OT: Sports Fans without Cable

[Sicilian]

Hi guys,

Looking for some insight from some fellow sports fans. I've recently made the decision to cut the cord, and go without cable. I don't think I've watched live TV (outside of sports) in over a month. Almost all of my media is streaming nowadays.

This causes a conundrum with sports though. The Patriots (which are the most important) I'm not worried about, because the majority of the games are on CBS, Fox, or NBC, and I can get those channels with an HD Antenna, which I've had success with. The odd Monday night game I can either go to a bar or a friend's house.

But for baseball or hockey, I'm stumped. There are streaming subscriptions you can get, but they blackout anything that's televised locally. I'm not actually a Bruins fan (don't ask), so that one's fine during the regular season, but that means no playoff hockey, or any Red Sox.

Anyone else have experience with this? Any tips or tricks for getting the local teams or tricking the streaming services into thinking you're not local?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ivan]

Good idea for a thread, my cable bill is at $250 a month and I'm getting ready to make serious changes to how I get my sports. Im looking forward to the suggestions here.

 

[oldrover]

I've stopped paying my power bill... I would like suggestions on where to get free electricity.

 

[sb1]

VPN proxy services are good for making your location something it is not but I don't know if it would work for something like MLB TV.

 

[Kontradiction]

Get a fire stick and jailbreak it with Kodi. You then get a lot of free sports apps where you can stream every game. That's the best option for users without cable. Exodus is also on there and it has every television show and movie you can think of. The only thing you need is an internet connection.

 

[jboston19]

We are in the process of cutting the cord, as well. We picked up an antenna that actually arrives today for the basic stations and national broadcasts.but basically, I was planning on going to a bar or restaurant for any can't miss games that I normally couldn't see.

 

[varjao]

I'm thinking about not only cutting the cord but cutting the TV's around the house too.

I only watch sports (NFL, MLB, NBA and Tennis) and a few movie channels with shows or movies I've already watched a thousand times like House MD, etc...

It's a big distraction. I've decided to go deep on some studies I need to do, so I did a little bit of a renovation on my apartment and my old bedroom I transformed into a home office/home studio for my things, without TV.

But I kept living on my living room watching TV so I decided to cut the sports channels, I didn't pull the trigger yet but it's on the pipeline. But then, if I cut the sports channels, I will have very little TV time (which is a good thing) as I said with a movie here or there, I already use Netflix on my Ipad most of the time. So why not cut the cord after all. But then, having only the free to air tv channels that I have here, it's a total waste of time as there is absolutely nothing worth watch it. So I might as well throw away all these soon to be jurassic equipment knows as Television. It's a big step, after all you have visits, etc..but since I live alone **** it. When I get into the family stage then I'll be adapted to not watch TV so the other people in the house can have their TV time all they want. The problem is that right now to make this transition it's like quit smoking, needs to be abrupt. I actually know people who already did this move.

Back to the OP, since I do not live in the US I sign the NFL gamepass and I can have the similar products of the MLB and NBA if I want.

 

[Sicilian]

Back to the OP, since I do not live in the US I sign the NFL gamepass and I can have the similar products of the MLB and NBA if I want.

Yeah, and I understand why they want to restrict local games, because of their deals with the cable companies. It's just unfortunate because unless you're out of the area (like you), the streaming services really work against you.

Get a fire stick and jailbreak it with Kodi. You then get a lot of free sports apps where you can stream every game. That's the best option for users without cable. Exodus is also on there and it has every television show and movie you can think of. The only thing you need is an internet connection.

I'm relatively tech savvy, is jailbreaking a Fire Stick pretty simple? Something I could do with a properly focused Google search?

 

[Sicilian]

I've stopped paying my power bill... I would like suggestions on where to get free electricity.

 

[Ivan]

I've stopped paying my power bill... I would like suggestions on where to get free electricity.

The sun.

 

[Sicilian]

I've stopped paying my power bill... I would like suggestions on where to get free electricity.

All kidding aside, if this was a serious "eyebrow raise", keep in mind I never said I needed the sports for free. I simply don't want to pay for 800 channels I don't watch just for a few baseball games. I'd be willing to pay the streaming fee, but they don't let you watch the local teams. My question has to do with logistics, not cost.

 

[Nunchucks]

I just stopped watching baseball, basketball, and hockey. The playoffs are usually on network television, so no big deal.

