covered. ESPN, ESPN2, Speed Channel and Outdoor Life are just the beginning of the great sports networks you'll enjoy. You'll also score your local regional sports network (where available).

[super dave]

Originally posted by dtivofan23
i get the yes network and i dont subscribe to the sports pack And where do you live?

[dtivofan23]

my bad didnt see the transplanted comment

[bailey978]

Originally posted by dylanursula
Hey folks

I am from England and would love to watch the Barclays Premiership Football aka soccer inthe US. How do I find out what games they play and have played on Fox Sports World this season as the directTV website doesnt show anything more than 1 game.

D

You need to check out soccertv.com

It lists ALL the soccer shown on US TV by channel, league, competition etc. It goes weeks out.

B

[bigpuma]

Originally posted by DeputyTIVO
I subscribe during baseball season so I have access to my local MLB team ... but cancel in the offseason.

You get Fox Sports Bay Area without paying for the sports pack. Assuming by local team you meant the Giants and the A's then there is no reason to pay for it.

[mattg]

I add it during football season so I can catch Pittsburgh Sports Tonight, the Bill Cowher Press Conference, Sportsbeat (interviews, game analysis, call in), and the rest of the shows specific to Pittsburgh sports. National shows only deal with each team for a couple minutes during a show obviously.

$12 is a bit steep for this, but I only keep it for a few months.

People who add it expecting to get their out of market NHL, NBA, MLB, etc games for $12 a month aren't thinking too clearly.

[bashtonsj]

Originally posted by tony touch
I like the access to regional sports networks because of sports news shows. I moved from Boston to Atlanta for grad school in August, and having New England Sports Network let me keep up on the recent success of the Red Sox and Patriots.

Yes, all the pro (and most college) stuff is blacked out -- need to sub to Sunday Ticket, League Pass, Extra Innings, Full Court, etc.

There are some benefits to the local programing as above. So, if you are a NY fan, you can get Giants, Jets, local shows, etc.

I'm transplanted from Phila to CA, and would love DTV to carry Phila Comcast Sportsnet (CSN), not just Mid Atlantic CSN.


bashtonsj

[tulip088]

The Sports Pack is one of the biggest reasons my local cable company will never get me back. It's the sports with the medium sized following that makes it worthwhile.
College hockey is huge up here and none of it is blacked out. We follow several WCHA treams and have watched games on FSDetroit, Rocky Mountain, NESN, etc - as well as both "flavors" of Fox Sports North (Wisc/Minn). When it gets to NCAA tournament time, the TiVo's going to be working overtime to keep up with all the regional games.
CSTV is also a big part of the pack for us. They do a "national" college hockey broadcast on Friday nights and carry the lacrosse championships.
We've even taken in a little cricket on Fox Sports World...

[JillupM]

Most the pro games and some college games(ACC) are blacked out, but it's the Pac10 games I want to see (especially Cal) and they are not blacked out. I see several basketball games and football games a year that I would miss without the sports pac.

[whalerfan]

Here in central CT we need to subscribe to SP to get the NY Mets and Knicks. Otherwise it's a no go. After calling DTV to say these teams are available on cable (comcast) I was told that I had to get the SP to see them. Considering the Mets and Knicks have been terrible the past couple of years I haven't missed anything. However when I had Dishnetwork I did subscribe to their SP and still couldn't see the Mets. I'm certain that we'll have to do this when MetsTV starts in 2006. SP is also good if you enjoy the AHL. I'll order if Beltran signs with the Mets!

Whalers forever!

[dukehoops]

Originally posted by whalerfan
Here in central CT we need to subscribe to SP to get the NY Mets and Knicks. Otherwise it's a no go. After calling DTV to say these teams are available on cable (comcast) I was told that I had to get the SP to see them. Considering the Mets and Knicks have been terrible the past couple of years I haven't missed anything. However when I had Dishnetwork I did subscribe to their SP and still couldn't see the Mets. I'm certain that we'll have to do this when MetsTV starts in 2006. SP is also good if you enjoy the AHL. I'll order if Beltran signs with the Mets!

