Bally Sports announces direct-to-consumer app pricing

[Oxy]

https://thestreamable.com/news/sinclair-announces-initial-pricing-for-bally-sports-dtc-streaming-app

Sounds like Ballys DTC streaming option is going to be rolled out in June for $19.99/mo or $189.99/yr.  The cost of Hulu (+Disney+ESPN+ this streaming option) is the same price as DirecTV Stream, which from my experience is an inferior overall product.  Once Baseball season is over I get to dump Bally's, basically saving $20/mo the rest of the year ($120) and getting Disney/ESPN extras for free.

This is fine with me--better than the current set-up anyway.  I'm sure it won't last though.

[young guns]

That seems really expensive to me.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

32 minutes ago, young guns said:

That seems really expensive to me.

I paid nearly $100/month for DirecTV Steam from April through October last year to watch the Brewers. I'll gladly fork over $20/month to watch them via the Bally's app. The difference in price between this and huge streaming services like Hulu or Apple TV is explained by the cost of producing live sports, coupled with the fraction of the interest the channel is going to garner compared to the huge streamers.

[RobDeer 45]

I'm glad they are figuring this out.  Do you have to be in WI/MN to get the Brewers and Bucks games or do you get all their content if you pay for the streaming?  Because I'm out of market I will continue to use MLB.tv but this is a good move by them.

[brewerfan82]

Seems pretty in line with similar services and pretty reasonable for ~25 Brewer games per month, plus you get the Bucks games as well, right? If you're a casual viewer it might be too much, but if you usually throw on 4-5+ games a week, it's not a bad deal.

[wallus]

3 hours ago, young guns said:

That seems really expensive to me.

As low as $16 per month.... what were you expecting??

[stoutdude04]

5 minutes ago, wallus said:

As low as $16 per month.... what were you expecting??

Yep - I think I can finally ditch Spectrum.  20$ per month instead of the 70 I pay for Charter.  Steal.

[wallus]

2 minutes ago, stoutdude04 said:

Yep - I think I can finally ditch Spectrum.  20$ per month instead of the 70 I pay for Charter.  Steal.

I have heard bad things about the Ballys app so I am going to wait and see but I will consider it as well. I need to check out the cost of Spectrum internet by itself too.

[stoutdude04]

18 minutes ago, wallus said:

I have heard bad things about the Ballys app so I am going to wait and see but I will consider it as well. I need to check out the cost of Spectrum internet by itself too.

76.99 for basic tv. 8.99 for the receiver.

Internet with the tv bundle discount is 64.99

Edit: I have used the Ballys app - through charter, and it has run fine.

[young guns]

46 minutes ago, wallus said:

As low as $16 per month.... what were you expecting??

I don't know. Probably about that, but for someone with a tight budget it would be hard to justify that expense. 

[patrickgpe]

I think 20 bucks / month is reasonable to have bally's as a stand alone app. Even if you couple it with sling, you are saving about 15 dollars a month to give you what direct tv stream gives you. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

7 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

I think 20 bucks / month is reasonable to have bally's as a stand alone app. Even if you couple it with sling, you are saving about 15 dollars a month to give you what direct tv stream gives you. 

I'm paying DirecTV Stream $93/mo to watch Twins games and the occasional Wolves game. I literally watch nothing on live television other than sports and 95% of my sports watching is baseball.

$190/yr sounds great to me. I hope they allow out-of-market purchases because I'll buy both BS North and BS Wisconsin without hesitation.

Now we just need MLB to make MLB Network a $20 add-on to MLB.tv.

[patrickgpe]

its great if that all you use it for. 

43 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I'm paying DirecTV Stream $93/mo to watch Twins games and the occasional Wolves game. I literally watch nothing on live television other than sports and 95% of my sports watching is baseball.

$190/yr sounds great to me. I hope they allow out-of-market purchases because I'll buy both BS North and BS Wisconsin without hesitation.

Now we just need MLB to make MLB Network a $20 add-on to MLB.tv.

The app is great if you just want to watch Ballys. Realistically I could get away with the Sling Blue package and the Bally's app and pay 55 dollars a month rather than the 85 I am paying now, since I normally never watch ESPN which is the only thing I would be missing in this setup. I'm going to hold off and rely on people here and some other fan sites I visit for feedback before I make a decision. 

I know people here and elsewhere have suggested uzzu, but it seems like a total scam to me (if its too good to be true, it probably is). 

 

[SeaBass]

9 hours ago, wallus said:

I have heard bad things about the Ballys app so I am going to wait and see but I will consider it as well. I need to check out the cost of Spectrum internet by itself too.

I pay $74.99 per month for Spectrum internet (only) which I believe is the standard tier. I've been paying $80/month for DirecTV Stream with a $10 off promotion for the first 3 months. I only watch Brewers/Bucks games with that service so $19.99 per month for a stand alone Bally's Sports app is a more than welcome option.

[Axman59]

9 hours ago, wallus said:

As low as $16 per month.... what were you expecting??

 

$140 for MLB.tv to get nearly every game except the Brewers vs. $190 for the Bally's thing. I'd say Bally's is poor value for money.

