UPDATE: An NBC Sports spokesperson told TrustedReviews the new offering, at the expense of cable and satellite subscribers, was a result of ‘changing consumer behaviour.’
The spokesperson said: “We contemplated changing consumer behaviour and consumption when we announced our six-year extension in August 2015. With the first season (2016-17) under the new agreement recently completed, now is the right time for us to provide this new offering.”
Original story continues below…
For many prospective cord cutters, the only thing keeping them with their cable and satellite providers is access to live sports. While most of the streaming alternatives deliver everything you could hope to see with a TV and satellite subscription, that’s not the case will all of the biggest sporting events.
That’s why our eyes lit up when news of NBC Sports’ Premier League Pass for US football fans dropped on Tuesday evening.
For the lump sum of $50 you can watch 130 live matches throughout the season via the NBC Sports Gold app, which works out at 3-4 per for each round of 38 games. It’s pretty much what UK subscribers can expect from their Sky/BT subscriptions.
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The company explains in a press release: “At least three matches per Premier League club will be available as a live stream exclusively on NBC Sports Gold’s “Premier League Pass.” In addition, subscribers can access replays of most matches (including those not offered on NBC Sports Gold), and a full suite of Premier League Productions and NBC Sports original content and studio shows, plus highlight clips.”
With access to the NBC Sports Network through their cable and satellite provider, fans could also log into the NBC Sports app, which had offered live coverage of every… single… Premier League game throughout the season.
Yep. All 380 of them. Meaning you were guaranteed to be able to watch your team’s 38 league games if you had a valid login to the NBC Sports app.
Now 130 of those are being moved exclusively to the Gold platform, which is equally galling for cable subscribers, who are now faced with paying an extra $50 on top of their subscription to keep access to all games.
We’ve reached out to NBC Sports for comment… and to shout at them for not going all the way with this one.
Have you cut the cord? How are you finding life without cable and satellite? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.