By Ryan Walker
You may have noticed an uproar in television streaming services. You’ve likely heard of the top dogs, Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and HBO Max, just to name a few.
People are pulling the plug on cable TV in response to the convenience of streaming shows and movies you want to watch rather than paying for all of these channels.
Some apps are tapping into the sports market, which is a cause for concern.
This summer, Apple TV was one of the examples that featured Major League Baseball games throughout the season. My Detroit Tigers were scheduled to play an early morning game earlier in the season against the Blue Jays. Luckily, we already had Apple TV, so I had the ability to watch the game. However, fans that have don’t have the specific streaming service wouldn’t be able to watch their favorite teams play.
Yes, the one time it happened was not the end of the world, but the new NFL deal with Amazon and rumors for the College Football Playoff streaming on Amazon and Apple are not in the fans interest.
The NFL announced an 11-year partnership with Amazon to have the rights to Thursday night football, which is now featuring commentary by Al Michaels from ABC and Kirk Herbstreit from ESPN. The deal was reportedly for around $1 billion per year and has seen two broadcasts already.
If you want to see Thursday Night Football or, if the rumors are true, the College Football Playoff, you’ll have to cough up 15 bucks a month. It doesn’t seem like much, but that total adds up when you’re paying for other services.
Basically, the leagues giving up cable deals for streaming are tossing fans out the door. There are some fans that refuse to even pay for the service, and the ones that do, run the risk of having a bad internet connection. News flash: Streaming is through your internet connection. If you’ve got anything under three bars, be ready to throw your TV out the window when your screen is buffering through the game-winning field goal in a playoff game.
The fact of the matter is that this could just be the beginning of a new era in sports. Money is talking (see Name, Image, and Likeness), and if you’re not with the times, you’ll fall behind.
There isn’t anything anyone can do to stop sports leagues from taking these deals–unless you’d take one for the team and miss out on those games. The choice is yours.
sports@news-banner.com
