Is the Sunday Ticket worth it for out of town fans?

[Patsfanin Philly]

Here in Andy Reid-Jeff Lurieville, DirecTV is the only thing that keeps me sane. We moved into our house 15 years ago and I told me wife that she do whatever she wanted with the house as long as I got two things, a basketball backboard in the driveway and DirecTV for the Sunday Ticket. It's a win-win for everybody and we've been a subscriber watching the Patriots for 15 years.....The secret to a happy marriage...

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

I went without it last year, as it was my way of protesting their yearly cost, which was something around $320/yr. Unfortunately, I missed 5-6 of the Pats games as a result living here in Indiana.

This year they dropped the price to $199 per yr, so I jumped on it - really looking forward to seeing all the games this fall.

They offer $199 but sneaky take away the to go version which allowed you to watch the games on a laptop,iPad Ect:, they want $100 more for that so you really aren't saving anything.

Second thing is NEVER forget to negotiate the price,especially if you have had DTv for at least a year...I have never paid the price they ask,threaten to switch to another service company or tell them you cant afford it and they will work with you and give you a huge discount,you may have to try several times but you will succeed..I guarantee this.

The past 2 seasons I have paid just $29 a month for the ST with FREE to go option.....some have even received it FREE.

 

[jeman022004]

Do people really pay full price for Sunday ticket anymore? !

I found out a few years ago that if I call and say I can't afford it they will cut the price by at least 50% so that I stay on the auto renewal.

Here is my opinion about if it is worth it or not. When I first moved to the Baltimore area I would watch the Pats games at a sports bar. It ended up costing my friends and I at least $35/week each for food and a few beers. We would have to get there by 12:00 to be guaranteed a seat with a speaker. I decided to get the NFL Ticket and a kegerator and could not be happier. Now I can cook my own food, drink my own beer, and not have to risk a DUI. So even at $35 a week under the old price of around $300, the NFL Ticket paid for itself after 10-12 weeks. It also gives you plenty of options for games when the Pats aren't playing or during the commercials...

Now DirecTV does suck during heavy rain or snow. I missed half of the first quarter of the opening game last night due to heavy rain...Sports Bars experience the same issues...

-just my .02

 

[jeman022004]

Here is one thing I heard, but never tried. If you have family or friends in Pats territory with DirectTV, this may work. Have them order another receiver and you kick them the extra $$ it costs them a month. Take the sim card out of the new receiver and put it in one of your receivers and you can get the games as if you were local. I had a co-worker who told me he did this to get the baseball games he wanted without the cost of extra innings.

Anyone else hear about this before?

 

[scout]

After being away for a few years just switched back to Direct TV. There is no debate on quality of picture (had Comcast). The dish just blows it away. I will miss OnDemand, which is unmatched. I get to watch the Patriots every week. Time to enjoy. BTW, Sunday Ticket is free for the first year of service.

 

[Nikolai]

I thought about it before the 2007 season because I knew it would be special, but procrastinated and was lucky I did. I got almost every game anyway.

So the answer is, it depends. But most years, I'd probably do it.

 

[Boomer B]

However, DirecTV sucks. Unquestionably sucked in my experience. Poor confused customer service/inexplicable billing/snowy-why-the-he**-is-my-screen-doing-that-again suckitude of the highest order. I would rather watch Elizabeth Warren rant about bank fees while mud wrestling Eli Manning in the nude than have DirecTV in my home ever again. In my humble opinion.

In Vancouver DirectTV is not an option, we can order the NFL Sunday Ticket through our local cable company. It is in HD and there hasn't been any problems at all. Can't wait for Sunday!

 

[IndyKen]

They offer $199 but sneaky take away the to go version which allowed you to watch the games on a laptop,iPad Ect:, they want $100 more for that so you really aren't saving anything.

Second thing is NEVER forget to negotiate the price,especially if you have had DTv for at least a year...I have never paid the price they ask,threaten to switch to another service company or tell them you cant afford it and they will work with you and give you a huge discount,you may have to try several times but you will succeed..I guarantee this.

The past 2 seasons I have paid just $29 a month for the ST with FREE to go option.....some have even received it FREE.

Yes, they tried that on me when I called- I insisted I didn't need all the little extra "goodies" so I got it for the $199. Based on your great luck negotiating w/them, I will be pressing them hard next year come renewal time.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

They offer $199 but sneaky take away the to go version which allowed you to watch the games on a laptop,iPad Ect:, they want $100 more for that so you really aren't saving anything.

Second thing is NEVER forget to negotiate the price,especially if you have had DTv for at least a year...I have never paid the price they ask,threaten to switch to another service company or tell them you cant afford it and they will work with you and give you a huge discount,you may have to try several times but you will succeed..I guarantee this.

The past 2 seasons I have paid just $29 a month for the ST with FREE to go option.....some have even received it FREE.

i took your suggestion and negotiated down to the $199 this year. why would i want to watch it on my i pad when i have a 60" hdtv.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Yes, they tried that on me when I called- I insisted I didn't need all the little extra "goodies" so I got it for the $199. Based on your great luck negotiating w/them, I will be pressing them hard next year come renewal time.

