Cancelling Bally Sports and moving back to pirated streaming

I see tons of complaints on this board about Ballysports, so there’s obviously a big issue. Luckily it’s never been a problem for me.

I login and stream through the Ballysports app on my tv or phone, and I’ve never had an issue. I stream pretty much every single game if I’m not in attendance, and it works pretty flawlessly. I have WAY more problems streaming ESPN+.

I’m legit curious why it differs so much for different users.

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I login and stream through the Ballysports app on my tv or phone, and I’ve never had an issue.

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Same here.
I usually watch on a RokuTv. have watched a few on my AndroidTv recently with no issues, and i'm watching on my desktop right now with no issues. Never have issues watching on my phone either.

I think some people don't want to accept that the problem is with their internet.

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What device do you use? I know on FireTV I had to reauthenticate the app way too often in the trial week.

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I had this issue, then I deleted the app and re-installed it. I used to get the "unauthorized" error a lot and I haven't received in in months since deleting and re-installing.

I use multiple devices, iPhone, Apple Tv, FireStick, and Samsung Smart Tv app.

The TV app on my Android TV is unusable. Constantly has audio/video sync issues and problems with the screen randomly zooming in 50x and having to reset it multiple times per game. The phone app functions better and I just airplay it to my TV but it has some stuttering issues and I have to reset it probably 2 or 3 times a game usually because of it freezing and not loading properly.

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Pels and other organizations should be ashamed for saddling fans with such a dogshit streaming partner, especially at a time when we're desperately trying to attract eyeballs.

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Bally's met none of the Pels stated objectives and they did meet with NBCSports. There has to be a reason they stuck with Bally's and the thing that stands out about their deal is the short length with multiple opt outs. The Pels prioritized a short deal because the TV landscape is changing sooner than later.

Major League Baseball hired a long time Regional Sports Network exec last week and the job he's tasked with is figuring out how to create one package for consumers out of the different national and local rights. LINK It's still may be a year or 2 away, but I think change is coming, simply because it has too or you'll have too many customers getting used to pirating.

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I think some people don't want to accept that the problem is with their internet.

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This is the issue a lot less than some think. My parents for example, have horrible internet so for them that’s definitely part of the issue. I have great internet, cut the cord years ago, stream everything and the only issue I have ever had is with the Ballys app and the LSU Gold app. If I watch on my phone or iPad I have zero issues. It’s all about how you’re trying to consume it.

NBALeague Pass has been Goat as an out of market fan

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NBALeague Pass has been Goat as an out of market fan

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League Pass's biggest problem is blackouts. In my area (Toronto) about 35% of Pels games are blacked out.

We have 2 local sports networks, that share NBA games about 50/50, and NBA TV a few games per season. It looks like those networks are showing more Pels games this year, probably because of the noise we made last year and Zion returning. I would be willing to pay more for League Pass and have zero blackouts. When I do watch a live game on League Pass it is EXCELLENT.

The other problem with League Pass, is the archived games. Starting this season they are doing an absolute dismal job of editing. They have totally cut out the approximately 10 minutes before tip off, when you get the pre-game chit chat and starting line ups (and no Jen!!!). Then throughout the game, they do cut out commercials, but the lead out to the commercials and lead in from the commercials are usually cut out. Sometimes when they come back on from a commercial, they miss the first few seconds of the game!!! Sometimes they have Jen's after game interview. When she is doing an interview, sometimes they will abruptly end the broadcast halfway through her interview. Duh!!! I swear the NBA has cheap'd out and contracted out the archive editing to a grade 7 middle school AV club.

Lastly, in archived games, the play bar (which should disappear after a few seconds) remains on screen (superimposed over three quarters of the score clock bar) while the game is playing, so it makes it virtually impossible to read the clock, shot clock and the score.

Don't even get me started on how the NBA didn't auto-renew my account as they have done for years now, and I had to set up a new account and the new account wouldn't let me login for several games. Then, to add injury to insult, after I paid FULL price for the year, they offered League Pass for 50% off around Black Friday. I called them and they refused to give me the same deal.

So if you watch a LIVE game (if it's not blacked out), League Pass is great. Other than that, the archived games and their administrative systems have been a complete MESS this season. Rant over ...

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I think some people don't want to accept that the problem is with their internet.

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Probably hard for you to believe, but issues can exist for others even if you're unaffected.

Early in the season, the TV app wouldn't work most of the time on my Firetv stick (new model 4k). AT&T Fiber internet for me, and all my other TV streaming apps worked. The Bally website also worked on my laptop.

The problem likely was the Bally app for my firetv. It managed not to work in multiple, bizarre ways.

I ended up downloading the Bally app on my tv's native smart platform (Samsung) and now use the app there without problems. I still use my firetv stick for everything else, because the layout of Samsung's smart hub sucks, so it's a hassle but whatever.

The Bally app for Firetv does seem to work better lately the few times I've tried it, but I've had it with that route. Based on my past frustration with the app, I don't have faith in Bally and understand the hate.

I have watched every game through my AppleTV connected to my television and haven't had a single problem. My buddy who I shared my login info with is doing the same with no issues.