 

[bbobbo]

I'm relatively tech savvy, is jailbreaking a Fire Stick pretty simple? Something I could do with a properly focused Google search?

you don't have to jailbreak, just sideload. yes, it's easy:

Sideload Kodi on FireStick without ES File Explorer | KFireTV
.

 

[Ring 6]

Hi guys,

Looking for some insight from some fellow sports fans. I've recently made the decision to cut the cord, and go without cable. I don't think I've watched live TV (outside of sports) in over a month. Almost all of my media is streaming nowadays.

This causes a conundrum with sports though. The Patriots (which are the most important) I'm not worried about, because the majority of the games are on CBS, Fox, or NBC, and I can get those channels with an HD Antenna, which I've had success with. The odd Monday night game I can either go to a bar or a friend's house.

But for baseball or hockey, I'm stumped. There are streaming subscriptions you can get, but they blackout anything that's televised locally. I'm not actually a Bruins fan (don't ask), so that one's fine during the regular season, but that means no playoff hockey, or any Red Sox.

Anyone else have experience with this? Any tips or tricks for getting the local teams or tricking the streaming services into thinking you're not local?

Thanks in advance!

I have a hacked Amazon stick, hacked by someone else so I'm not great in details but it streams a ton of live sports and you can also access any movie throygh the app.
The app is called Kodi and my understanding is you can run it from your compute with out even needing the stick.
If it works out for you let me know

 

[Kontradiction]

Yeah, and I understand why they want to restrict local games, because of their deals with the cable companies. It's just unfortunate because unless you're out of the area (like you), the streaming services really work against you.



I'm relatively tech savvy, is jailbreaking a Fire Stick pretty simple? Something I could do with a properly focused Google search?

Yeah. Google or YouTube. Both have it.

 

[Gwedd]

I am in a conundrum on this. I cut my DirecTV down to the lowest package, since I needed to cut costs. I've taken some financial hits lately, so I need to pare down.

I would eliminate DirecTV, but where I live I can't get any antenna to work for the local stations. I could see about an external antenna, but I'd have to hire someone to install it, so there's those costs again.

I do have Amazon Fire, and if I add SlingTV I could add everything I need EXCEPT for the local channels. Mostly, I need the local channels for football. I could care less about the rest of the programming.

So I, too, am open to suggestions for obtaining the local ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX affiliate stations so I can ease my football jones.

 

[Big Bucks]

reddit has great links

For Baseball put into google Reddit MLBstreams

Also noticed on that page.. T-Mobile members today only can get free MLBtv membership for the season

More about the Tmobile deal here

Reminder that anyone on T-Mobile can get a free MLB.tv premium account, today only • r/MLBStreams

 

[DaBruinz]

Yeah, and I understand why they want to restrict local games, because of their deals with the cable companies. It's just unfortunate because unless you're out of the area (like you), the streaming services really work against you.



I'm relatively tech savvy, is jailbreaking a Fire Stick pretty simple? Something I could do with a properly focused Google search?

Yes, from what I can tell.

 

[DaBruinz]

I am in a conundrum on this. I cut my DirecTV down to the lowest package, since I needed to cut costs. I've taken some financial hits lately, so I need to pare down.

I would eliminate DirecTV, but where I live I can't get any antenna to work for the local stations. I could see about an external antenna, but I'd have to hire someone to install it, so there's those costs again.

I do have Amazon Fire, and if I add SlingTV I could add everything I need EXCEPT for the local channels. Mostly, I need the local channels for football. I could care less about the rest of the programming.

So I, too, am open to suggestions for obtaining the local ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX affiliate stations so I can ease my football jones.

How far are you from the nearest city/broadcast towers? I've found that the Mohu LEAF is about the best HD Omni-Directional HD antenna you can buy..

Home of the #1 rated Indoor HDTV Antenna - Mohu

If you need to go with an outdoor Antenna, there are numerous sites if you do a search for:
best outdoor hd antenna rural areas

Top 7 Outdoor Antennas of 2017 | Video Review

Best TV Antenna For Rural Areas – Long Range Reception

 

[Wheelman]

you don't have to jailbreak, just sideload. yes, it's easy:

Sideload Kodi on FireStick without ES File Explorer | KFireTV
.

What makes Amazon Firestick better than any android box/stick?