Whalers forever!


Be careful with this. I cannot watch games that are not within my area (i.e. knicks on msg, cubs on fox sports chicago) because they black them out. They do this because they want you to buy the season tickets packages for hundreds of dollars. Unless you like soccer or want to watch your hometown highlights, I am convinced that sports pack blows.

[rifleman69]

Originally posted by Bob Coxner
If you're a fanatic for basketball at your old college, and it's out of market to you, then it's useful. I turn it on (online) for 1 day at a time, whenever the Univ of Arizona basketball game is on Fox Sports Arizona but not on my local RSN, and then turn it off the next day. The cost is about 80 cents per game for me.


Not many people realize you can add/subtract packages on a daily basis. Used to be unlimited amount of changes a day, then it went to once a day, and now I believe it's back to unlimited. Really, there's no reason why anyone should be paying for the Premier Service, just switch the channels and save quite a bit of money a month.

I did the Sports Pack for a few football games this year, games I wouldn't have seen otherwise since Fox Sports games aren't on the ESPN Game Plan.

[DeputyTIVO]

Originally posted by bigpuma
You get Fox Sports Bay Area without paying for the sports pack. Assuming by local team you meant the Giants and the A's then there is no reason to pay for it.

Yes, the Giants. I know it used to be that way ... getting FSBA as part as the TC+ package ... but it was my understanding that changed last year. It has been too long since the beginning of last season, but I remember turning on FSBA (ch. 654) for the first game of the season and getting the "721" message. I then subscribed to the Sports pack to get the channel and all the regional versions that I never watched. I just checked the D* channel lineup pages and it DOES NOT show FSBA as part of the TC+ package, but I just flipped it on and there is a poker show on. Hmmm.

[FranX39J]

I've had it since I started 2 years ago - but now that they're changing FSW to BSC (Boring Soccer Channel) and dumping real sports like rugby and Aussie Rules - I can now dump the Sports Pack. Without that it is a total ripoff since they show the same Tom Arnold programs on 50 channels and everything in America is blacked out. Also makes cable much more viable - since that was the original reason to switch. Later Rupert.

[vigfoot]

i get the sportspak only during basketball season.

[bigpuma]

Originally posted by DeputyTIVO
Yes, the Giants. I know it used to be that way ... getting FSBA as part as the TC+ package ... but it was my understanding that changed last year. It has been too long since the beginning of last season, but I remember turning on FSBA (ch. 654) for the first game of the season and getting the "721" message. I then subscribed to the Sports pack to get the channel and all the regional versions that I never watched. I just checked the D* channel lineup pages and it DOES NOT show FSBA as part of the TC+ package, but I just flipped it on and there is a poker show on. Hmmm.

I have always gotten FSBA without the sports pack.

[DeputyTIVO]

Originally posted by bigpuma
I have always gotten FSBA without the sports pack.

Well don't I feel like an idiot for subscribing to the Sports Pack for a channel I receive anyway. I guess we'll see again in a couple months, but I swear it didn't work for me last year!!!

[bigpuma]

Originally posted by DeputyTIVO
Well don't I feel like an idiot for subscribing to the Sports Pack for a channel I receive anyway. I guess we'll see again in a couple months, but I swear it didn't work for me last year!!!

I watched a lot of Giants games last season without the sports pack.

Go Giants! :)

[edc_k2]

I live in Texas, but am a fan of many NY/NJ teams (Mets, Knicks, Rangers). Would having the sportspack be good then? (I'm primarily wondering about MSG network) Or will games still be blacked out (unsure how that works)?

My understanding is that they blackout local games to encourage you to go buy tickets to the see the local game live and in person.

[PDPnNJ]

Originally posted by edc_k2
I live in Texas, but am a fan of many NY/NJ teams (Mets, Knicks, Rangers). Would having the sportspack be good then?

