ESPN Acquires The Red Zone

Mistashoesta

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On Friday, I paid about $89 for a year of live access to all NFL games from preseason through the Super Bowl, plus access to the whole library of games already played in three formats: a no-commercial full-length version, a 40-minute remove-boring-parts version, and a five-to-ten-minute highlight summary. Oh, plus the All-22. I also get NFL Network and NFL RedZone. NFL Game Pass kicks ass.

I haven't got a cent of credit-card debt, I don't need to work for other people, and I live pretty well. How 'bout you? If an expenditure on the order of $100 is too big for you, your derision of "extra bullshit" sounds to me like sour grapes.

What package did you order/subscribe to? $89 is a steal for access to that much content!
 
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RiverDog

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What package did you order/subscribe to? $89 is a steal for access to that much content!
I don't want to speak for @Lagartixa, but I think he lives in Brazil and subscribes to the international package that is not offered to US residents. If you live in the USA, the only legal way to get all NFL games live is via Sunday Ticket, of which YouTube TV has an exclusive agreement.
 

AROS

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I freaking LOVE RedZone! I live for it! When the Seahawks aren’t playing, I’m watching it. “7 hours of commercial free football…Starts NOW!”

Sundays in the Fall are couch potato time and RedZone. Ahhhhhh.
 

SoulfishHawk

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Big time. I always knock out my honey do list way before Red Zone. Followed by several countdowns til Red Zone.

All the taters, all the couches.
 

HawkFreak

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I don't want to speak for @Lagartixa, but I think he lives in Brazil and subscribes to the international package that is not offered to US residents. If you live in the USA, the only legal way to get all NFL games live is via Sunday Ticket, of which YouTube TV has an exclusive agreement.
Thanks NFL. Way to shaft the home audience that made you what you are.
 

Lagartixa

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What package did you order/subscribe to?

NFL Game Pass.

$89 is a steal for access to that much content!

It is. I have confirmed that NFL Game Pass is now only for people outside the USA. I used to frequently specify that I had "the international version" of NFL Game Pass, because it existed in the USA back in 2018 when I started subscribing. Now the "international version" is the only version, and there are other services available to people in the USA.

My guess is that the NFL is trying harder to build its audience in places like Brazil, which is why we got the utter nonsense of an actual counts-toward-the-standings NFL game in São Paulo, and why I pay a price I'm really happy to pay for what I get from NFL Game Pass.

The price I paid was R$499.90 (Brazilian reais), which was actually more like $91 than $89, but yeah, it's a kick-ass deal, and it's been that way at least since I started subscribing in 2018.

I don't want to speak for @Lagartixa, but I think he lives in Brazil and subscribes to the international package that is not offered to US residents. If you live in the USA, the only legal way to get all NFL games live is via Sunday Ticket, of which YouTube TV has an exclusive agreement.

I didn't know about Sunday Ticket being YTTV-exclusive. I did know that at some point in the last few years, my mom's best friend (with whom I've maintained contact even though Mom has been gone since 2020) was really, really happy because she was going to be able to kick Spectrum, which she calls "Rectum," out of her life, because she could get good internet service from a non-Spectrum provider and YouTube TV had all the stuff she ever wanted to watch. And I'm guessing Sunday Ticket was part of that, because I know she got more into the NFL because my mom was so into it.
 
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Jerhawk

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Toward the end of last year, Scott Hansen did have to modify his opening with “Seven hours of football start now” because they did start showing brief ads.

It is frustrating because we’re already paying for the subscription, why do they need ad revenue on top of it? Greed, of course.

Other than that, I love Redzone. It’s a great time on Sunday afternoon, especially with friends. It’s fun tracking fantasy football, watching division rivals, all of it.

ESPN will probably ruin it. What I could see happening is they slowly continue to trickle more and more commercials into it, the fans complain, so they launch an “ad free” version of Redzone for an extra fee.

Corporate greed at its finest.
 

Azvacar

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On Friday, I paid about $89 for a year of live access to all NFL games from preseason through the Super Bowl, plus access to the whole library of games already played in three formats: a no-commercial full-length version, a 40-minute remove-boring-parts version, and a five-to-ten-minute highlight summary. Oh, plus the All-22. I also get NFL Network and NFL RedZone. NFL Game Pass kicks ass.

I haven't got a cent of credit-card debt, I don't need to work for other people, and I live pretty well. How 'bout you? If an expenditure on the order of $100 is too big for you, your derision of "extra bullshit" sounds to me like sour grapes.
How about me? I travel internationally twice a year with my wife. So you know where your living well $100 can go right?

No one attacked you personally. Sit the F down.
 
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RiverDog

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Toward the end of last year, Scott Hansen did have to modify his opening with “Seven hours of football start now” because they did start showing brief ads.

