Let’s Talk About NBA League Pass

koufax32

He'll cry if he wants to...
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2006
9,092
Duval
I’m interested in the computer, IPad, mobile device version. Any problems with the streams? What about splitting? Doing so with MLB EI has been awesome with no splitting problems. Users, what’s your advice?
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Dec 24, 2002
48,205
Agreed with Dr Zoolight.Space. No splitting problems here and the stream works fine. As always, there are slight lags versus sat or cable feeds.
 

gingerbreadmann

Member
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Mar 11, 2008
750
I just signed up for a split last night, 11 people so it's only $18 per person for the year. Tested it out on a few devices (phone, laptop, Xbox, Samsung TV) during the preseason games and they all were crisp streams with no lag. I'm thinking this is a steal if you can get enough people together -- I don't think there are "discounts" other than that.

P.S. It appears that buying through cable and through NBA.com are separate services -- you have to buy through cable to activate the League Pass TV channels that become available when they do the free previews at the beginning of the year and post-ASG. From what I was able to tell, if you buy through TV you can activate it to watch on digital platforms, but not vice versa. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
 

riboflav

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Jan 20, 2006
9,579
NOVA
Some other things to consider:

The downside with buying via cable (I have Directv) is that you do not have the option to purchase a single team which is much cheaper (119.99 for the season) than buying the entire league.

I also believe (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that the downside to buying online via the NBA is that it does not give you automatic access to NBAtv unlike buying through cable.

I'm weighing buying online and only on a game-by-game basis. The Celtics have a lot nationally televised games this year and I tend to be quite busy in the winter. I think in years past the cost has been about $7 per game.
 

h8mfy

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
336
Orange County, CA
League Pass subscribers are also eligible to watch one game a week in VR, and all games in 2D on their Samsung Gear and Google Daydream VR headsets, expanding on what was done last year. Here's a link to a story with details:

https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/12/heres-the-list-of-nba-games-that-will-be-streamed-in-vr-this-season/

Full disclosure - I recently joined the company that produces these games, and spent yesterday with the team shaking out the truck before the first broadcast next Saturday. As an NBA partner, we had crews at the recent game in Shanghai, and will be at the Warriors ring ceremony (these will not be live in VR, only VOD or in packages). I'd be really interested in anyone's feedback on their experience with this, either here or via PM.

Edit - if you go to our app, you can get a sense of what the VR coverage looks like via highlights from last season.
 

LondonSox

Robert the Deuce
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
8,956
North Bay California
i'm probably getting a samsung and may well try the VR stuff out and assuming i do i'll for sure try the NBA and let you know
I called Directv to subscribe and was told I was already subscribed and it was free so... that's nice
 

h8mfy

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
336
Orange County, CA
i'm probably getting a samsung and may well try the VR stuff out and assuming i do i'll for sure try the NBA and let you know
I called Directv to subscribe and was told I was already subscribed and it was free so... that's nice

Thanks - we were on the sidelines for the Packers/Vikings today, and have a highlights show up now (the NFL is a partner but has not gone as far as NBA in terms of giving access and carriage rights). We're doing four other games later in the year, including Pats vs. Chargers on the 29th. Boxing and soccer (behind the goal highlights) look good, too. Any input is welcome and appreciated.
 

NWsoxophile

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Jul 31, 2006
4,313
PDX OR
Some here are saying the stream is good. I'm finding it a little choppy, not terribly so, but just enough to find it distracting. Anyone else's stream like this? Any tips for smoothing it out?
 

pjheff

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Jan 4, 2003
1,296
Some here are saying the stream is good. I'm finding it a little choppy, not terribly so, but just enough to find it distracting. Anyone else's stream like this? Any tips for smoothing it out?
I had the League Pass for the last two years. I found that it streamed seamlessly on my iPad but was really choppy through my PS4. I hoped that the NBA would get this problem sorted out, as I have had no such issues with MLB or NFL streaming services. I even allowed my subscription to renew automatically, banking on their ability to make a better app in 2017, but I continued to experience extreme lagging in Game 1. Ultimately, I cancelled League Pass and bought the package on DirecTV. It's more money and less versatile, but it much more reliably delivers the content as I consume it.
 

NWsoxophile

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Jul 31, 2006
4,313
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I had the League Pass for the last two years. I found that it streamed seamlessly on my iPad but was really choppy through my PS4. I hoped that the NBA would get this problem sorted out, as I have had no such issues with MLB or NFL streaming services. I even allowed my subscription to renew automatically, banking on their ability to make a better app in 2017, but I continued to experience extreme lagging in Game 1. Ultimately, I cancelled League Pass and bought the package on DirecTV. It's more money and less versatile, but it much more reliably delivers the content as I consume it.
I wouldn't say it's really choppy for me, it's watchable, but just choppy enough to be annoying. I'm streaming it with a 5G network on a brand new imac, so I'm a bit surprised the stream isn't picture perfect. I would much rather order the tv package, but I happen to be living somewhere at the moment where my only option for a cable provider is Charter Spectrum, who for some unfathomable reason doesn't offer League Pass. It's aggravating AF.
 