No. You need Season Passes.

[Bob Coxner]

Originally posted by edc_k2
I live in Texas, but am a fan of many NY/NJ teams (Mets, Knicks, Rangers). Would having the sportspack be good then? (I'm primarily wondering about MSG network) Or will games still be blacked out (unsure how that works)?


If you're not located in the NYC market then all pro games, all sports, will be blacked out to you. The only exceptions are pre-season exhibition games and some re-runs of regular season games.

If you want live pro games you'll have to sub to MLB Extra Innings (baseball), NBA League Pass (bball) or Center Ice (hockey).

[dtivofan23]

i thought the new york games would only be blacked out to him if one of the new york teams was playing a local texas team and the game was being televised in his local texas area.

[Dirac]

Originally posted by tulip088
The Sports Pack is one of the biggest reasons my local cable company will never get me back. It's the sports with the medium sized following that makes it worthwhile.
College hockey is huge up here and none of it is blacked out. We follow several WCHA treams and have watched games on FSDetroit, Rocky Mountain, NESN, etc - as well as both "flavors" of Fox Sports North (Wisc/Minn). When it gets to NCAA tournament time, the TiVo's going to be working overtime to keep up with all the regional games.
CSTV is also a big part of the pack for us. They do a "national" college hockey broadcast on Friday nights and carry the lacrosse championships.
We've even taken in a little cricket on Fox Sports World...

Likewise... I'm a displaced U of MN alum and watching Gopher hockey (and the rest of the WCHA) on all of the RSNs you mentioned is well worth turning the package on then. For the rest of the year I don't think it's worth seeing Wisconsin Outdoors every Saturday morning.

The day they black out college hockey is the day I dump DirecTV. Who knows, with the NHL on hiatus.

[NJStealth]

How come some people get MSG YES for free and some don't?

[dtivofan23]

you have to live in ny,ct and some parts of nj

[Bob Coxner]

Originally posted by dtivofan23
i thought the new york games would only be blacked out to him if one of the new york teams was playing a local texas team and the game was being televised in his local texas area.

No. ALL pro games on regional sports channels (other than your local one) are blacked out to EVERYONE . Why would anyone pay the big bucks for MLB Extra Innings or NBA League Pass if they could get the same games for only $12 a month?

The Sports Pack is useful if you enjoy world soccer and/or college sports.

[donley]

Does anyone know what happens with the Foxs Sports Regional Network alternate channels when you buy the Sports Pack. I tried to watch a womens college basketball game last night. It was on 648 which is FSMW alternate. I am in Texas so this is not my alternate. Do you "never" get shows on "alternate" channels (other than your own) when you buy the Sports Pack or are specific games blacked out. I was hoping blackouts hadn't extended all the way to womens college basketball.

[rifleman69]

You should be getting your alternate channels with your Total Choice package (not sports pack). Out here in Portland Oregon, DriecTv uses the Seattle Fox Sports North West feed which shows Sonic games (cable uses the Oregon feed). Sonic games are blacked out to me but Blazer games, which are usually on some alternate channel as they conflict with Sonic games, are not.

And it's not always the same alternate channel, most of the time it's 648 but it has been 650, and 652.

Sometimes the local Sports channel doesn't show the game (your local), but the local in the opposing team's city does. Just add the sports pack for a day if not having it doesn't seem to work. Then after the game switch it back off... .80 is better than 12.00 a month.

[donley]

The game was an alternate for Fox Sports Midwest. I get (with my regular Total Choice) Fox Sports Southwest. I am signed up for Sports pack so I also get Fox Sports Midwest. The game showed up in the guide (and was correctly located by my trusty tivo) on 648. The question was whether I "ever" would get an alternate for an out of market regional sports network.

