Has anyone here bought NBA League Pass?

[Dreadnought]

I was thinking about getting it next season but could not find anything from a Kings fan's point of view. Any opinions on the service? Especially for Kings games? Do most of the games air or are many of them blacked out? Thanks a ton.

 

[upinsmoke]

Yes two years in a row because of business travel and it will surely be my last. Tons of technical problems on their end and blackouts, if the game is on nbatv BLACKOUT if it's on national tv BLACKOUT and their customer "support" is amongst the worst I have came across. I tried to pick up the Warriors for one of my five teams and they wanted me to upgrade my service… NO WAY. My advice is to stay away.

 

[Krunker]

I've had the opposite experience, I really like NBA League Pass Broadband. As an Aggie in Alaska the only games that are blacked out for me are when it's on NBA TV or TNT, which lately is pretty rare. So pretty much I have been able to watch almost every Kings game and the online delivery is pretty smooth if you have a decent broadband connection. Once in a while there are "technical difficulties" and I have to restart the stream. I've also been able to follow some other teams, like the Warriors and Pacers. I didn't have to upgrade anything, I got to follow my 5 selected teams.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Agree with Krunker, disagree with upinsmoke. BUT... as I look at your profile, you may want to give more weight to upinsmoke's opinion than mine:

The thing about League Pass is that the real benefit comes from being able to follow out-of-market teams. I live in Georgia, and before that, I lived in Virginia. If I want to legally watch Kings games, then there is no alternative to League Pass. But, I also follow teams that are not the Kings, too: it should come as no surprise to anyone who's been here awhile that I have been following the Pelicans all season. And, just like with the Kings, there is no legal alternative to League Pass for watching Pelicans games in Georgia.

Here's the thing, though: I can see from your profile that you live in Sacramento. If you are only thinking about League Pass as an option in terms of viewing Kings games, then it's probably not a sound investment. Any Kings games will be blacked out on League Pass, for anyone who lives in CSN-CA and/or News10's broadcast footprint. Now, if there's a team that's not in Northern California, that you also want to follow, or if you're a basketball junkie, who would happily watch any NBA game, just because, then League Pass would be a sound investment, that pays for itself in a month. But, if you live in Sacramento, and are only concerned with Kings games, I wouldn't do it.

 

[Dreadnought]

Thank you for the input. I believe I will be in the bay area at the start of next season so I'll have to see with bay area friends if Kings are blacked out there.

Also, if you get the broadband package (with the 5 teams), do you receive all the playoff games for all the teams once playoffs start? Or are you only limited to the 5 teams (and if they make playoffs?).

Thanks a ton!

 

[HighFlyingMonkey]

Thank you for the input. I believe I will be in the bay area at the start of next season so I'll have to see with bay area friends if Kings are blacked out there.

Also, if you get the broadband package (with the 5 teams), do you receive all the playoff games for all the teams once playoffs start? Or are you only limited to the 5 teams (and if they make playoffs?).

Thanks a ton!

I'm in the Bay Area and I have the Select LP option. So I have five teams, but I don't have time to follow other teams besides the Kings for full games (I do watch a lot of film on Synergy which is a godsend because it splices together exactly what I want to see).

Basically, Warriors games are blacked out, National TV (including NBATV) games are blacked out, and Lakers games are blacked out. If you want to watch Kings games with decent quality its the only route to go. The service has been pretty reliable for me this year, but the past years were riddled with technical difficulties. I'm still frustrated with stupid blackout rules though.

As for playoffs, I think all of those games are nationally televised, so League Pass ends its coverage before the playoffs start.

 

[bubulina]

Being in Turkey not a single game is blacked out. So my experience is positive. But if you live in the states, I understand you should be very careful before committing.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

I've had it since is existence. I don't remember when that was, exactly.

I'll keep it short. The service itself is garbage. I don't know if it's the NBA, Verizon, or both, but only 6 channels are dedicated to league pass on Verizon ( think it's different for each cable provider ) so when more than 6 games are on a given night, I don't get all of them on my TV. Kings usually play late, or 'last' so I get all the east coast games, and miss about 15-20 Kings games a year on my TV.

Which forces me to watch those games on league pass broadband, which is an absolute mess, and I have some of the best internet Verizon can provide. Skipping. Random Rewinding. Stuttering Stream at times, 'technical difficulties' ... I eventually get the whole game in, but it's a hassle. I'm also on a Mac. I'm sure that doesn't help.

I'm going to continue to buy it every year, but I never feel good about it.

 

[Chupacabra]

League Pass is totally worth it. I have it through direct tv. 90% of the time you can chose which teams broadcast you prefer to watch.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I'll keep it short. The service itself is garbage. I don't know if it's the NBA, Verizon, or both, but only 6 channels are dedicated to league pass on Verizon ( think it's different for each cable provider )...

Must be. When I was stationed in HI (Time-Warner), there were ten dedicated League Pass channels. When I was stationed in WA (Roadrunner/Qwest), there were ten channels. When I lived in VA (Cox), there were ten channels. And, living here in GA (U-Verse), there are also ten channels.

Maybe you're just unlucky?

 

[Hadlowe]

Being in Turkey not a single game is blacked out. So my experience is positive. But if you live in the states, I understand you should be very careful before committing.

I get Memphis games blacked out, even though Canada is technically closer to me than Memphis. Do your homework before you sign up.

 

[kingsboi]

NBA League Pass is definently worth the money, it's a good investment. They also replay the games just in case you don't get a chance to catch them.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Must be. When I was stationed in HI (Time-Warner), there were ten dedicated League Pass channels. When I was stationed in WA (Roadrunner/Qwest), there were ten channels. When I lived in VA (Cox), there were ten channels. And, living here in GA (U-Verse), there are also ten channels.

Maybe you're just unlucky?

Hah. It's been worse. Before I had Verizon I had Dish Network. This was before League Pass Broadband was part of the package, and theyhad about 4 channels, none of which were in HD.