curious about multisport package

[alangenh]

Hi, I'm curious about blackouts in the multisport package. I am thinking of switching from cable to Dish, and one thing I'd love to do is watch St. Louis teams on FoxSports Midwest, though I now live in New Jersey. When I look at the Dish website, it looks like that might not be possible due to blackouts.

Could anyone on the east coast (or anywhere, I guess) with the multisport package please let me know if all professional games elsewhere are blacked out, or can you get, say, Cardinals games on FoxSports Midwest?

It would be nice if there was a way to just follow one non-local city... at this point I'm not willing to buy the huge/expensive PPV packages for each sport just so I can watch a St. Louis game now and then. Actually, what I'd really like is if you could buy a baseball or hockey game they same way you buy a PPV movie for $4 or whatever.

[tampa8]

No you will not get major league baseball games that way they are indeed blacked out. Direct TV does offer a package that allows viewing of out of market games, Dish does not at this time.

However, it is a poor man's way of watching out of market games. The blackout of games is for a set time. If the game starts late or is delayed (due, say to weather) or just lasts longer than usual, you can see some of these games. In addition you can see the pregame shows and or post game shows which often are a pretty good overview of the game and what is going on with your team.

Also, on Dish (I assume with Direct also) if the Cardinals happen to one of the games ESPN is showing but not in your area, you can often get that cardinals game on ESPNA or ESPN2A.

[Steve Mehs]

About the only thing the MultiSport Pak will do for you is give you NBA TV, a host of minor league, college and high school sports, arena football, pre and post game shows and endless viewings of Fox Sports News and The Best Damn Sports Show. You will not get to see any more professional sports with it then without the sports pak.

[jrbdmb]

With a New Jersey address and the multi-sport package, you will see no out-of-market MLB games (they are all blacked out). You can see REPLAYS of NBA and NHL games, but the live games are also blacked out. The main benefits of Multi-sport are college games (esp. basketball), and in some limited areas you do get additional pro sports with the package - i.e. where I am the Orioles are included with AT100, but with Multi-sport I can see Pirates games as well.

Another option not mentioned so far is to "move" (change your service address to a ZIP that is in the Cardinals home area). The Cardinals games and other St. Louis sports would then be available to you in AT100 (multi-sport not even needed). The drawback is any sports you would normally qualify for at your home address would now be blacked out (you can't have both), and you wouldn't be able to get your local channels either.

[FTA Michael]

Actually, what I'd really like is if you could buy a baseball or hockey game they same way you buy a PPV movie for $4 or whatever.If you've got broadband Internet access and low expectations on picture quality, you can buy MLB.com's streaming video package for $2.95 per day. If you find yourself doing it a lot, there's a $14.95 monthly deal.

On the Dish sports pack, there are absolutely no MLB games that they're aware of. No preseason, no replays. The trick is to discover games that are being shown, but which aren't on the guide. I look for games that run long and last-minute double-headers, using an online TV listing to see all the sports net schedules at a glance. I can usually see parts of several games a week if I work at it.

In addition to the alternate games on ESPN and ESPN2, Dish lets you subscribe to WPIX for $1.50/month. They carry a Mets game or two every weekend, so you might catch the Cards once in a while that way.

And with the sports pack, at least you'll get FSN's Midwest Sports Report, for a St. Louis-centric sports news show.

[Pete K.]

Tampa8 wrote:

However, it is a poor man's way of watching out of market game
*****
This works very well for me. By the time the kids are in bed and the chores are done, I'll settle down in front of the tv to catch the end of the blackouts on games that started at 7 pm EDT. This is particularly true for Major League Baseball. I can catch the end of several games each night. I've seen lots of 8th and 9th
inning finishes for the Angels, Athletics, Cards, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Devil Rays, Giants, Indians, Mariners, Marllins, Mets, Orioles, Pirates, Reds, Red Sox, Rockies, Twins and White Sox. Add the Supers for the Mets (WPIX) and if you are lucky NY "distant locals" for 20 Yankee games, along with WGN for the Cubs and White Sox and TBS for the Braves and you've got yourself a "poor man's" package.

[BobMurdoch]

Also, whenever there are rain delays they do not adjust the stop times on the blackouts so you can catch games that way as well. Usually I'll be watching Sportscenter, see that a good game is going on, and can usually catch the last few innings like Pete K. has said.

[alangenh]

Thanks very much for your replies! I feel much more informed now. :) I think the alternate-ESPN will help at least a little bit (over cable, anyway.)

[abospaum]

Cable and satellite work differently in terms of blacking out games.

Cable only blacks out if their entire viewing area is outside of the "local" area.

When I lived in Southern Jersey and I had cable with MSG, SC-NY and Comcast Sports (Philly sports) I didn't have any games blacked out. I switched to Dish and lived in the same house and I ended up with no sports. Every game on MSG and SC-NY were blacked out because they said that according to my zip code I was a Philly viewer. Dish doesn't offer a Philly sports channel because it is owned by Comcast Cable.

I never understood why the satellite would have blocks but not cable. It seems that the cable company covered some zip codes that were in the NY regional area and they couldn't selectively block out by zip code.