[Ackbar]

I didn't realize until just a couple days ago that the Golf Channel was now included in the regular package. That was the primary reason I had the Sports Pack. Plus I did like getting the college hoops and football games. A lot of people say the college sports are blacked out for them, but my experience is that they are blacked out infrequently. Even still, I canceled when I realized the Golf Channel is "free."

For NCAA hoops fans, the Sports Pack is a good thing during conference tournaments (prior to the NCAA tourney). You get to see a ton of games from most of the conferences during that week. I will definitely be resubscribing for that week. ESPN is nice for this too, but they just can't compete in terms of sheer numbers of all the Fox channels broadcasting conference tourneys.

[wickster]

That package has to be the most useless package that they offer. When I first signed up i thought that would allow me to watch pro sports on the different Fox channels only to quickly realize that the only way to get those was to subscribe to the MLB Extra innings and NHL center ice. I have it now just because I signed up for the Premier package

[ddobson]

Honestly I didn't see it being good for much of anything except different syndicated programs on at different times of the day on the different channels.

I subscribed for a mere 3 weeks a couple of years ago. Now that I've got TiVo it doesn't matter what time the programs I wanted to watch are on.

They might be able to attract other customers if they included those channels in the Total Choice + package though.

[tstout]

From my experience, the best thing the sports pack is good for is screwing up wishlist recordings for premium sports packages (ESPN FullCourt in my case) that are showing the same game. Since they're lower channel numbers, the blacked out regional sports networks are recorded instead of the premium channels that I'm paying extra for. Typical scenario: I come home ready to watch the game, but instead get an empty recording of a blacked out regional Fox Sports channel instead of the double-overtime nail-biter that I've had to tell all my friends NOT to tell me the score of for the entire day. GRRRR! :mad: :mad: :mad:

For now, I've had to take them off Channels I Receive until after the season's over. Why, oh why, can't TiVo tell the difference between blacked out channels and non-blacked out ones automatically? I guess the positive is that it does get me to go into my to-do list every now and then.

--
In general, I find the regional sports networks are best for coaches' shows & local pregame stuff; non-revenue college sports; and regional games that aren't available in the premium packages.

NO - Pro sports
NO - Major Conference Basketball (except PacTen for some reason?!?)
SOME - Major Conference Football (if it's not on ESPN GamePlan)

[xtra]

DW and I love baseball. We subscribe to MLB extra innings and watch (have on anyway) 100 of games. We go thru withdrawal every fall, but fill the void somewhat with football which we only tolerate because we can TIVO and FF thru the endless endless commercials, timeouts, replays, penalties, and general stoppage of play.

But, then comes the REAL void. FEB.

We purchase Sports Pack in March only so that we can catch the spring training games, mostly on the New York/Boston stations. Once April rolls around, we cancel.

What do I watch in FEB, during the void? This year, I am watching all the rugby I recorded off FSW last March. (Be prepared, heh, heh, heh.)

Is is true that FSW is not carrying much rugby now?

[lark]

College basektball if not also being broadcast on full court -- and often even if it is -- is not blacked out. You can watch a lot of PAC 10 games using the sports package that you would otherwise not be able to see unless you live in the local markets of the teams playing. So, for example, FoxAZ has Arizona and ASU games and the northern california station shows Stanford games. I also find a number of college football games every year on there, although many are blacked out.

One other benefit, which I think is a great benefit, is that if you subscribe to the package, you also get CBS college basketball games from other regions when a regional game is playing in your area. For example, this week, Washington v. ASU will be the regional game on my CBS channel. Because I subscribe to the sports package, Directv gives me the other region game too, so I can watch UConn v. Notre Dame. This is a little known benefit that CBS agreed to when they gave Directv the exclusive right to carry the NCAA tournament's first 3 rounds on PPV. The CBS regional listings are not listed with the sports package channels -- they are down in the high 300s (around 380); you have to search around for them. But for these CBS games, they are the only way to get them, because ESPN full court, being an ABC entity, does not carry CBS licensed games.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by xtra
Is is true that FSW is not carrying much rugby now?

