Interesting, did not know that. So you can get the MLS season pass but not have the ability to watch Ted Lasso, even though both are hosted on the same service?
Point is being proven that wherever MLS games are housed, it's 1) kinda confusing and 2) not well-explained by MLSDTGstl314 wrote: ↑Mar 31, 2023Interesting, did not know that. So you can get the MLS season pass but not have the ability to watch Ted Lasso, even though both are hosted on the same service?
Ah, just looked it up - apparently it's $2/month less expensive if you subscribe to MLS Season Pass with an Apple TV+ subscription (12.99/mo + 6.99/mo).
Good job. Still confusing that it's "on" AppleTV+ and AppleTV+ shows ads for it, but it's its own thing that you do or do not need AppleTV+ for.Laife Fulk wrote: ↑Mar 31, 2023I disagree. Took me all of 30 seconds to sign up for the MLS Season Pass, and I don’t have an Apple TV+ subscription.
When you say that do you mean you don't need an AppleTV subscrip or you don't need the AppleTV app?Bart Harley Jarvis wrote: ↑Mar 31, 2023Good job. Still confusing that it's "on" AppleTV+ and AppleTV+ shows ads for it, but it's its own thing that you do or do not need AppleTV+ for.Laife Fulk wrote: ↑Mar 31, 2023I disagree. Took me all of 30 seconds to sign up for the MLS Season Pass, and I don’t have an Apple TV+ subscription.
I think people also just get tired of signing up for new services and accounts.Aesir wrote: ↑Apr 02, 2023Confusion with how to watch the team is definitely something I overhear when people have spoken about the team. Most probably just don't bother to figure it out. That hurts picking up casual fans. Or they just watch a pirate stream.
Not much City SC can do about it, unfortunately.
Agreed. I would occasionally tune-in and possibly even become a casual fan. That won't happen if I can't watch on the 215 channels I have on AT&T. I won't bother signing up for Apple soccer or whatever it is called.MarkHaversham wrote: ↑Apr 03, 2023I think people also just get tired of signing up for new services and accounts.Aesir wrote: ↑Apr 02, 2023Confusion with how to watch the team is definitely something I overhear when people have spoken about the team. Most probably just don't bother to figure it out. That hurts picking up casual fans. Or they just watch a pirate stream.
Not much City SC can do about it, unfortunately.
Yeah, it's a shame. They can obviously find 20,000 die-hards every week to fill the stadium, but I don't see how they attract interest from the other million locals when you have to pay Apple to check them out. Half the population probably couldn't figure out how to add AppleTV to their Netflix if their lives depended on it.STLAPTS wrote: ↑Apr 03, 2023Agreed. I would occasionally tune-in and possibly even become a casual fan. That won't happen if I can't watch on the 215 channels I have on AT&T. I won't bother signing up for Apple soccer or whatever it is called.
If they are trying to add Apple TV to their Netflix they have bigger problems.MarkHaversham wrote: ↑Apr 03, 2023Half the population probably couldn't figure out how to add AppleTV to their Netflix if their lives depended on it.
It's not really their problem, it's MLS's problem.
Even young people get tired of managing eight streaming services. Obviously the soccer fans are going to figure it out but how many casual viewers are going to click over a channel and get caught up in an MLS game vs casually signing up for MLS Season Pass?jshank83 wrote:Soccer skews younger. Younger usually can figure out how to use an app and is more likely a cord cutter anyway.
I hate to see what the cardinals fan crowd does when Ballys goes under and they have to figure out how to stream, based on the uproar when Facebook/YouTube is steaming a game.
Back when I watched sports regularly I never needed cable to keep up with the local sports teams, much less a bespoke subscription. Maybe if I wanted to watch every team simultaneously, or blacked-out home games.Laife Fulk wrote:Ehh, I'm not buying that. Some people may choose not to purchase MLS Season Pass to watch. But there's also a ton of people who don't want to deal with the hassle of signing up for cable just to watch the Cardinals and Blues. And professional sports (minus only a handful of games) require the financial investment of paying for cable and/or internet too. MLS chose this route as their sole source of game access. I highly doubt they would have agreed to this had their market research told them it would be to their detriment.
No, you old man. 100% of the population couldn't figure out how to add AppleTV to their Netflix because it's impossible.
I think MLS & Apple is growing into an optimal viewing experience, imho. No blackouts, stream whenever/wherever. Should get better in the years to come.Laife Fulk wrote: ↑Apr 03, 2023Ehh, I'm not buying that. Some people may choose not to purchase MLS Season Pass to watch. But there's also a ton of people who don't want to deal with the hassle of signing up for cable just to watch the Cardinals and Blues. And professional sports (minus only a handful of games) require the financial investment of paying for cable and/or internet too. MLS chose this route as their sole source of game access. I highly doubt they would have agreed to this had their market research told them it would be to their detriment.
