Fan Duel Done

[11WSChamps]

As far as MLB....the owners could do a lockout for a salary cap and shut it down for 5 years and I wouldn't lose a minute's sleep. Between the insane contracts for mediocre talent, constant demands for new stadiums and the 100% lack of any semblance of parity, it's become a horrible product all the way around.

Never thought I'd see the day that I would agree with that sentiment but the game has gotten to the point we're its almost unwatchable.

[TruBlueFan_1970]

As far as MLB....the owners could do a lockout for a salary cap and shut it down for 5 years and I wouldn't lose a minute's sleep. Between the insane contracts for mediocre talent, constant demands for new stadiums and the 100% lack of any semblance of parity, it's become a horrible product all the way around.

Never thought I'd see the day that I would agree with that sentiment but the game has gotten to the point we're its almost unwatchable.

I'm the same. Once upon a time was almost as big of a fan of the Cardinals as I am of the Blues. It waned and has never come back. Sounds crazy, but I'm actually looking forward to this season for the Cardinals more than I have in a while. They've torn it down to the studs and I'm looking forward to seeing a lineup of young and hopefully hungry ballplayers, versus the last few seasons. Now if they could just send Marmol the route of Bannister, all would be right in the universe!!! Lol.

[DawgDad]

The current state of televised anything in just nuts. I realize streaming offers many new options but it's a mess, far beyond what a sizable portion of the population is willing to navigate or fund.

MLB is a special case because of the huge guaranteed contracts. I do not see this being sustainable, the league really should split in two between teams with ownership unconcerned about cost escalation and all the others.

College Football is an unsustainable mess. The nuclear explosion is building, revenue streams and fan support rooted in traditional values will ultimately be strained beyond tolerance.

I don't give hoot about the NBA.

The tendency in the streaming world is to spread content over multiple services with some measure of exclusivity. That is not friendly to the core fans who follow teams as a daily diversion. Realizing a game you want to watch is being broadcast but not available to you except at a premium add-on cost is a bitter pill for subscribers to swallow. If they are concerned about the loss of viewers, well, they can still lose a LOT more.

[hotrivets]

Major league team owners make a lot of poor decisions but because they have a local monopoly they get away with it. Most of the owners inherited money or made it in another business and whatever knowledge they have may not translate to the sports and entertainment business.

A lot of people still like sports but they are getting tired of being milked for more and more money. Ticket prices, TV access, food prices at the games- all continue to march upward even when fan support starts to wane. Look at the empty seats at Blues games (way worse at Cardinal games) and the price increase they are trying to get on season tickets.

Streaming is fine for a lot of things- like binging on a series you like- but I like having the TV tuned to the station in advance and watching the pre-game. I also like flipping between two programs during the game although I'm sure advertisers don't like that. I would like not having to buy a bunch of channels just to watch one team. Very little that teams do is good for their customer. They talk about loving their customers but everything they do proves the opposite.

College sports is even worse with university presidents and boards making decisions about huge programs that they have no expertise with.

Time for a reckoning- will be some choppy waters for a while.

[BleedingBleu]

Major league team owners make a lot of poor decisions but because they have a local monopoly they get away with it. Most of the owners inherited money or made it in another business and whatever knowledge they have may not translate to the sports and entertainment business.

A lot of people still like sports but they are getting tired of being milked for more and more money. Ticket prices, TV access, food prices at the games- all continue to march upward even when fan support starts to wane. Look at the empty seats at Blues games (way worse at Cardinal games) and the price increase they are trying to get on season tickets.

Streaming is fine for a lot of things- like binging on a series you like- but I like having the TV tuned to the station in advance and watching the pre-game. I also like flipping between two programs during the game although I'm sure advertisers don't like that. I would like not having to buy a bunch of channels just to watch one team. Very little that teams do is good for their customer. They talk about loving their customers but everything they do proves the opposite.

College sports is even worse with university presidents and boards making decisions about huge programs that they have no expertise with.

Time for a reckoning- will be some choppy waters for a while.

Just look at the cost of a ticket to the Super Bowl

How much do the cheapest Super Bowl tickets cost for 2026?

