The current problem with all of these deals is blacked out games. I subscribe to the NHL GameCenter (same thing, different sport) and for the money you pay, the things you can't watch are ridiculous (it's worse than the NBA one). Only out of market games are allowed, no nationally televised games (always considered "in market," even if they're showing on obscure channels), and the NHL doesn't give you any of the post season. I follow an out of town team that's bad, so it works for me.

It's the weird straddling of "old model" and "new model," and the big players trying to catch up while keeping contracts happy. Up until this year, for example, when I watched my team play on their home channel, I'd get all the commercials too. So, same as being in-state. Now I just get a message about a commercial break.

The weird crux of it all is that you can watch many of the games if you want to wait 48 hours after the broadcast ends. However, in a world so connected, even not being on social media, even following a team 2,000 miles away from me, it's still hard to be purposefully oblivious to what's happening.

I was sorta hoping the next round of contracts would leap the content divide and make streaming a first-class citizen along the rest (I don't mind watching commercials while streaming, I'd assume that would just make those spots even more lucrative.) But it looks like we're still a couple years away from that.

Except for locally blacked out games, which are the most interesting to people. So, that $200 deal is not that interesting to many people.

Also, for the less technological among us, a cable subscription is required, which adds quite a lot to the price tag.

In the US, League Pass doesn't get you your local team, the national games, or any of the playoffs.

I know outside of the US, they offer an international version that has it all and seems great, but they can't do that because of television deals in the US.

I don't have League Pass, but I looked into the option last season. It turns out they black out the local team's game based on your IP geolocation. Aside from that annoying limitation, the general consensus on the Internet is that the paid pirate services can be much cheaper and have better quality streams than League pass.

There's no way to watch every basketball game for less than $500. LP even blacks out games that it airs on the NBA's own TV network.