Call as much as you can Ken and speak to as many service representatives until you get a price like mine that you feel is reasonable....just tell them how much you enjoy being a customer and how much you enjoy the ST but you are having some financial issues and hope they can keep you entertained in their awesome football package.

Be as polite as possible and say yes Ma'am or yes sir and laugh and joke with them like they are your best friend.

I should receive an academy award for portraying a poor and pathetic,yet polite individual as I sound to them on the phone,every year...you would swear I rehearsed it...but in real life I am total opposite of those traits

 

[Patjew]

How could the answer be "no"? When I was in Asia I would have spent ungodly sums for Sunday Ticket if it was an option.

Unless the option is "food or football", this is a no-brainer.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

i took your suggestion and negotiated down to the $199 this year. why would i want to watch it on my i pad when i have a 60" hdtv.

For me,I am almost never home on sundays....Usually working at my store on sundays in november and december or at different casinos in PA/NY and having it available on my ipad 2 or iMac is essential.

 

[fumbrunner]

meh... There are all sorts of internet streams. catching the game is not as difficult as it was a few years ago. Redzone is a great selling feature however.

 

[AzPatsFan]

After I moved away in 1985, and gave up my season's tickets, I've gone through all kinds of hoops to watch the Pats.

Does anyone remember the big dishes and trying to find the pirate network feeds? Inevitably the networks would change stations and satellites once or twice, without warning, so more mid-game searches tossed in for chuckles. I do, and would like to forget those days.

I tried going to the Pats Club at a local bar. It was good camaderie, but a lousy place to actually watch the game. Plus there were the were outrageous food and bar prices. Then the Club moved to the other end of Phoenix, an hour away.

I've had Sunday ticket from the first moment it was available, and the only time I thought about doing without is this years new offer for the post game Coaches tape on NFL.com, for a very modest fee. But Sunday ticket is what I have, and what I will continue to have, (and maybe the Coaches tape too?).

 

[jmt57]

I guess I am in a different situation than most, with two Pats sports bars available neaby as an option. I had the Sunday Ticket for a long time but gave it up several years ago because I can go there and watch the games not televised locally with a bunch of other great fans.

As for the streaming option I gave up on that long ago. I have found them to be completely unreliable and between all the pop up ads that continually appear and screen freezing at inopportune times it is so annoying that it makes the game unwatchable.

At the time when I gave up DirecTV they didn't seem to put up much of a fight but from what I have read on various sites they seem to be much more agressive now in negotiating prices in order to retain you as a customer - so going back to them is certainly something I would consider in the near future. The local CBS channel (I'm in the Tampa area) used to be much better about showing the best available game; the last couple of years they have decided to show Miami games whenever possible. I really don't know why since there seem to be almost no Dolphin fans in the area; there are far more Pats, Steelers, Jets, Giants, even Bills and Browns fans from what I can see. The decision seems to be rather short sighted, based on what AFC team is nearest (Miami is about 3 1/2 hours away).

 

[Zeus]

I would rather watch Elizabeth Warren rant about bank fees while mud wrestling Eli Manning in the nude than have DirecTV in my home ever again. In my humble opinion.

I'm pretty sure that have that on several channels although it's not really Elizabeth Warren. Can't say for sure about Eli.

 

[jsho]

How could the answer be "no"? When I was in Asia I would have spent ungodly sums for Sunday Ticket if it was an option.

Unless the option is "food or football", this is a no-brainer.

For me its a no. I guess it just depends whats available around you.

I had Sunday Ticket in 2009 and there was maybe 4 or 5 games that werent shown on my regular channels. Since then its been the same, and for the games not on my cable I went to a sports bar to watch, and spent under $20 for food/drink.

Sunday Ticket here is $220 so 4 or 5 games at a bar is a bit cheaper anyway. I switched my provider this year however and I get CBS Boston and FOX Boston now. So I should be getting every Pats game just through my cable now.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Last year I debated getting ST because the Pats rarely had any 1pm games and most of the 4pm and obviously national night games involving them was available and seen everywhere for free.

This year its back to primary 1pm games and ST is a must for any Pats fan living south of Massachusetts.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

My only complaint is when the networks shows the Pats game on my local stations, then directv blacks out the Sunday Ticket Pats game. A few times, usually in Pats blow outs, the network will switch to a more exciting less blow out type game and I don't have anywhere to go to watch the remainder of the Pats game. It takes a few minutes for sunday ticket to catch up and let me continue to watch the Pats. If anyone is old enough to remember "Heidi", you know what I am talking about.

 

[chicowalker]

No brainer for me (live in CA). I went to bars for years but hated it. For starters, 10AM just isn't a time I want to be at a bar. But the bigger issue was not knowing which TV the game was going to be on, how large that TV would be / how close the seating, and whether there'd be sound.

I'll take the home option, whether at full price or the negotiated down price -- great picture, full sound, get to pause and re-wind whenever I want.