It was worth it when Fox Sports Wisconsin was included with my YTTV subscription, but since that went away last year I don't think I've seen a Brewers game on TV.

Thankfully I'm a fan of baseball in general so having MLB.tv provides me with a lot of baseball to watch on a nightly basis.

[Ulice Payne]

I think it'll include Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, and Tampa Bay Rays games as well.

Waiting for this so we can cancel our satellite.  I'll get Bally's, my wife will get Discovery Plus, and we're good.

 

[Oxy]

225-ish? views and counting. 23K on the long thread with historical context and pertinent information...

 

Although historically, historical context has never been popular, so I get it.

[Brock Beauchamp]

8 hours ago, Oxy said:

225-ish? views and counting. 23K on the long thread with historical context and pertinent information...

Although historically, historical context has never been popular, so I get it.

If you're commenting about splitting the topic, yes, I did that and will continue to do it. There are two categories of users in a forum:

1. Those who have been here a long time and already read the content in the old thread.

2. Those who have not been here a long time and do not care about a conversation from the past when new, updated news is more relevant.

Over time, forums tend to become insular and impenetrable. It's a big reason why communities die; they bleed off users slowly over time but do not attract new users because it's too hard to "break into" a community that has thrown up large walls around itself.

My goal is to keep conversation lively and be welcoming to those potential users, particularly when it comes at no cost to established users. That old thread still exists and is readily available to read should anyone wish to do so.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

16 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

If you're commenting about splitting the topic, yes, I did that and will continue to do it. There are two categories of users in a forum:

1. Those who have been here a long time and already read the content in the old thread.

2. Those who have not been here a long time and do not care about a conversation from the past when new, updated news is more relevant.

Over time, forums tend to become insular and impenetrable. It's a big reason why communities die; they bleed off users slowly over time but do not attract new users because it's too hard to "break into" a community that has thrown up large walls around itself.

My goal is to keep conversation lively and be welcoming to those potential users, particularly when it comes at no cost to established users. That old thread still exists and is readily available to read should anyone wish to do so.

I'm glad you are doing this. Although sometimes its a ton of fun to go back and read some of the terrible cold takes, such as the evolution of the Trent Grisham/Zach Davies for Luis Urias/Eric Lauer trade thread. I don't know if there has ever been a more bipolar thread. People went from excitement to thinking Streams was taken to the cleaners, then back to excitement. A great lesson in not immediately judging trades.

Sorry if that is derailing the thread. I'm still excited about the launch of the Bally's app. I haven't been able to watch near as many live games as I've wanted to this year due to inconsistency issues with the somewhat illegal reddit streams I've been using.

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 minutes ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

I'm glad you are doing this. Although sometimes its a ton of fun to go back and ready some of the terrible cold takes, such as the evolution of the Trent Grisham/Zach Davies for Luis Urias/Eric Lauer trade thread. I don't know if there has ever been a more bipolar thread. People went from excitement to thinking Streams was taken to the cleaners, then back to excitement. A great lesson in not immediately judging trades.

Sorry if that is derailing the thread. I'm still excited about the launch of the Bally's app. I haven't been able to watch near as many live games as I've wanted to this year due to inconsistency issues with the somewhat illegal reddit streams I've been using.

Oh, reading old threads is hilarious and fun... until I stumble upon one of my own takes.

[Ulice Payne]

Cancelled DirecTV yesterday.  Took the dish off the roof.... so I've crossed the Rubicon on this one, haha.

Hope Bally's comes through on that streaming app; I'm a radio guy until they do.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

10 hours ago, Ulice Payne said:

Cancelled DirecTV yesterday.  Took the dish off the roof.... so I've crossed the Rubicon on this one, haha.

Hope Bally's comes through on that streaming app; I'm a radio guy until they do.

Everything I remember reading said the app was expected to be available sometime in June. Well, we are roughly 1/3 of the way through June, and nothing yet. Considering how shoddy of a company overall Sinclair seems to be, I'm not going to hold my breath.

[DS5648389]

On 6/9/2022 at 6:38 AM, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

Everything I remember reading said the app was expected to be available sometime in June. Well, we are roughly 1/3 of the way through June, and nothing yet. Considering how shoddy of a company overall Sinclair seems to be, I'm not going to hold my breath.

MLB needs to push streaming its games.  My friend's kids and their friends only stream, no one rents a cable box.   Is MLB blind to their future?   Not too far down the road there will be no clunky cable/sattv boxes.    

[sveumrules]

34 minutes ago, DS5648389 said:

MLB needs to push streaming its games.  My friend's kids and their friends only stream, no one rents a cable box.   Is MLB blind to their future?   Not too far down the road there will be no clunky cable/sattv boxes.    

The main hurdle is each of the thirty teams has their own individual broadcast agreements (some even own the network) covering decades & billions upon billions of dollars…

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/lets-update-the-estimated-local-tv-revenue-for-mlb-teams/

Pretty sure this is why local blackouts on MLBtv aren’t going away any time soon, people would be canceling their cable in droves.

[brewerfan82]

Looks like June 23rd is the release day on this: https://www.nexttv.com/news/batter-up-sinclair-bally-sports-plus-streaming-app-launch-june-23