NFL Sunday Ticket

[Brandon428]

Hey guys I've got a couple of questions here.

I want to know on a scale of 1-10 if ST is worth getting?

I have premier right now and I pay around 120.00 a month after 10 credit and Ive been with D* for about 5 years now and never missed a payment,I want to downgrade to Plus HD DVR and get ST and the Starz package and of course SF free. I'm willing to pay up to 125 to 130 a month for the next 5 months then after ST is payed off I'll upgrade back to Premier.

Is this deal possible? What should I say?

Thanks.

[Michael D'Angelo]

I would say Sunday Ticket is a 12 out of 10. I have had it for 4 years now and I will always have it.

I believe you can change your account as much as you would like. Whenever you like. When you call tell them you want Sunday Ticket but only if you can get the games in HD and you don't want to have to pay for Super Fan since you already pay for the HD package and don't want anything else that comes with Super Fan.

[Brandon428]

Thanks dude,I'm rehearsing my lines to tell them now. One more thing me and a buddy of mine just got into fantasy football and I remember hearing somewhere that you cant track so many players and it'll tell you there stats live is that true or not?

[Michael D'Angelo]

Thanks dude,I'm rehearsing my lines to tell them now. One more thing me and a buddy of mine just got into fantasy football and I remember hearing somewhere that you cant track so many players and it'll tell you there stats live is that true or not?

There is something like that with the Super Fan package. I am not sure how it works. I have not used it because all of my fantasy football leagues are online so I always have my laptop up and running during the games.

[Brandon428]

Thanks so much!!:D

[DawgLink]

11

I was suspect about getting ST last year....I got it...will NEVER not get it

[Tom Robertson]

I've had NFL ST longer than DIRECTV has had it. There is nothing better for following a particular team, or watching football in general, or, now, for fantasy football fans wanting to watch their players. Go for it!

And you can set players to watch in the interactive stuff.

Cheers,
Tom

[VeniceDre]

I've had Sunday Ticket since like '98, couldn't live without it... Be prepared to have many friends and neighbors over once they find out you have it... if you get it.

:D

[Brandon428]

I just called and they won't budge on the SF for free. What should I do?

[Diesel69116]

yes there is a fantasy tracker!! not contoured to your scoring system, just allows you to enter players names and get notifications if they do anything. they may not be at exact moment and are delayed a few seconds but it'll give ya an alert that your player did something. and you'll only get the alerts on the Sunday Ticket Channels 701-714 whatever the range you get my drift..

if you change to your local CBS or FOX station during a 1pm or 4pm game you will not get the alerts.

alrt keeps track of QB's RB's WR's TE's & Kickers & *Team Defenses (*what they do as a unit and not individual players) , you will not beable to fit your whole roster (your starters & reserves) i remember i just used to put my players that were starting and let it fly.

[Tom Robertson]

Call again. That has been a standard offer of late, so they should give it, AFAIK.

Cheers,
Tom

[Brandon428]

Got it. I got a new rep. and he gave SF absolutely free no trouble at all. Thank you guys so much!

[Brandon428]

One thing I'm a little concerned with though is the rep told me that blackout rules still apply. On average how many games are blacked out?

[VeniceDre]

One thing I'm a little concerned with though is the rep told me that blackout rules still apply. On average how many games are blacked out?

Depends on your area... Sometimes the home game in your local market has to sell a certain amount of tickets at the stadium otherwise they don't broadcast it locally.

You should be fine since you're in Saints territory.

[Brandon428]

Depends on your area... Sometimes the home game in your local market has to sell a certain amount of tickets at the stadium otherwise they don't broadcast it locally.

You should be fine since you're in Saints territory.

Thanks buddy.

[fiveputts]

I would give it a 9. The cost seems to keep going up and if the team you follow is having a good year, it will be on network anyway.

But 9 of 10 is pretty darn good!

Clarification question: Do you need the SF package to get all the games in HD? And is the offer for free SF just for new customers or could I try to get it as an existing?

[Koz]

if the team you follow is having a good year, it will be on network anyway.


Or, conversely, if you're a Lions fan like me, you get sick of watching them lose around week 8 and wonder why you even spent the money!

And then you happily click around and follow your fantasy players for a little while and feel better about it.