As of Feb. 5, the lowest price for a single seat was $4,447 on StubHub, $4,840 on Ticketmaster, $4,757 on SeatGeek and $4,288 on TickPick. The cheapest ticket was $4,169 on Vivid Seats.

TickPick, an online platform where fans can buy and sell tickets, said prices tend to fall as game day approaches, but warned that's not a guarantee, as some buyers will wait until the last minute to snatch a seat.

How much are the most expensive Super Bowl tickets for 2026?

As of Wednesday, the most expensive seat for the SuperBowl was $30,751 per ticket on StubHub, according to CBS Sports. Those seats were behind Seattle's bench in prime viewing territory. (CBS Sports' John Breech recently made his way to Levi's Stadium to give fans a sense of the view from the seats with the luxury price tag.)

Prices for prime seats on StubHub were even higher on Thursday, with the top ticket — also behind the Seahawks bench — selling for $40,530.

The Super Bowl is in Levi Stadium; which seats 68.5K. Those prices are insane and places like Ticketmaster & Subhub are actively driving up the costs of all live entertainment. Mind you, Live Nation’s CEO thinks concert prices are underpriced. Aka, he wants to milk more out of people

[SameOldBlues]

I love my Superbox.

[TheJackBurton]

Major league team owners make a lot of poor decisions but because they have a local monopoly they get away with it. Most of the owners inherited money or made it in another business and whatever knowledge they have may not translate to the sports and entertainment business.

A lot of people still like sports but they are getting tired of being milked for more and more money. Ticket prices, TV access, food prices at the games- all continue to march upward even when fan support starts to wane. Look at the empty seats at Blues games (way worse at Cardinal games) and the price increase they are trying to get on season tickets.

Streaming is fine for a lot of things- like binging on a series you like- but I like having the TV tuned to the station in advance and watching the pre-game. I also like flipping between two programs during the game although I'm sure advertisers don't like that. I would like not having to buy a bunch of channels just to watch one team. Very little that teams do is good for their customer. They talk about loving their customers but everything they do proves the opposite.

College sports is even worse with university presidents and boards making decisions about huge programs that they have no expertise with.

Time for a reckoning- will be some choppy waters for a while.

Just look at the cost of a ticket to the Super Bowl

How much do the cheapest Super Bowl tickets cost for 2026?

As of Feb. 5, the lowest price for a single seat was $4,447 on StubHub, $4,840 on Ticketmaster, $4,757 on SeatGeek and $4,288 on TickPick. The cheapest ticket was $4,169 on Vivid Seats.

TickPick, an online platform where fans can buy and sell tickets, said prices tend to fall as game day approaches, but warned that's not a guarantee, as some buyers will wait until the last minute to snatch a seat.

How much are the most expensive Super Bowl tickets for 2026?

As of Wednesday, the most expensive seat for the SuperBowl was $30,751 per ticket on StubHub, according to CBS Sports. Those seats were behind Seattle's bench in prime viewing territory. (CBS Sports' John Breech recently made his way to Levi's Stadium to give fans a sense of the view from the seats with the luxury price tag.)

Prices for prime seats on StubHub were even higher on Thursday, with the top ticket — also behind the Seahawks bench — selling for $40,530.

The Super Bowl is in Levi Stadium; which seats 68.5K. Those prices are insane and places like Ticketmaster & Subhub are actively driving up the costs of all live entertainment. Mind you, Live Nation’s CEO thinks concert prices are underpriced. Aka, he wants to milk more out of people

The cost of concert tickets has gotten completely insane and it is pricing long time concert goers out. I'm seeing less and less people at shows because of it

[BleedingBleu]

Major league team owners make a lot of poor decisions but because they have a local monopoly they get away with it. Most of the owners inherited money or made it in another business and whatever knowledge they have may not translate to the sports and entertainment business.

A lot of people still like sports but they are getting tired of being milked for more and more money. Ticket prices, TV access, food prices at the games- all continue to march upward even when fan support starts to wane. Look at the empty seats at Blues games (way worse at Cardinal games) and the price increase they are trying to get on season tickets.

