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View Full Version : Watching Duke Basketball games without cable



opossum
05-11-2013, 10:47 PM
I apologize if this belongs in the off topic forum.

After our cable contract ran out and our rates shot up (and they of course refused to give us the new customer promo rate they sent to us in the mail last week :rolleyes:), my wife and I have been looking at cutting the cord. I determined that pretty much all of our TV demand could be met with some combination of a digital tuner, a "smart" blu-ray player or Roku-like device, and subscriptions to one or two of Amazon Prime, Netflix and/or Hulu Plus.

All except, of course, watching Duke basketball.

Has anyone figured out how to (legally) watch the Duke cable TV games without actually getting cable? I'm willing to pay an annual or per game fee (like MLB and NFL offer) but I'm not willing to move overseas (as required by ESPN Player). I'm indifferent these days to whether I'm watching a game on a tablet, computer screen, or TV. In fact I watched more games using the ESPN app this past season than I did on TV (mostly due to the mushrooming of versions of Real Housewives going on in our living room).

Will this new ACC Digital Network help?

BigWayne
05-12-2013, 02:03 AM
I apologize if this belongs in the off topic forum.

After our cable contract ran out and our rates shot up (and they of course refused to give us the new customer promo rate they sent to us in the mail last week :rolleyes:), my wife and I have been looking at cutting the cord. I determined that pretty much all of our TV demand could be met with some combination of a digital tuner, a "smart" blu-ray player or Roku-like device, and subscriptions to one or two of Amazon Prime, Netflix and/or Hulu Plus.

All except, of course, watching Duke basketball.

Has anyone figured out how to (legally) watch the Duke cable TV games without actually getting cable? I'm willing to pay an annual or per game fee (like MLB and NFL offer) but I'm not willing to move overseas (as required by ESPN Player). I'm indifferent these days to whether I'm watching a game on a tablet, computer screen, or TV. In fact I watched more games using the ESPN app this past season than I did on TV (mostly due to the mushrooming of versions of Real Housewives going on in our living room).

Will this new ACC Digital Network help?

You are an example of why the conferences are able to get these big contracts with ESPN. Live sports is the one thing that is still mostly controlled by the cable and satellite guys. The only real option is the scheme where ESPN is supplying the feeds through ISPs that make a deal with ESPN. http://espn.go.com/watchespn/affList

ForkFondler
05-12-2013, 08:46 AM
You are an example of why the conferences are able to get these big contracts with ESPN. Live sports is the one thing that is still mostly controlled by the cable and satellite guys. The only real option is the scheme where ESPN is supplying the feeds through ISPs that make a deal with ESPN. http://espn.go.com/watchespn/affList

I have an account with centurylink (not on that list) that provides EPSN3 service through Frontier (which is on that list). The major problem is that if you are in the ACC footprint, a good chunk of what you want to watch is blacked out. I often have to settle for replays.

lotusland
05-12-2013, 09:20 AM
I hope some better options turn up soon. I almost went back to cable this year solely for duke basketball. We have Netflix and Hulu for everything else. We like being in charge of what and when watch tv. Our kids have their own PCs and we have blue ray dvd players and a Wii for tv video streaming.

I watched games live in sports bars and missed some live games this year. I would pay $200 a year or more for the ability to stream acc basketball live without having to bring cable into our home. Hopefully there will soon be enough folks like me that the economics will make sense for either conferences or espn to break away from cable providers soon. It seems to me that the only networks or shows that benefit from a middle man are those that people would not pay for otherwise. Sports is in a unique position to lead the way IMO.

wilko
05-12-2013, 10:36 AM
I am in this camp too.
Once I figure a way to stream live sports I'm dropping cable.

If Swoff can figure out a way to put a ACC sports streaming option on Netflix I will be the 1st to say give tham man a statue.

I may drop cable anyway..... I might need some time away.... I get consumed by each game. Of course thats easy to say when nothing is on...

I may just cut it until the season starts and get a welcome back package. I have a bunch of offer discounts that will expire shortly. Undecided.