And then go back to watching the Lions lose some more. By then, it's paid off. :)

I still think it's great. And so does my fiance' who is a Chiefs fan.

[STEVED21]

I called them yesterday to ask why I did not have SF on my account, since I had it the last two years. As he was adding it I asked if I missed any promos since it wasn't auto renewed. He said I would have gotten it for free on auto renew so he gave me a credit for it. Funny thing on my bill it shows up as a leased receuver credit.:D

[wolfpacker]

I'm on the phone with a CSR now trying to get SF for free. I've never paid for it and I'm being charged this season for some reason. I've been on auto-pay for 2 years for ST and this is the first time SF has been applied to my bill. Any suggestions. Right now I'm threating to cancel Sunday Ticket all together.

[Michael D'Angelo]

Clarification question: Do you need the SF package to get all the games in HD? And is the offer for free SF just for new customers or could I try to get it as an existing?

Yes you need Super Fan to get the games in HD. Many people that have had Sunday Ticket for years have been able to get DIRECTV to give them the Super Fan package for free. You may have to call a couple of times but you should be able to get it.

[bonscott87]

One thing I'm a little concerned with though is the rep told me that blackout rules still apply. On average how many games are blacked out?

Blackouts are actually quite simple:
1) If you live within range of a team that doesn't sell out
2) If a game is on your local station then it will be blacked out on Sunday Ticket, unless you get lucky

As for your original question of if it's worth it, here is a list:
1) Is your favorite team not one that is your local team? For example I'm a Bears fan living in Lions country. So Sunday Ticket is the only way I can watch the Bears every week.
2) You want to watch something other then the games your locals decide to show you. Now if you get your favorite team every week on your local station and you don't care about anything else then ST is not worth it. Example you are a Packers fan and you get the Packers every week on your local station cause you live in Green Bay, then getting ST for the Packers doesn't make sense. But if you want to watch something other then the Packers then rock on
3) Fantasy Football freak. ST is GOD for those that are into fantasy football.

[joed32]

I think that the player tracker is not part of Superfan, anyone with an interactive receiver can use it. The best things in Superfan are the Red Zone channel and the Shortcuts. (Other than the HD)

[DawgLink]

One thing I'm a little concerned with though is the rep told me that blackout rules still apply. On average how many games are blacked out?

New Orleans person here

Had ST last year....didnt have one game blacked out.

Some sware certain games are blacked out....never had the problem though

[DawgLink]

I'm on the phone with a CSR now trying to get SF for free. I've never paid for it and I'm being charged this season for some reason. I've been on auto-pay for 2 years for ST and this is the first time SF has been applied to my bill. Any suggestions. Right now I'm threating to cancel Sunday Ticket all together.

Keep trying. If they won't budge, hang up and call again.

[chopperjc]

I must be the guy. I paid last year for it too. (superfan).:eek2:

[tiger2005]

New Orleans person here

Had ST last year....didnt have one game blacked out.

Some sware certain games are blacked out....never had the problem though

I believe the Saints have had an exemption from the blackout status for the past couple of seasons due to Katrina.

[Thrill]

I've had ST for 13 years and wouldn't ever imagine getting rid of it. I would say though that if you're a super fanatic of one team and you live in that city/region and get to see every game locally anyway, the value proposition changes pretty dramatically.

Case in point, I'm a diehard Buc fan, but moved away from Tampa 20 years ago. ST changed my life when I got it in 1995. Prior to that, I had to listen to the games over the phone as my parents held the phone up to the radio in Tampa. A few years ago I moved back to Tampa and kept ST. I found that other than being able to switch through a few extra late games, the ST was basically worthless. All I cared about was the Bucs and they were on locally and blacked out on ST.

Still a great product, but before you plunk down $300 for ST, plus another $100 for SuperFan, you might consider why you're getting it.

[dshu82]

Worth every penny and the Fantasy Tracker works pretty well. Being stuck in South Florida, not sure what I would do watching the Dolphins all the time! Many, many years ago, prior to getting ST, I calculated the cost of going to the bar that had ST for the afternoon to watch the Steelers. Even with yearly price bumps, still cheaper!!!!

