How can out-of-state fans watch the Pats in 2014?

SB39 said:

I have always wondered how people in Canada watch the NFL (and I mean, like, at home on TV, not over a computer internet connection). Do they have the Sunday games like we here in the States do? Is there a Canadian equivalent of DirecTV Sunday Ticket?

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According to the Directv Sunday Ticket wiki page, subscribers in Canada can receive it through their regular cable provider, as well as several satellite providers, but who knows considering the poor reputation that wiki has in being right.

supafly said:

According to the Directv Sunday Ticket wiki page, subscribers in Canada can receive it through their regular cable provider, as well as several satellite providers, but who knows considering the poor reputation that wiki has in being right.

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That sounds reasonable. From what I've heard, the NFL in other countries is the polar opposite as in the U.S. Here, the NFL can essentially bully the networks since the networks are so desperate for the NFL. In other countries it is the other way around (or so I've heard - I have no personal experience with it).

who needs to WATCH the game when you can log on here and go directly to the GAMEDAY THREAD?

oh..wait...bad idea...very very bad idea...sorry...

SB39 said:

That sounds reasonable. From what I've heard, the NFL in other countries is the polar opposite as in the U.S. Here, the NFL can essentially bully the networks since the networks are so desperate for the NFL. In other countries it is the other way around (or so I've heard - I have no personal experience with it).

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I think you are correct, since it appears that there are regular cable providers who offer it in Mexico as well.

Tangent, I know, but let's just take a moment to reflect on how stupid this is. That we're all, to one degree or another, sitting here willing to take money out of our wallet and give it to the NFL to watch something that others watch for free and we can't without jumping through hoops which quickly close.

I know why it is this way, contracts and what not, but it's still really stupid.

supafly said:

I think you are correct, since it appears that there are regular cable providers who offer it in Mexico as well.

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I did a little research and you're right about all the providers offering it, but I stumbled upon an article that said it has to be available for all providers in order to be compliant with Canadian anti-trust laws - which I think is kind of funny because I always wondered how the league gets around the American anti-trust laws in giving DirecTV a monopoly.

wtf are you guys saying no more free nfl gamepass overseas?

it's too late at night to post much info, but that one vpn dude had it about right.
what you can do to simplify it a bit is just run a proxy through firefox settings, or whatever --- get the proxy ip through a search for free proxy lists.

I'm gonna cry if I find out there's no free gamepass anywhere on the globe.
gamepass was almost as awesome as a shirtless tom brady

I asked this specifically and was told "no" and then "yes" by a different person.

It sounds like 7/16 is the day they release new pricing options

fnordcircle said:

Tangent, I know, but let's just take a moment to reflect on how stupid this is. That we're all, to one degree or another, sitting here willing to take money out of our wallet and give it to the NFL to watch something that others watch for free and we can't without jumping through hoops which quickly close.

I know why it is this way, contracts and what not, but it's still really stupid.

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Your avatar looks like McGinest is giving someone the money shot.

KontradictioN said:

Your avatar looks like McGinest is giving someone the money shot.

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Finally.

Probably most Patsfans posters are smart (that is why they are Pats fans) tech savvy youngsters (at least compared to me) who grew up with an IPAD under their pillow.

If there are any other old-farts reading this thread who don't live in the area and are thinking "wow, this sounds complicated", I was pretty happy with just watching the games the day after on NFL.com Rewind for $70 per year, and they looked amazing.

That necessitates that you wait until the day after, so I would either be careful to not check sports websites until the day after, or sometimes I would follow the game on Patsfans.com in real time (no joke, Joker).

I'm not saying that is the best way, but it was simplest for me and didn't require that I get a Playstation, change my TV service, etc.

Joker said:

who needs to WATCH the game when you can log on here and go directly to the GAMEDAY THREAD?

oh..wait...bad idea...very very bad idea...sorry...

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There's a whole lot of complicated measures I would take to avoid the possibility of getting spoiled on the outcome of a game.

You don't cut corners when it comes to your team.

SB39 said:

I did a little research and you're right about all the providers offering it, but I stumbled upon an article that said it has to be available for all providers in order to be compliant with Canadian anti-trust laws - which I think is kind of funny because I always wondered how the league gets around the American anti-trust laws in giving DirecTV a monopoly.

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DirecTV doesn't have a monopoly. The NFL does. NFL Sunday Ticket is owned by the NFL. DirecTV is the go-between for the NFL and it's fans.. A contractor. The NFL put Sunday Ticket out for bid and DirecTV came back as the highest bidder.

DaBruinz said:

DirecTV doesn't have a monopoly. The NFL does. NFL Sunday Ticket is owned by the NFL. DirecTV is the go-between for the NFL and it's fans.. A contractor. The NFL put Sunday Ticket out for bid and DirecTV came back as the highest bidder.

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And yet when MLB tried to do the exact same thing 7 years ago, Congress threatened to step in and that effort, led in large part by our very own John Kerry, put a halt to the whole thing.

supafly said:

That's a great question SC. From what I understand, Directv wasn't all that hot on the idea last year since it's obviously their bread and butter to reel in new subscribers (it worked on me), so I wouldn't bank on it. That said, someone was mentioning something about either PS3 or Xbox 360 through the stream. I've heard both in this thread alone, so I'm not sure which is correct.

EDIT: I tried to dig around a bit with some "Sunday Ticket to go without Directv 2014" searches on the web, and I can't find a solid answer anywhere. Let me know if you find out.

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My best guess as to the reason why we haven't seen much of an answer on anything is because DirecTV is currently in the process of being acquired by ATT (pending approval from regulators and others). Part of what that deal hinges on is DirecTV maintaining the exclusive rights to the NFL, as its contract runs up fairly soon, at the end of the 2014-2015 season. So in my view, I think they have bigger fish to fry and aren't concerned with any new offering besides what they already have, and as we know....that's a little too pricey and inconvenient for most of us.

http://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/2av1jc/last_year_madden_25_anniversary_edition_included/

Relevant reddit thread about Sunday Ticket w/o Direct TV.

Looks like Sunday Ticket & Red Zone are coming back to video game consoles and mobile devices:

https://nflst.directv.com/DTVAPP/nflws/index.jsp

Directv announced some streaming options today for the Sunday Ticket for non-Directv customers.

Blaizer said:

Directv announced some streaming options today for the Sunday Ticket for non-Directv customers.

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Are these options available in Canada?

Hi All,
Just wanted to update you on my post from previously about getting the gamepass for overseas folks. See my original post at http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/threads/how-can-out-of-state-fans-watch-the-pats-in-2014.1110744/page-2#post-3853175


I'm currently watching the game online and it's working flawlessly. All I need to do is fire up the VPN to initially load the NFL.com page (which won't load for US IP's) and then once it's loaded, you can disconnect. This will allow you to have great quality. Here are some screenshots of the quality I'm seeing right now. The only potential hangup seems to be the NFL's ****ty website itself being unable to handle a high load. Let me know if you have any questions!