Bally Sports announces direct-to-consumer app pricing

[rondoman]

Lmao these fools gotta be delusional.

$20 a month is a ridiculous price! I could get Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon Prime,  Discovery+, Disney+ and/or a bunch of other streaming services way cheaper with tons more content. 

Besides the streaming services offering live TV with multiple channels (YTTV, Hulu Live, Sling) I haven't seen a higher monthly cost. Hell, you can get ALL out of market games for $25 a month, while this is 1 channel lmao!

Man, MLB really is terrible to their fans.

 

 

 

 

[areacodes]

1 hour ago, rondoman said:

Lmao these fools gotta be delusional.

$20 a month is a ridiculous price! I could get Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon Prime,  Discovery+, Disney+ and/or a bunch of other streaming services way cheaper with tons more content. 

Besides the streaming services offering live TV with multiple channels (YTTV, Hulu Live, Sling) I haven't seen a higher monthly cost. Hell, you can get ALL out of market games for $25 a month, while this is 1 channel lmao!

Man, MLB really is terrible to their fans.

 

 

 

 

Do those other options allow you to watch the Brewers and Bucks live if you live in WI?  If you buy the yearly package, it comes out to around $16/mo - for somebody who wants to cut the cord and keep watching the Brewers/Bucks that seems pretty reasonable to me.  There are people out there who have cable just for those two and that is a whole heck of a lot more per month.

Boston just released their direct to consumer streaming option thru NESN and it is $29.99/mo.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

17 minutes ago, areacodes said:

Do those other options allow you to watch the Brewers and Bucks live if you live in WI?  If you buy the yearly package, it comes out to around $16/mo - for somebody who wants to cut the cord and keep watching the Brewers/Bucks that seems pretty reasonable to me.  There are people out there who have cable just for those two and that is a whole heck of a lot more per month.

Boston just released their direct to consumer streaming option thru NESN and it is $29.99/mo.

I paid for DirectTV+ (AT&T TV+) last summer, at nearly $90 per month, just to watch Brewer games. I'll gladly pay for the Bally's app.

I do agree that MLB really does a terrible job helping their fans watch in-market games.

[brewerfan82]

Considering Brewer games are my choice for probably close to half my television entertainment, $20/mo. isn't bad compared to what I pay for the other half of my viewing on YouTubeTV ($65/mo.) and Netflix ($20/mo.) and at times additional services. But that's my personal viewing preference, if you only watch a game or so a week then it probably isn't worth it.

[Axman59]

$120 for a season of Brewers baseball isn't outrageous. Especially if it's the only way you can get the games. Comparing the price to the MLB package (to get the games of 29 other teams) isn't an apples to apples comparison due to the blackout rules. It's like comparing the price of beer at a Brewers game to the price of beer at the grocery store. Captive market = marked up prices.

[patrickgpe]

the issue is that if you were going to get a non-BSW streaming service and this app, you really aren't saving money over DTVS.

The only way is if you get one of the 35 dollar sling packages and this app, which would save you 30 dollars a month, but you would not get everything (ie, you need to pick FS1 or ESPN). if you get the blue/orange package, its 15 dollars a month of savings. 

if you get YTYV or HL and this app, its 85 dollars which is the same as Direct TV stream with a bigger headache. 

if you just want to watch the brewers, this is great though. 

[Oxy]

Everything I read talks about a mobile app...and I don't see anything about it on Bally's webpage.  Will it be easy to sign up for on a regular laptop through a browser? And will the app be available on Smart TVs/Amazon firestick/Roku?  Or is this purely a mobile/tablet thing?

Also, this was bumped again because the roll-out date is set for June 23rd.  I'm guessing it might take a week or two for the kinks to be worked out though...

[Brock Beauchamp]

I currently pay DirecTV Stream over $90/mo to watch Twins games for a TERRIBLE app experience so count me in the group that isn't outraged by this price. I'll even buy multiple team packages if they allow out-of-market purchases and it's still way cheaper than DirecTV Stream.