[christo76]

Wow... I am glad I clicked this thread. Actually made me think through why I have Sunday Ticket. I was going to cancel it, and they gave me SF for free so I kept it. Now that I think it through... both are really useless to me. I am a Packers Fan in Packerland, so there will never be a blackout and I will get all Packer games in HD.

I only actually got ST last year because they game me an HDDVR free, and even then I didn't watch it much because without SF the games looked like crap, and without DLB its too much work to try to surf between multiple games.

I don't do Fantasy and have too much remodeling to worry about other teams. I will miss the options, but not as much as I would have missed the cash.

Thanks everyone

[Brandon428]

I love the saints and I can catch it locally but I'm and NFL fanatic. I keep tabs with a lot of other teams outside my area and me and a friend of mine just got into Fantasy football. I'm really excited now.:)

[jsquash]

If you do fantasy football then ST is a must have.

[DawgLink]

I believe the Saints have had an exemption from the blackout status for the past couple of seasons due to Katrina.

I know that in 2005, the Saints had a blackout lifted....but am not sure about 2006

I just assumed I kept getting the games because the games were actually selling out.

[HouseBowlrz]

I know that in 2005, the Saints had a blackout lifted....but am not sure about 2006

I just assumed I kept getting the games because the games were actually selling out.

If the game sells out 72 hours in advance, then it can be broadcast locally. Either way, it will (or should) be blacked out on Sunday Ticket as (1) the local channels want you to watch their ads, et al; and (2) if it's not a sellout, then it has to be blacked out - period.

The question marks comes with regard to the HD broadcasts from Sunday Ticket. Those markets that offer local HD channels should be blacked out but it doesn't seem to be consistently applied. Here in DC, our ST-HD feed is blacked out because we have local HD.

Those markets without local HD channels may have the ST-HD feed available while the ST-SD feed is blacked out. I'll let others share their experiences.

Perhaps we should start taking notes of whether ST-HD games are blacked out when the locals are showing it.

I'm sure special provisions were made for the Saints last season with their return home; whether that stays in place for 2007 is a question mark.


:goodjob:

[DawgLink]

Right, House.

I got all Home games in HD last year on Sunday Ticket's channel.

Just am confused if the Katrina blackout exemption was maybe why OR what

[Tiger Tony]

I got all Home games in HD last year on Sunday Ticket's channel.

Just am confused if the Katrina blackout exemption was maybe why OR what

Why woryy about it? What difference does it make if you watch the Saints games on
the Sunday Ticket channel or the network HD broadcast?

All the Saints home games will be sellouts.

[DawgLink]

Why woryy about it? What difference does it make if you watch the Saints games on
the Sunday Ticket channel or the network HD broadcast?

All the Saints home games will be sellouts.

I never said I was worried, I just wanted to know why exactly....

[charlestonemt]

I am a new D* subscriber. The CSR on the phone when I ordered that I would get all games in HD that are broadcast in HD without SF. Is that correct or do you have to have SF to get any of them in HD?

[2Guysfootball]

I am in Chowderhead Land and Thanks to MR Kraft and Co. All Pats Games sell out so
The Pats Get there own TV Via OTA. The other three TV has the Best three Match ups on them.
I am also A Fanasty Football Junkie. St is a must have as long as they stop taking Games off Sunday. I was worried last year when NFL Network started Broadcasting games on Thursdays ans Saturdays but Thankfully they just took the Saturday Games away from CBS and Fox.
My one and only big issue is if they have to move a Game say a Florida team because of a Storm WE as ST Holders should get the LIVE Broadcast not a Replay on Sunday!!!
I can't wait for the Season!!!!!!

[Wildcat]

I've had ST for 13 years and wouldn't ever imagine getting rid of it. I would say though that if you're a super fanatic of one team and you live in that city/region and get to see every game locally anyway, the value proposition changes pretty dramatically.

Case in point, I'm a diehard Buc fan, but moved away from Tampa 20 years ago. ST changed my life when I got it in 1995. Prior to that, I had to listen to the games over the phone as my parents held the phone up to the radio in Tampa. A few years ago I moved back to Tampa and kept ST. I found that other than being able to switch through a few extra late games, the ST was basically worthless. All I cared about was the Bucs and they were on locally and blacked out on ST.