As is being reported:

FOX Soccer Channel to debut on February 7

January 11, 2005 (updated January 26, 2005)

FOX Sports World (US) will be renamed FOX Soccer Channel on February 7 at 12:01am Eastern Time (February 6 at 9pm Pacific Time), when FOX Soccer Channel will air a 1-hour launch special program.

FOX Soccer Channel General Manager David Sternberg explained the rebranding to Multichannel News: "Given that 80%-85% of programming hours are devoted to soccer, we needed to bring the image of the network in line with what people are tuning in to watch."

According to Multichannel News, rugby will continue to air on FOX Soccer Channel through August 2005.

[vansmack]

For the one or two other international football fans on the board who appreciate the Sports Pack:

GolTV will be added to the Sports Pack on Feb 22, and will broadcast La Liga, Brazilian, and Mexican League Soccer. Still not clear if it's going to be English or Spanish

Setanta will be added as a subscription channel (approx. $12 a month, not included in the Sports Pack) in August for the UEFA Champion's League (one live game not to compete with ESPN2 and the rest tape delayed same day coverage), Live English League Championship, tape delayed England National Team matches, Scottish matches, ManUTV, Chelsea TV and some rubgy.

And please don't start flaming soccer fans - I posted this for those interested in soccer. If you don't like it, read on.

[TiVoSoFine]

Originally posted by vansmack
For the one or two other international football fans on the board who appreciate the Sports Pack:
...

That's major news for us soccer fans. Thanks for the heads-up!

Back to the topic, Soccer on Fox Sports World/Sports Pack (and ESPN2) was the major reason I bought my first DirecTiVo. Having to set timers for both the DirecTV receiver and VCR was just too much of a headache. DirecTiVo was just the thing I was looking for, four years ago.

Of course, TiVo can do much more than just recording soccer games.

[HarryD]

Fox Sport World, if you're into soccer or rugby. NBA TV if you follow the NBA.
Other than that.. nothing..

[blancas]

I add it during football season so I can catch Pittsburgh Sports Tonight, the Bill Cowher Press Conference, Sportsbeat (interviews, game analysis, call in), and the rest of the shows specific to Pittsburgh sports. National shows only deal with each team for a couple minutes during a show obviously.

$12 is a bit steep for this, but I only keep it for a few months.

People who add it expecting to get their out of market NHL, NBA, MLB, etc games for $12 a month aren't thinking too clearly.

Matt...are you still getting access to the Bill Cowher Press Conference in your area? I live in Seattle and the main reason that I have DirecTV sports pack is the catch the same shows you mentioned, but the last few weeks, the BC Press conference has been getting blacked in my area with no explanation from from them.

Thanks,
-Bill

[whalerfan]

The sportspack is alright if you want ESPNU or GolTV or NBA tv. It's great if you enjoy Canadian football! However, I needed to get it to see the Mets here in central CT. Other than that it's totally a waste of $$$. Dishnetwork charges $5.99 for the same thing. DTV also blacks out the NY Rangers here even though their farm team is in Hartford. I received a letter from the home office also telling me I needed to subscribe to the NBA package to see the Knicks. I wouldn't waste any cash subscribing to this. BTW, I can see the Rangers and Knicks on my local cable (Comcast).

[pudge44]

There are some benefits. I get it during college football season because there are extra games on ESPNU, CSTV and some of the RSNs that aren't available on my local RSN. I keep it during college basketball season because you get all the regional games on CBS. (Live near New York, don't care to watch Big East games all the time).

You're never going to get out of market pro games except by subscribing to the packages (Extra Innings, Center Ice, League Pass).

[TomK]

And you can get, in most cases, the pregame and postgame shows for your favorite sports teams. The sports pack also has the regional sports news shows as well. So if you live away from your favorite sports team you can watch a few shows about them.

[texas arsenal]

Its a must if you are a soccer fan. Just for Fox Soccer Channel & GolTv.