[patrickgpe]

2 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I currently pay DirecTV Stream over $90/mo to watch Twins games for a TERRIBLE app experience so count me in the group that isn't outraged by this price. I'll even buy multiple team packages if they allow out-of-market purchases and it's still way cheaper than DirecTV Stream.

I have had no issues with Direct TV stream the last 2 seasons. I also could watch all twins games if I wanted to. I’m happy and don’t see the need to switch. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

6 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

I have had no issues with Direct TV stream the last 2 seasons. I also could watch all twins games if I wanted to. I’m happy and don’t see the need to switch. 

I used Hulu TV and YouTube TV when they offered Fox Sports channels and the interfaces are so vastly superior to DTV Stream that it’s embarrassing. Particularly YouTube TV. 

[Jkrombos]

3 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I used Hulu TV and YouTube TV when they offered Fox Sports channels and the interfaces are so vastly superior to DTV Stream that it’s embarrassing. Particularly YouTube TV. 

I feel like DTV stream is a lot cleaner than YouTube TV in general. Also do you need the sports package on DTV to get the brewers?

[Brock Beauchamp]

6 hours ago, Jkrombos said:

I feel like DTV stream is a lot cleaner than YouTube TV in general. Also do you need the sports package on DTV to get the brewers?

Yeah, need a higher tier to get Bally. The package that is right around $90. 

[RWeeksFan23]

Probably a dumb question, but on this app, is there a way to DVR games or watch previous games... or just live games?

I'm rarely ever able to watch games live due to work schedule

[zurch1818]

Just now, RWeeksFan23 said:

Probably a dumb question, but on this app, is there a way to DVR games or watch previous games... or just live games?

I'm rarely ever able to watch games live due to work schedule

Yes.  You can definitely watch games on replay.  I just looked on the app (well the bally sports website as I've had a much better experience with this than the mobile app) and I can go back as far as the Reds game on 6/19 as of this morning.

Side note...It's really annoying that you have to watch a 30 second ad every single time you start watching.  If you accidentally get out of the app, too bad...you still would have to watch the ads.  See below with what I have found out:

• TV - My Roku on my upstairs TV will play the game without ads (no ad-blocking necessary). 
• TV - My GoogleTV Chromecast on my downstairs TV will play the ad, which I have begrudgingly tolerated.
• Desktop - Brave browser with ad block turned on will block the ad.
• Desktop - Chrome browser with the Ad Block Plus extension will block the ad.
• Android - Brave browser with ad block turned on DOES NOT WORK and WILL NOT PLAY the game.
• Android - Ad-block Browser will block the ads from being played.
• Iphone - No idea...I don't own one.

Hope this helps.

[Ulice Payne]

3 hours ago, zurch1818 said:

TV - My Roku on my upstairs TV will play the game without ads (no ad-blocking necessary). 

Does this already work on Roku?

I was under the impression that it was a phone app only to start with, and Roku was coming in July.  Was waiting to sign up until the Roku portion was working.

[zurch1818]

4 hours ago, Ulice Payne said:

Does this already work on Roku?

I was under the impression that it was a phone app only to start with, and Roku was coming in July.  Was waiting to sign up until the Roku portion was working.

I've had the Balls Sports App on my Roku (through Spectrum) since last year. I don't know how the direct Bally streaming app will work. Maybe the Roku app won't support the stand alone version until July?

[Brock Beauchamp]

17 hours ago, zurch1818 said:

I've had the Balls Sports App on my Roku (through Spectrum) since last year. I don't know how the direct Bally streaming app will work. Maybe the Roku app won't support the stand alone version until July?

I suspect they'll roll out an entirely new app to download. It makes the most sense.

[patrickgpe]

Has anyone here signed up? How is the experience? Is it a new app? Is it possible to watch on multiple TV’s at the same time?