Streaming is fine for a lot of things- like binging on a series you like- but I like having the TV tuned to the station in advance and watching the pre-game. I also like flipping between two programs during the game although I'm sure advertisers don't like that. I would like not having to buy a bunch of channels just to watch one team. Very little that teams do is good for their customer. They talk about loving their customers but everything they do proves the opposite.

College sports is even worse with university presidents and boards making decisions about huge programs that they have no expertise with.

Time for a reckoning- will be some choppy waters for a while.

Just look at the cost of a ticket to the Super Bowl

How much do the cheapest Super Bowl tickets cost for 2026?

As of Feb. 5, the lowest price for a single seat was $4,447 on StubHub, $4,840 on Ticketmaster, $4,757 on SeatGeek and $4,288 on TickPick. The cheapest ticket was $4,169 on Vivid Seats.

TickPick, an online platform where fans can buy and sell tickets, said prices tend to fall as game day approaches, but warned that's not a guarantee, as some buyers will wait until the last minute to snatch a seat.

How much are the most expensive Super Bowl tickets for 2026?

As of Wednesday, the most expensive seat for the SuperBowl was $30,751 per ticket on StubHub, according to CBS Sports. Those seats were behind Seattle's bench in prime viewing territory. (CBS Sports' John Breech recently made his way to Levi's Stadium to give fans a sense of the view from the seats with the luxury price tag.)

Prices for prime seats on StubHub were even higher on Thursday, with the top ticket — also behind the Seahawks bench — selling for $40,530.

The Super Bowl is in Levi Stadium; which seats 68.5K. Those prices are insane and places like Ticketmaster & Subhub are actively driving up the costs of all live entertainment. Mind you, Live Nation’s CEO thinks concert prices are underpriced. Aka, he wants to milk more out of people

The cost of concert tickets has gotten completely insane and it is pricing long time concert goers out. I'm seeing less and less people at shows because of it

Totally agree. I’m so cheap that I stopped going to the Movie Theaters because of their stupid “convenience fee” for me purchasing tickets on their site. Concerts are way worse

[TAFKAP]

The current state of televised anything in just nuts. I realize streaming offers many new options but it's a mess, far beyond what a sizable portion of the population is willing to navigate or fund.

MLB is a special case because of the huge guaranteed contracts. I do not see this being sustainable, the league really should split in two between teams with ownership unconcerned about cost escalation and all the others.

College Football is an unsustainable mess. The nuclear explosion is building, revenue streams and fan support rooted in traditional values will ultimately be strained beyond tolerance.

I don't give hoot about the NBA.

The tendency in the streaming world is to spread content over multiple services with some measure of exclusivity. That is not friendly to the core fans who follow teams as a daily diversion. Realizing a game you want to watch is being broadcast but not available to you except at a premium add-on cost is a bitter pill for subscribers to swallow. If they are concerned about the loss of viewers, well, they can still lose a LOT more.

Not if the team runs it. One app, pay for the season and you can watch anywhere. You won't have ALL the games because of the Apple, Prime etc but you're still getting 98% blackout free. This will be the best deal possible. [shirt], if the Cardinals were good, a casual fan like me might go the monthly route for the post all star break run through the playoffs.

[TheJackBurton]

The current state of televised anything in just nuts. I realize streaming offers many new options but it's a mess, far beyond what a sizable portion of the population is willing to navigate or fund.

MLB is a special case because of the huge guaranteed contracts. I do not see this being sustainable, the league really should split in two between teams with ownership unconcerned about cost escalation and all the others.

College Football is an unsustainable mess. The nuclear explosion is building, revenue streams and fan support rooted in traditional values will ultimately be strained beyond tolerance.

I don't give hoot about the NBA.

The tendency in the streaming world is to spread content over multiple services with some measure of exclusivity. That is not friendly to the core fans who follow teams as a daily diversion. Realizing a game you want to watch is being broadcast but not available to you except at a premium add-on cost is a bitter pill for subscribers to swallow. If they are concerned about the loss of viewers, well, they can still lose a LOT more.

