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Comment by egd | Hacker News Reader

Someone I met tried to figure out how to actually legally stream the NBA playoffs recently - apparently there's basically no way to do so without an existing cable subscription or without paying for the entire season. I'm guessing the licensing structure around all of that would make the US tax code look readable, but the result is that it's effectively impossible to decide you want to watch a specific game on a computer and give someone money to do so on a one-off basis.

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It’s so much easier to stream the NBA finals from a pirate site than it is to pay - if there even is a way to pay. I’m looking at waiting 10 days for a cable installer and at least 50 a month plus multiple calls to setup and then cancel to watch the one event I want to watch via cable, or 2 clicks and an ad-free 1080p 60 fps stream on my browser. I’m not saying piracy is legal or moral, but the difference in cost benefit effort and value is so extreme I don’t know how you can realistically expect someone who knows all the options to chose cable.

Really, how about just signing up to the NBA League Pass? Sure it's expensive, but it doesn't need cable installation, just watch it from basically any internet accessible device.

NBA League Pass doesn't actually let you stream the playoffs (if you're in the USA), nor do you get to watch your local team. It's meant to be a supplement to a cable subscription, or a full subscription for international viewers.

https://www.quora.com/Does-the-NBA-League-Pass-offer-a-playo...

League pass does not apply to nationally broadcast games or games in your local market. I live in LA and root for the Celtics, and watch all the home broadcasts with their arena feed. If I lived in Boston it’s not an option and I have to have a cable subscription.

If the team is on a national broadcast, it is also blacked out.

That being said, I listen to the finals on the local radio broadcasts via the NBA app because those are never blacked out.

MLB has same problem with blackouts. Irks me beyond belief.

You could sign up for YouTubeTV, Hulu, SlingTV, etc. I'm not saying the cost is worth it for just a few basketball games, but it definitely is easy to get access.

Streaming "cable" providers (Sling, Youtube TV, Playstation Vue, etc.)can get you up and running in minutes and usually come with a 7 day free trial. It doesn't solve every issue with trying to get legal, but it at least solves the "sit around all day for the installer to show up" problem.

> Streaming "cable" providers (Sling, Youtube TV, Playstation Vue, etc.)can get you up and running in minutes and usually come with a 7 day free trial. It doesn't solve every issue with trying to get legal, but it at least solves the "sit around all day for the installer to show up" problem.

Doesn't sling require a cable subscription?

It does not. You just need internet access.

Sling is a subscription service, like Netflix, but instead of a library of movies and shows, you subscribe to Live TV streams of channels normally only available from a cable TV subscription. It's all fully legal and above board, as they pay the same licensing fees that a Comcast would.

As the other poster mentioned, like Netflix, you need an internet connection. If you want to watch it on your TV screen, a set-top box like a Roku or AppleTV is worthwhile but you could always plug your laptop into the TV instead.

Their product used to be a box that encoded video off cable and sent it to your devices over the network. But now they have their own streaming service that carries cable TV content.

Slingbox and Sling TV have no relation: http://support.slingbox.com/en-US/KB/KB-8024.aspx

Ah wow, yeah I had thought sling _was_ slingbox.

I'm currently watching game seven of the Stanley cup final from a questionable source, simply because I have no way of doing so legally in my current locale. I would gladly pay for the privilege of watching a high definition stream of this game, but I have no reasonable means of doing so. VPN might work, but I have never had much luck with this in the past. Oh well, don't take my money then..

I pay for an F1TV subscription. The service and app (tata communications) are so bad, I use a pirate stream to actually watch the races :S

You can use YouTube TV. It's $50 a month.

https://tv.youtube.com

Fubo is $55 and Sling is $35-55. Disney+ will soon start charging...

And it starts to add up and we're back to where we started.

Also, I believe Disney+ will fail because there are not enough Disney diehards who want a subscription specifically for Disney shows. Disney shows get watched because "oh, cool, they have Disney."

Ergo, they don't go looking for it.

What about all the people that have kids who want to watch a disney movie? You don't think that is a big enough market?

I was frustrated with this exact issue for years until I bought a TV antenna a few years ago. Super Bowl, NBA Finals, etc are all on there, for free, in HD. No lag or interruptions either. It's also nice to just flip through the channels every now and then.

At least in Spain, the NBA has a deal with Movistar, but you can also purchase a single game or a subscription using the official NBA app. No excuses here.