The NBA, NFL, And UFC Are Coming After Your Illegal Streams
David Dow. Getty Images.
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Well, I can't say this is all that surprising. The second we saw this tweet from Mark Cuban during the playoffs you knew something was cooking
The idea of illegal streaming certainly isn't new, but in 2023 it's easier than ever and now you only have a 63% chance of installing some sort of virus on your computer compared to the 99% chance of the early years. If the NBA, NFL, and UFC think some DMCA law is going to stop people from creating illegal streams, I fear they don't fully understand how the internet works. There will always be an illegal stream for those who are determined enough to find it. I'm pretty sure every illegal streamer would have this reaction once they learned they had to shut down and start again
Finding an illegal stream is something we've all done at some point for one reason or another, and it's as much a part of watching sports in 2023 as being on Twitter during a game. You shouldn't do it, just be an adult and have like 1 fewer pizzas a month to pay for it, and then call it a day.
But here's what these leagues need to understand, most notably Adam Silver. If you don't want people to stream your games illegally, make a streaming product that isn't complete ass. Has anyone been on the NBA League Pass app lately? That shit is a disaster. It freezes it, things don't load, there are blackouts, it's way easier to just hop on a stream than it is to deal with that app. I will say things did get better once they allowed you to combine it with YouTubeTV so now I don't even have to open the NBA app, but that doesn't change the fact that League Pass has been a broken product for years.
The more the NBA decides to not give a shit about their consumers when it comes to League pass, the more people are going to stream. It's not that hard of a concept.
And while we're on the subject, the league also needs to figure out their blackout issues when it comes to games on League Pass. You know what's annoying as hell? Let's say you live out of market and you pay for League Pass so you can watch your local feed. Then you have a night where your favorite team plays on ESPN and the game is being put out on the local channel as well, which is fairly common. Guess what League Pass does? It blocks out the local feed and forces you to watch ESPN. Uhh…isn't that the whole point? A Big reason out of market fans buy the product is so they can see the local market feed every time the team plays, just like they would had they been living in market. As long as that feed is being shown somewhere, it should be made available on League Pass. Maybe people don't want to listen to Doc Rivers and Doris Burke and they instead want to listen to their normal broadcasting crew. Guess what that person will probably do?
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Illegally stream it.
Essentially, until the NBA finds a way to make it so that their League Pass product is so good you don't even need to stream, my guess is nothing is going to change. It'll never go away completely as people will always look for a workaround, but sometimes you're forced to do it because the league gives you no other choice. I can't say I'm all that versed in TV rights negotiations, but I am versed in what the average NBA fan wants to see. It can't be that hard to figure out.