Not if the team runs it. One app, pay for the season and you can watch anywhere. You won't have ALL the games because of the Apple, Prime etc but you're still getting 98% blackout free. This will be the best deal possible. [shirt], if the Cardinals were good, a casual fan like me might go the monthly route for the post all star break run through the playoffs.

I understand what you are saying, but I wouldn't and I won't do it. If they want to go to a full streaming platform, I'm out, I am completely out.

I'm done paying for everything as a subscription. I am sick and tired of paying for cable and then needing 8 different streaming services to watch an occasional game here and there.

I'll listen to the game on the radio or I'll pirate it, but I absolutely will not pay for another streaming service.

[Old_Goat]

What a great thread. My compliments for starting it. Tremendous follow-on comments, which I pretty much agree completely with each. I gained some more info from you all as well. My sentiments as too... oh well, I'll catch if & when I can, just like decades ago.
For myself, I am so tired of having to juggle remotes, because this app is not compatible with that, or my single choice cable service in the the semi-rural part of the metro does not have compatibility (paid license I bet?) with my top-dollar/highly-rated smart TV (not bragging, it is awesome, I can practically see the goalie's nose hairs), so I have to buy/use an add-on Roku just to Stream the service on the cable that I also need for internet. Or I may not watch anything else but that one show or game or sport for more than 100 times per year, or approximately only 12-13 complete viewing days per year.
It's not the money. It's the hassle, trying to keep track of stuff. The changing of offerings -- no longer can carry that channel, or device, etc. AND "That's not our Tech Service Department, you need to call: the ISP/Streaming Device/TV manufacturer."
Note, a dish is not viable -- storms, etc. I want reliable physically-secure delivered underground to my door and I'll take care of the Wi-Fi from there.
Other than that it's great.

[DawgDad]

What a great thread. My compliments for starting it. Tremendous follow-on comments, which I pretty much agree completely with each. I gained some more info from you all as well. My sentiments as too... oh well, I'll catch if & when I can, just like decades ago.
For myself, I am so tired of having to juggle remotes, because this app is not compatible with that, or my single choice cable service in the the semi-rural part of the metro does not have compatibility (paid license I bet?) with my top-dollar/highly-rated smart TV (not bragging, it is awesome, I can practically see the goalie's nose hairs), so I have to buy/use an add-on Roku just to Stream the service on the cable that I also need for internet. Or I may not watch anything else but that one show or game or sport for more than 100 times per year, or approximately only 12-13 complete viewing days per year.
It's not the money. It's the hassle, trying to keep track of stuff. The changing of offerings -- no longer can carry that channel, or device, etc. AND "That's not our Tech Service Department, you need to call: the ISP/Streaming Device/TV manufacturer."
Note, a dish is not viable -- storms, etc. I want reliable physically-secure delivered underground to my door and I'll take care of the Wi-Fi from there.
Other than that it's great.

Granted, I live in Georgia, but DirecTV is not bad here. When the satellite is blocked by a storm the service seamlessly switches to an internet stream. Lose the hi-def but the show continues on.

Now, in a snowy area you'd have to keep your dish clean. Mine is at ground level, not on the roof.

[TBone]

College Football is an unsustainable mess. The nuclear explosion is building, revenue streams and fan support rooted in traditional values will ultimately be strained beyond tolerance.

I think you're off on this one. CFB is about to enter a golden age if they can get their transfer rules and player compensation ironed out.

Indiana winning gives hope to anyone, including Missouri, that if you make the right choices you can enjoy some glory days or even win it all. The worst thing about college football has always been the system being rigged for the bluebloods. That's over or at least has taken a significant dent.

I'm not sure how it will all shake out in terms of television finances, but having the second most desired product next to the NFL is a great position to be in for future income.

[11WSChamps]

The current state of televised anything in just nuts. I realize streaming offers many new options but it's a mess, far beyond what a sizable portion of the population is willing to navigate or fund.

MLB is a special case because of the huge guaranteed contracts. I do not see this being sustainable, the league really should split in two between teams with ownership unconcerned about cost escalation and all the others.

College Football is an unsustainable mess. The nuclear explosion is building, revenue streams and fan support rooted in traditional values will ultimately be strained beyond tolerance.

I don't give hoot about the NBA.