Aug 24, 2017
397
Damn; I'm sorry to hear that. This year so far I've watched it on my mac which is about 5 years old and my television through Roku and the stream has been perfect.
 

riboflav

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Jan 20, 2006
9,579
NOVA
Been watching the free preview on the NBA apps on my Roku stick. It's very good but it seems to kick me out of the app every hour. It'll exit the app and go to Roku's home page. Doesn't log me out though.

Is this the app crashing? I'm able to go right back in. Or could it be something with settings, that if I'm idle for an hour, it'll exit the app?
 

Greenwell982

New Member
Sep 5, 2005
163
Brooklyn
Been watching the free preview on the NBA apps on my Roku stick. It's very good but it seems to kick me out of the app every hour. It'll exit the app and go to Roku's home page. Doesn't log me out though.

Is this the app crashing? I'm able to go right back in. Or could it be something with settings, that if I'm idle for an hour, it'll exit the app?
Have the same issue too. Thought it was just me. If it persists, I plan to get in touch with support. Something similar happened to the MLB app as well and Roku support told me that sometimes the latest release is buggy for Roku specifically and will crash. There is a way to revert to the previous update, or you can uninstall/reinstall, but I never had to go that far as it seemed to fix itself (presumably with the fixed update).
 

Spelunker

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Jul 17, 2005
11,862
Really not loving that they blackout "national broadcast games" when they're on NBA TV.
 

gingerbreadmann

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Mar 11, 2008
750
Really not loving that they blackout "national broadcast games" when they're on NBA TV.
I thought I could get past this but I have quickly realized it is going to infuriate me constantly for the next 5 months. Thankfully, the league is very entertaining top to bottom, but NBA TV has all the premier games that are one rung below national TV (or the best games on non-national TV nights). These games make up a massive part of the reason to buy League Pass in the first place.

Also, does anyone else watch on a Samsung Smart TV? The app will work fine for one continuous session, but as soon as I flip to cable or any other app for even a minute or two, the NBA app will be frozen and useless when I flip back to it, every single time. There is no way to restart or force quit Samsung apps, and it's a "default app" so it can't be uninstalled, so I have to get up and unplug the TV every time I want to switch back to LP.

This is so close to a perfect product. And I know the Samsung issues lie partially with Samsung. But fuck, man, this is going to be annoying as hell.
 

gingerbreadmann

Member
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Mar 11, 2008
750
I use reddit to find streams all the time, the issue is not finding backup streams (incidentally, I used one to watch the end of Cavs/Bucks last night) but playing it on a device that is not a laptop. That is ostensibly the big advantage of buying League Pass. Casting from a computer stream to the TV is pretty finicky and unreliable especially when compared to official built-in TV apps. I've also had plenty of good experiences doing that, but you just hope you're paying for something that works predictably well every time with minimal effort. Maybe a Chromecast or Roku HDMI stick is the answer, but still frustrating that it doesn't just work like it should.
 

Spelunker

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 17, 2005
11,862
I wouldn't say it's really choppy for me, it's watchable, but just choppy enough to be annoying. I'm streaming it with a 5G network on a brand new imac, so I'm a bit surprised the stream isn't picture perfect. I would much rather order the tv package, but I happen to be living somewhere at the moment where my only option for a cable provider is Charter Spectrum, who for some unfathomable reason doesn't offer League Pass. It's aggravating AF.
For me, at least, it's absolutely horrible today: the stream isn't even choppy, it just freezes and/or cuts around to different points of the game. Like, it'll just jump 30 seconds forward, then freeze, then play then immediately jump forward again.

Even though I'm paying for this I'm actually switching to a reddit stream.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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Aug 12, 2009
10,103
For me, at least, it's absolutely horrible today: the stream isn't even choppy, it just freezes and/or cuts around to different points of the game. Like, it'll just jump 30 seconds forward, then freeze, then play then immediately jump forward again.
Trying to watch on mobile with wifi today, same experience.
 

NWsoxophile

Member
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Jul 31, 2006
4,313
PDX OR
For me, at least, it's absolutely horrible today: the stream isn't even choppy, it just freezes and/or cuts around to different points of the game. Like, it'll just jump 30 seconds forward, then freeze, then play then immediately jump forward again.

Even though I'm paying for this I'm actually switching to a reddit stream.
It's the same for me.