[yfinn6]

13 hours ago, patrickgpe said:

Has anyone here signed up? How is the experience? Is it a new app? Is it possible to watch on multiple TV’s at the same time?

I signed up. I was using DirecTV Stream solely for Brewers' games so the switch to Bally was obvious. My free trial for DTV was coming up so the timing was perfect and was happy to spend far less per month for the only thing I needed DTV for. 

As far as the quality, for streaming, I found the quality to be on par with anything else live on Hulu, etc. I had the game on my computer but then downloaded the app through my Fire Stick and had the game on the TV, too. So I can't be certain about multiply monitors or TVs but I assume it won't be an issue. 

[wildcat83]

I signed up today, I think the price is fine, to me I’m paying essentially $1 a game.  I have no issues with that.

I have it playing on my TV with a fire stick.  The stream has worked great so far.  I did not get an ad when I turned it on.

You get a 7 day free trial, so if your not sure your devices are supported, you can try it out and see without losing $20.

I’m curious about how many streams you can have live.  I’ll play around with that tomorrow and see.  If it allows multiple streams it’s a really cheap price because you could share the subscription.

[areacodes]

15 hours ago, wildcat83 said:

I signed up today, I think the price is fine, to me I’m paying essentially $1 a game.  I have no issues with that.

I have it playing on my TV with a fire stick.  The stream has worked great so far.  I did not get an ad when I turned it on.

You get a 7 day free trial, so if your not sure your devices are supported, you can try it out and see without losing $20.

I’m curious about how many streams you can have live.  I’ll play around with that tomorrow and see.  If it allows multiple streams it’s a really cheap price because you could share the subscription.

Are you able to start the game from the beginning at anytime and fast forward?  Can you pause it?  I have young kids so rarely am I able to start watching a game at first pitch and usually need to pause it multiple times when I finally can sit down to watch.

[wildcat83]

4 hours ago, areacodes said:

Are you able to start the game from the beginning at anytime and fast forward?  Can you pause it?  I have young kids so rarely am I able to start watching a game at first pitch and usually need to pause it multiple times when I finally can sit down to watch.

Yea, I can pause and rewind.  I have a blue button that comes up that’s says “enhanced mode” and then I can.  Not sure why it doesn’t just play in that mode the whole time…

[bork]

I believe it's 2 streams.

[brew522]

I've been using the Bally app with my parents DirecTV password since they took it off Hulu.  The app is horrible and glitchy. Black screen, often tells me I am not in market to watch the Brewers even though I'm logged in, frequently have to reverify, ads, etc. It also isn't available on Samsung smart TVs so I had to get a Firestick for every TV.  Also when you are using the phone app and you need to toggle quickly to answer a text, it closes out instead of putting the game down in the corner.  Then you have to go back in and watch another ad mid-inning.  I also pay for mlb.tv and find that app, both TV and phone, to work like a dream.

That being said, I will happily pay them $20 a month instead of password sharing if some of the above issues seem improved with a subscription. 

It shouldn't be this frustrating just to come home and throw the game on.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

I'm 6 days into my 7 day free trial and thought I would give my take on this FWIW.  I use Samsung smart TVs and I have an old Chromecast.  Neither of these work with this app.  I dont have apple tv, firestick, or a roku.  I can try to cast via Chromecast and I can get sound but just a black screen.  I also have a place up north that I use frequently in summers.  This service does not allow you to use it if you are more than 50 miles away from your home zip code (they give you 30 days to use it beyond 50 miles, but that wont help me next month).  Worst of all, I cannot seem to figure out how to watch this when it is not LIVE.  I cannot believe they don't have that feature, but apparently you cannot select old games to watch (or even that day's game later in the day).  I suppose you could start it and then pause it, but my problem is I'm not always home when the game starts. 

So I can watch this on my laptop and the picture is fine, features are ok.  The overall watch-ability is fine.  Even with all these negatives, I am still considering trying it for another month.  I've really missed watching the Brewers.

Does anyone know how to watch previous games on this app?