The tendency in the streaming world is to spread content over multiple services with some measure of exclusivity. That is not friendly to the core fans who follow teams as a daily diversion. Realizing a game you want to watch is being broadcast but not available to you except at a premium add-on cost is a bitter pill for subscribers to swallow. If they are concerned about the loss of viewers, well, they can still lose a LOT more.

Not if the team runs it. One app, pay for the season and you can watch anywhere. You won't have ALL the games because of the Apple, Prime etc but you're still getting 98% blackout free. This will be the best deal possible. [shirt], if the Cardinals were good, a casual fan like me might go the monthly route for the post all star break run through the playoffs.

I understand what you are saying, but I wouldn't and I won't do it. If they want to go to a full streaming platform, I'm out, I am completely out.

I'm done paying for everything as a subscription. I am sick and tired of paying for cable and then needing 8 different streaming services to watch an occasional game here and there.

I'll listen to the game on the radio or I'll pirate it, but I absolutely will not pay for another streaming service.

Totally agree.

Have to draw the line somewhere.

[dhsux]

Help me out here because I don't have a handle on this as a league wide issue.

Are there now 7 nhl markets that are in the lurch? The others role on like they are now with their current providers?

I have Uverse and I'm looking for the last excuse to dump them and if they cannot provide Blues hockey it's time I do it.

I just don't want to have to go AND PAY multiple streamers and bounce around all year to watch the games.

Wondering if the Victory model (Dallas Stars) is viable?

[Tabasco Flowers]

Major league team owners make a lot of poor decisions but because they have a local monopoly they get away with it. Most of the owners inherited money or made it in another business and whatever knowledge they have may not translate to the sports and entertainment business.

A lot of people still like sports but they are getting tired of being milked for more and more money. Ticket prices, TV access, food prices at the games- all continue to march upward even when fan support starts to wane. Look at the empty seats at Blues games (way worse at Cardinal games) and the price increase they are trying to get on season tickets.

Streaming is fine for a lot of things- like binging on a series you like- but I like having the TV tuned to the station in advance and watching the pre-game. I also like flipping between two programs during the game although I'm sure advertisers don't like that. I would like not having to buy a bunch of channels just to watch one team. Very little that teams do is good for their customer. They talk about loving their customers but everything they do proves the opposite.

College sports is even worse with university presidents and boards making decisions about huge programs that they have no expertise with.

Time for a reckoning- will be some choppy waters for a while.

Just look at the cost of a ticket to the Super Bowl

How much do the cheapest Super Bowl tickets cost for 2026?

As of Feb. 5, the lowest price for a single seat was $4,447 on StubHub, $4,840 on Ticketmaster, $4,757 on SeatGeek and $4,288 on TickPick. The cheapest ticket was $4,169 on Vivid Seats.

TickPick, an online platform where fans can buy and sell tickets, said prices tend to fall as game day approaches, but warned that's not a guarantee, as some buyers will wait until the last minute to snatch a seat.

How much are the most expensive Super Bowl tickets for 2026?

As of Wednesday, the most expensive seat for the SuperBowl was $30,751 per ticket on StubHub, according to CBS Sports. Those seats were behind Seattle's bench in prime viewing territory. (CBS Sports' John Breech recently made his way to Levi's Stadium to give fans a sense of the view from the seats with the luxury price tag.)

Prices for prime seats on StubHub were even higher on Thursday, with the top ticket — also behind the Seahawks bench — selling for $40,530.

The Super Bowl is in Levi Stadium; which seats 68.5K. Those prices are insane and places like Ticketmaster & Subhub are actively driving up the costs of all live entertainment. Mind you, Live Nation’s CEO thinks concert prices are underpriced. Aka, he wants to milk more out of people

The cost of concert tickets has gotten completely insane and it is pricing long time concert goers out. I'm seeing less and less people at shows because of it

Smaller venues are always better. Why pay that inflated price for aging "superstars" when you can see up-and-comers for a affordable price in an intimate surrounding?

I saw a lot of great bands in the 80's at small venues, and got to converse with them afterwards, and that is the ultimate fan experience.

Several went on to great success, but the magic was gone by then.