re: Underreported nugget in the ESPN deal: More charges to watch games

If you've got Verizon unlimited, several of their unlimited plans include ESPMN+ for free

ESPN+ is terribad. Sigh.

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ESPN+ will have the right to stream one nonconference football game and two nonconference men's basketball games per SEC school each season. All told, ESPN+ will carry up to 14 nonconference football games and up to 20 nonconference men's basketball games annually.

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They've already been doing this for some basketball games and baseball games ever since espn+ became a thing, so I think a lot of people already pay for ESPN+. Here's a work around if you only care about the football games. You'll know what that one football game is for your team 2 weeks out. Sign up for the free trial the day of the game and cancel right after. I guess unless you're one of those people who wants to watch Vandy play someone like Austin Peay....however, I'd imagine most people watching obscure games like that already have espn+ subs. I cut the cord on regular cable 4-5 years ago, so even with adding espn+ I'm still paying about half of what I used to for my cable services, although espn+ has increased in price. It used to only be like 4.99/month when it first came out

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Do you not have access to ESPN+ if you already have access to ESPN through a cable provider?

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You have to have ESPN+ just to have the right to buy a PPV on espn for $60. There isnt even an option to pay like $70 if you dont have it. I had to get a UFC fight for a little get together i was having awhile back and there were like 40 steps to purchase that damn thing. I think i still have ESPN+ which is completely useless to me.

OP has never heard of PPV? Used to cost no less than $30 to watch that game.

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Furthermore, you think that they're putting ANY Bama games on Espn+

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Hell yes they will.

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Yay. Soccer and UFC, plus a bunch of articles that would have been free before this.

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It also has college baseball games involving SEC schools as well as some basketball games. They also have extended coverage for PGA tour events for several tournaments a year. I'm aware not everyone is interested in that, but paying 5 bucks one month out of the year so you can watch the, at most, one no-name OOC game your team plays on espn+ isn't a big deal IMO. You don't have to commit to an entire year of the package.

I remember, as recently as 2006, having to pay $60 to watch LSU play Ole Miss on PPV. I remember some games not being available to watch from home at all in the not so distant past. And now we have folks complaining about maybe having to spend $5 to watch your team in a bloodbath against directional state university?

For those games that require extra money, I'll find something else to do. I'll always root for Bama but if I have to watch ESPN Gamecast for free on their site for a Bama/WKentucky game, so be it. Hell, I went cable-free for most of 2015 and caught all games in their entirety on YouTube on Sunday. If I can live through that, I can live through anything.

This doesn't bother me at all. The Hulu/Disney+/ESPN+ package basically gives ESPN+ away for free anyway.

You do understand that this is not just for football games, correct? The scope is much larger, and for basketball and baseball, schools will have more say in what times games start and not be locked into some arbitrary time in many instances.