It is frustrating because we’re already paying for the subscription, why do they need ad revenue on top of it? Greed, of course.

Other than that, I love Redzone. It’s a great time on Sunday afternoon, especially with friends. It’s fun tracking fantasy football, watching division rivals, all of it.

ESPN will probably ruin it. What I could see happening is they slowly continue to trickle more and more commercials into it, the fans complain, so they launch an “ad free” version of Redzone for an extra fee.

Corporate greed at its finest.
Well, corporate greed owned the Red Zone to begin with, so I don't think we can blame Wall Street. But I do agree that there's a concern that they'll do something like that to screw it up.

That's one of the big advantages of watching it as when a game on one of my other TV's goes to commercial, I always have the Red Zone to watch. It's one of the big selling points of RZ, and I doubt that they want to lose that angle when they advertise it.

What I worry about more than ads is that they'll only offer it on a Disney-owned channel like ESPN+. Fubo currently has all I want, ie ESPN, Red Zone, and Root Sports. I don't want to have to add another streaming service to my lineup.
 
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RiverDog

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I didn't know about Sunday Ticket being YTTV-exclusive. I did know that at some point in the last few years, my mom's best friend (with whom I've maintained contact even though Mom has been gone since 2020) was really, really happy because she was going to be able to kick Spectrum, which she calls "Rectum," out of her life, because she could get good internet service from a non-Spectrum provider and YouTube TV had all the stuff she ever wanted to watch. And I'm guessing Sunday Ticket was part of that, because I know she got more into the NFL because my mom was so into it.
Up until last year, Direct TV owned exclusive rights to Sunday Ticket in the US.

I expect there to be a lot of changes in the coming years. Starting in 2028, the NFL can effectively terminate most of their TV deals, so I wouldn't be surprised to see things really start to get mixed up. As long as it doesn't increase the overall cost of watching it, which so far it hasn't, I'm good with the changes.
 

Jerhawk

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Well, corporate greed owned the Red Zone to begin with, so I don't think we can blame Wall Street. But I do agree that there's a concern that they'll do something like that to screw it up.

That's one of the big advantages of watching it as when a game on one of my other TV's goes to commercial, I always have the Red Zone to watch. It's one of the big selling points of RZ, and I doubt that they want to lose that angle when they advertise it.

What I worry about more than ads is that they'll only offer it on a Disney-owned channel like ESPN+. Fubo currently has all I want, ie ESPN, Red Zone, and Root Sports. I don't want to have to add another streaming service to my lineup.
Agreed.

Regarding the last point, I also have Fubo and absolutely love it. You may already know this, but I’ll put it here anyway: Disney owns a 70% share of Fubo now after past litigation settlements.

I almost wonder if Disney will simply use Fubo’s infrastructure, combine it with Hulu TV, and rebrand it. Maybe then because Disney owns it along with ESPN, they’ll provide some sort of leg-up benefit to subscribers.

Edit: This article explains it very well and does state that Fubo would have the ability to give consumers access to ESPN+, so it wouldn’t be surprising if that eventually included Redzone.

 
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RiverDog

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Agreed.

Regarding the last point, I also have Fubo and absolutely love it. You may already know this, but I’ll put it here anyway: Disney owns a 70% share of Fubo now after past litigation settlements.

I almost wonder if Disney will simply use Fubo’s infrastructure, combine it with Hulu TV, and rebrand it. Maybe then because Disney owns it along with ESPN, they’ll provide some sort of leg-up benefit to subscribers.

Edit: This article explains it very well and does state that Fubo would have the ability to give consumers access to ESPN+, so it wouldn’t be surprising if that eventually included Redzone.

No, I wasn't aware of that, and thanks for the link to the article

However, after reading the article, it's far from a done deal. It still has to be approved by the DOJ, and there's going to be a lot of talk about Disney creating a monopoly on the streaming business. I wouldn't be surprised if the deal gets axed. It's a very competitive business now, but if one company emerges as the King of the Hill, it could be bad news for the consumer.
 

Mistashoesta

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A RedZone style format for other sports is interesting.

 

nanomoz

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I'm not a watcher of Red Zone. It feels like the Cliff Notes of football. It's certainly great for fantasy football people.

I can't give any more time to football than I already give to my utterly neurotic Seahawk fandom. I need help. Help. Me.
 

Seak

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Never paid for that crap.. will never pay for that crap

I can't imagine all the credit card debt living hippies who pay for extra bullshit

ROFL
For whatever reason I have a hard time equating hippies to football
 
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RiverDog

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I just received an email from Fubo TV that said my subscription now includes ESPN+. They haven't raised my subscription price, at least so far. It's not a huge bonus for me as about the only thing I'll watch on it that I can't see somewhere else is an exclusively live telecast of an MNF game in October. But it is the first visible change in their programming due to the acquisition by Disney.
 

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