Still a great product, but before you plunk down $300 for ST, plus another $100 for SuperFan, you might consider why you're getting it.



Agree with this 100%. I got it last year for the first time, and it was neat, but I was getting all the Chiefs games anyway...and they are who I watch the most...then I would usually get a Giants game on the east coast HD feed, etc...and found I didn't use ST all that much.

This year, I've moved away, so I will have it in order to watch the Chiefs.

What's this about people getting it for free? That would be nice!

[spidey]

I am a new D* subscriber. The CSR on the phone when I ordered that I would get all games in HD that are broadcast in HD without SF. Is that correct or do you have to have SF to get any of them in HD?

I was told only get the HD broadcasts IF ya have SF. I get so POd about this since I pay 10$ a month for HD and have no desire for gamemix, interactive etc, I called other night and normal CSR gave me SF for 33$ may need to call back and try again to get it for free since seems like everyone else is getting it

[charlestonemt]

Info from another forum...new subscribers that sign up with the ST deal (and Premier package free for 4 months) get games in HD w/o SF, but do not get any of the other benefits of SF. Any truth to this?

[dblake15]

Info from another forum...new subscribers that sign up with the ST deal (and Premier package free for 4 months) get games in HD w/o SF, but do not get any of the other benefits of SF. Any truth to this?


Let me tell you that is a no brainer. I am paying 69.99 for 4 months for premier and ST. And then they throw in SF for free. Now after the 4 months if you don't want premier you either have to call or change it online. So to give you an idea. I had total choice plus and with ST I would be paying 150.00 a month. With this deal I am paying 90. So it is a hige savings.

[Dr_J]

Blackouts are actually quite simple:
1) If you live within range of a team that doesn't sell out
2) If a game is on your local station then it will be blacked out on Sunday Ticket, unless you get lucky.

I've had ST since 1999, and from 1999-2003, this was never an issue. The only way a game got blacked out would be if the home team did not sell out within 72 hours of game time, and that happened once. Otherwise, it didn't matter what was on the local channels. I knew that if I tuned into a ST game on a 700's channel, it would be there. This turned out to be huge if a game I wanted to see was the second game of a doubleheader on the local station, and the first game ran long. I could always tune in to the ST 700's channel of the broadcast and see that second game in its entirety while flipping back to see the ending of the first game if it were close. It was ST in its purest form. No worrying about blackouts. No Superfan, no player trackers, no Internet broadcasts, no DVR highlights, no other frills. Just the games, man, and a live person at the anchor desk to start it off and wrap it all up at the end of the day. It was great (and still is, to a certain extent) not being tied down to watching whatever the local channels chose to broadcast. Flipping amongst all those games, I felt like a kid in a toy store! It was so cool to watch a TD in one game, flip to another, and have the announcers say "And now for an NFL update, let's go to [whomever]" and then see a tape of that TD that I just watched live! You couldn't get that with just the local channels. You had to have ST. When I first saw that, it was so cool!

Starting in 2004, they started blacking out the ST 700's channel if the game was broadcast on the local channels, and it just stunk. I liked having all of the games clustered in the 700's for easy flipping of channels. No more. Back in 2004, I couldn't get my locals on the D* box because it was an ancient 1999 box, so I had to keep flipping back and forth between D* and local cable to see the blacked out games. Not only that, sometimes the schedule would change last minute. I remember one week where the game I wanted to see most was scheduled for a local channel, so the ST 700's channel would be blacked out. I had to go out, so I set a recording of the local channel to record the game. I got home around 7 p.m. and turned on the TV, only to find that the game on the local channel had been changed to something else, so I recorded three hours of a game I had no interest in, and the one I wanted was on the 700's channel. I could only watch the last five minutes of game clock time. That never would have been an issue from 1999-2003; I just would have recorded the 700's channel from the beginning. On other occasions, if the game I wanted was the second game of the local doubleheader, and the first game ran long, I couldn't watch the start of the second game because it was blacked out on the 700's channel. It was so frustrating. ST was getting away from the original concept of delivering wire-to-wire coverage of every single game broadcast all over the country. There would always be doubt in my mind. Would I be able to see exactly what I wanted to see when I wanted to see it? The answer was not "yes" all of the time anymore, and ST lost some of its luster for me.