5 years from now I think NHL and MLB will have the same setup with the way RSNs are going bankrupt.pop_scientist wrote: ↑Apr 03, 2023I think MLS & Apple is growing into an optimal viewing experience, imho. No blackouts, stream whenever/wherever. Should get better in the years to come.Laife Fulk wrote: ↑Apr 03, 2023Ehh, I'm not buying that. Some people may choose not to purchase MLS Season Pass to watch. But there's also a ton of people who don't want to deal with the hassle of signing up for cable just to watch the Cardinals and Blues. And professional sports (minus only a handful of games) require the financial investment of paying for cable and/or internet too. MLS chose this route as their sole source of game access. I highly doubt they would have agreed to this had their market research told them it would be to their detriment.
MLB is a train wreck when it comes to broadcasts. I wish they could go through the MLBTV app with no blackouts, but cable companies offer them more money.
That's the thing: you don't have to manage another streaming service. Any television young enough to have been bought by someone who ditched cable or never had it in the first place will already have all the streaming services pre-loaded on it. And you don't actually have to subscribe to anything to watch an MLS game. It's not hard. If you have your set connected to the internet, and they do, you just have to sign in to your Apple account, which everyone who has an iPhone, iPad, or Mac of most any sort has anyway. It's essentially a streaming service everyone already has, with or without a subscription. Nearly everyone with a smart TV already has the ap, and nobody really minds using a dozen different programs. It's no different than watching a dozen different channels. YouTube is a channel. AppleTV is a channel. Roku is a channel. The only issue people seem to have is when you have to pay for a dozen different channels. And you know what? MLS has bunches of free games every week. Half of our games have been free so far. Nobody remotely phone savvy is going to have much or a problem with this. It's just the new post-cable business model. Personally, except for the audio issues previously discussed, I love it and I desperately wish MLB would get off its duff and follow suit.MarkHaversham wrote: ↑Apr 03, 2023Even young people get tired of managing eight streaming services. Obviously the soccer fans are going to figure it out but how many casual viewers are going to click over a channel and get caught up in an MLS game vs casually signing up for MLS Season Pass?
My recollection is that back in five VHF channel broadcast days it was way the heck south of half of all Cardinals games that were on television. You simply couldn't watch every game and that was fine. You kept up by watching, reading the paper, and listening to KMOX. But cable changed the equation. Suddenly you could watch every game if you wanted to, save for a few that were blacked out to encourage fans to actually go to the stadium and buy tickets. And at the time, everyone wanted cable. (Except me, since it was expensive and I was a poor college student.)Back when I watched sports regularly I never needed cable to keep up with the local sports teams, much less a bespoke subscription. Maybe if I wanted to watch every team simultaneously, or blacked-out home games.Laife Fulk wrote:Ehh, I'm not buying that. Some people may choose not to purchase MLS Season Pass to watch. But there's also a ton of people who don't want to deal with the hassle of signing up for cable just to watch the Cardinals and Blues. And professional sports (minus only a handful of games) require the financial investment of paying for cable and/or internet too. MLS chose this route as their sole source of game access. I highly doubt they would have agreed to this had their market research told them it would be to their detriment.
The first Cardinals games I can remember on TV was back in like 1978. They were on KSD and it was maybe 10-15 games with Jay Randolph doing play-by-play then Jack Buck or Mike Shannon rotating in for a few innings from radio. It was only road games and it was heart of summer between late May and Labor day.symphonicpoet wrote: ↑Apr 03, 2023My recollection is that back in five VHF channel broadcast days it was way the heck south of half of all Cardinals games that were on television. You simply couldn't watch every game and that was fine. You kept up by watching, reading the paper, and listening to KMOX. But cable changed the equation. Suddenly you could watch every game if you wanted to, save for a few that were blacked out to encourage fans to actually go to the stadium and buy tickets. And at the time, everyone wanted cable. (Except me, since it was expensive and I was a poor college student.)
And while I have occasionally used an MLB streaming subscription to watch late season games with the aid of a good VPN to overcome the local blackout issues, I have never even considered a cable subscription. They're way to darned much money for way to much junk that's of no interest at all to me. Laife is dead on the money. I'm sure MLS did their market research. It's always a trade. Does your audience skew cable or streaming? They seem to have picked streaming, and that's just the way it's done. AppleTV is essentially a streaming "channel." And those are the only channels I myself care about. (Don't even know what number goes with which service anymore. If you don't have a streaming ap I'm not going to see you. And I'm fifty.)