Beginning in 2005, they added Superfan and all these other interactive frills while at the same jacking up the base price to close to double what I paid back in 1999. Now there's fewer games every week because of the NFL Network package and special Thursday night games like tonight's opener. I'll probably continue to pony up the fees because there's still a certain fascination for me to be able to flip amongst many games simultaneously. However, it will never be the same bliss as it was from 1999-2003, when I watched ST in its purest form--just the games, man, all of 'em, from wire to wire.

[bonscott87]

You can thank the network affiliates for the blackouts. They started whining and crying in 2003 and thus the blackouts started as you say. DirecTV of course hates blackouts and would rather not do it but they are forced to do it.

[carliii970]

To answer the original poster of this thread: Sunday Ticket is the absolute greatest invention in television history. BAR NONE! It was THE reason I originally got Directv (other than the fact it is cheaper than Charter Cable). I can't even imagine losing Sunday Ticket if, for some horrible reason, it was ever discontinued.

I don't waste my time with fantasy football BS or bet on games or anything like that. I am just a huge football junkie. I love this game and find every single NFL game to be fascinating. I could literally watch ANY NFL game and enjoy it completely.

I'm also a Cleveland Browns fan living in St. Louis. The only way for me to watch my favorite team at home is with Sunday Ticket. As I said before, the greatest television invention EVER!

:D

[joed32]

To answer the original poster of this thread: Sunday Ticket is the absolute greatest invention in television history. BAR NONE! It was THE reason I originally got Directv (other than the fact it is cheaper than Charter Cable). I can't even imagine losing Sunday Ticket if, for some horrible reason, it was ever discontinued.

I don't waste my time with fantasy football BS or bet on games or anything like that. I am just a huge football junkie. I love this game and find every single NFL game to be fascinating. I could literally watch ANY NFL game and enjoy it completely.

I'm also a Cleveland Browns fan living in St. Louis. The only way for me to watch my favorite team at home is with Sunday Ticket. As I said before, the greatest television invention EVER!

:D

Amen!!! Steeler fan in California.

[mtm2649]

The question marks comes with regard to the HD broadcasts from Sunday Ticket. Those markets that offer local HD channels should be blacked out but it doesn't seem to be consistently applied. Here in DC, our ST-HD feed is blacked out because we have local HD.

Those markets without local HD channels may have the ST-HD feed available while the ST-SD feed is blacked out. I'll let others share their experiences.

Perhaps we should start taking notes of whether ST-HD games are blacked out when the locals are showing it.


:goodjob:[/QUOTE]

Okay, I live South of Buffalo, NY and we get locals in HD except for CBS and the Bills play most of their games on CBS (all but 2). The standard definition ST bills games are always blacked out cause I get it locally but since I do not get CBS in HD the the High Definition Sunday Ticket Bills games were always available to me last year. Does anyone know if this will be the same this year? I do not see why it wouldn't be since I do not get the game locally in High Definition. Part of reason why I get Sunday Ticket is so I can watch the Bills in High Definition.

[compnurd]

Question for those in New England here. Do any of you know if they blackout the jets games(since pats are DMA)(when not playing pats of course)

[bonscott87]

Question for those in New England here. Do any of you know if they blackout the jets games(since pats are DMA)(when not playing pats of course)

No, Jets wouldn't be blacked out. NFL blackouts work much differently then other leagues.

There are only two types of blackouts:
1) If a team doesn't sell out then all zip codes within 75-90 miles get blacked out
2) If you get Sunday Ticket then any game showed on your local stations gets blacked out on Sunday Ticket so you'll need to watch them on your local station instead. Note that some markets don't get the HD version blacked out, for whatever reason, just don't count on it.

So no matter what you will get to see every single NFL game one way or another unless you live in a teams home market and they don't sell out.

[bonscott87]

So the games are here today.

SD is blacked out of course.
The HD game on my local Fox is blacked out. The HD game on my local CBS is *not* blacked out. So explain that one. ;)

So like I've been saying, count on the HD games to be blacked out, if it's not then it's a bonus.

[JMartinko]

Neither local game from FOX or CBS was blacked out in HD for me today on an HR20-700.