Online Game Watching

[CorvusCorax]

I would like to suggest having BaltiomreRavens.com have the capability to broadcast all Ravens games (only) online. This would be a nice service for those outside the broadcasting area. This would be a service I would be willing to pay an annual fee for, provided it isn't (NFL) outrageous.

We are coming to a new decade here on the internet. As we all know things happen and develop quickly.

3 things can happen:

1. You can set the trend.
2. You can follow the trend.
3. You can get left behind.

On demand watching (especially online) is becoming a big thing. It would be a nice thing to be able to legally watch the game online. Not everybody can conveniently watch the game in front of their TV sets. It would be nice to have another option as well.

It can even be packaged to get a nice custom Avatar and whatever else.

I would prefer to have to listen to the Ravens Broadcast team as well as see them during internet broadcasting.

[Moderator 2]

I don't see how they could they way the TV contracts are written

[flaccopoe]

[quote name='Moderator 2' timestamp='1290212108' post='545223']
I don't see how they could they way the TV contracts are written
[/quote]

Damn monopoly. It was a good idea though.

[theFRANCHISE]

Though the current TV broadcasts make this an extremely slim possibility, you never know. After all, the NFL has recently introduced VOD replays of full games as a premium subscription service. Granted, this is entirely different from live games in-progress, but there's always the chance that the league is using experiments like this to see whether they could profit even more from taking away the exclusive license from DirecTV once their contract is up in a few years. The only reason why they extended the most recent contract was because of the massive amount that DirecTV was willing to pay for out-of-market games.

[CorvusCorax]

Do you as a customer honestly care what the broadcast companies think? I could care less about them and their sorry programmings.

I want the ability to watch Ravens games online. Period.

[CorvusCorax]

[quote name='Moderator 2' timestamp='1290212108' post='545223']
I don't see how they could they way the TV contracts are written
[/quote]

That's a defeatist attitude. I don't care about TV contracts and neither should you.

[AwakenTheDemon]

It's not a matter if you care about TV contracts or the networks themselves. The NFL and the Ravens' do, they have to. After all, a contract is a legally binding agreement, and I for one don't want to see our team sued over an internet stream.

It's also not a "defeatist attitude", it's reality. Unless the networks' are willing to negotiate and compromise when it comes to legal, internet streams, it most likely is a pipe dream. There's nothing the NFL, Ravens, or any other team can do, as of right now, to force a network to allow legal streams.

[flaccopoe]

If the NFL wants to continue to be profitable, then they'll offer live Internet streaming once the DirectTV contract expires.

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='CorvusCorax' timestamp='1290281464' post='545536']
Do you as a customer honestly care what the broadcast companies think? I could care less about them and their sorry programmings.

I want the ability to watch Ravens games online. Period.
[/quote]
Yeah, the Ravens' hands are tied on this since the NFL owns the rights to these broadcasts, and since the league already has contractual agreements with the networks, any breach of contract (such as the offering of a stream without their approval) would cost the league LOADS of money that they can't afford to lose with a work stoppage possibly on the horizon.

I would love to have a live video stream legally on the site, but the Ravens can't do anything about it and the league won't do anything about it because of the networks. Unless DirecTV is willing to play ball for those coveted out-of-market games, no one else will.

[CorvusCorax]

[quote name='AwakenTheDemon' timestamp='1290282667' post='545542']
It's not a matter if you care about TV contracts or the networks themselves. The NFL and the Ravens' do, they have to. After all, a contract is a legally binding agreement, and I for one don't want to see our team sued over an internet stream.

It's also not a "defeatist attitude", it's reality. Unless the networks' are willing to negotiate and compromise when it comes to legal, internet streams, it most likely is a pipe dream. There's nothing the NFL, Ravens, or any other team can do, as of right now, to force a network to allow legal streams.
[/quote]

You're missing the point entirely.

The reality is people are broadcasting games online and they are viewing it online. How many times does the same question come up about viewing the game online? Every game right? The reality is people are watching them online. Might as well give them the opportunity to view it legally online. Online viewing is an untapped market. That's the reality.

Contracts are constantly being updated, so anything is possible.

The defeatist attitude (which I wasn't calling out at you specifically Mod2, so please don't be upset) I presented is what everyone else expects to happen. Nothing. That should no longer be the answer. What happens when you don't like what's happening in the political field? You go out and vote right? And I believe there is something the Ravens can do about it, that is speak up for us to the NFL about it. Represent us, the fans.

Remember this is an idea proposal, nothing more, nothing less. I'm giving feedback to the site. And IIRC The NFL does have final broadcasting privileges so something like this can become a reality.

[Moderator 2]

[quote name='CorvusCorax' timestamp='1290281566' post='545537']
That's a defeatist attitude. I don't care about TV contracts and neither should you.
[/quote]

Its not defeatist its the way things are, it would be nice if whey they re-do the contracts that they put in a streaming provision. As soon as they see the streaming links they get them shut down.

[AwakenTheDemon]

[quote name='CorvusCorax' timestamp='1290311884' post='545810']
You're missing the point entirely.

The reality is people are broadcasting games online and they are viewing it online. How many times does the same question come up about viewing the game online? Every game right? The reality is people are watching them online. Might as well give them the opportunity to view it legally online. Online viewing is an untapped market. That's the reality.

Contracts are constantly being updated, so anything is possible.

The defeatist attitude (which I wasn't calling out at you specifically Mod2, so please don't be upset) I presented is what everyone else expects to happen. Nothing. That should no longer be the answer. What happens when you don't like what's happening in the political field? You go out and vote right? And I believe there is something the Ravens can do about it, that is speak up for us to the NFL about it. Represent us, the fans.

Remember this is an idea proposal, nothing more, nothing less. I'm giving feedback to the site. And IIRC The NFL does have final broadcasting privileges so something like this can become a reality.
[/quote]

I didn't miss your point, because your point was "Screw the Networks, I want to watch every game", despite what you tried to, retroactively, say it was.

However, this is not the same thing as not being fond of something politically. There's no voting, the terms of the contract are binding, end of story. So under the current contracts this will [i]not[/i] happen, that's the reality here.

Of course online streaming is a big deal for NFL Fans, and it's not entirely untapped. If you live outside of North America, you can stream every game legally (as long as you pay for it) from the NFL's Game Access package. Why can they offer this to people not in North America and not for those here? Because of the contracts. There's really nothing the NFL can do about it with the current contract, or I'm sure they'd try to work something out. The best you can do is hope for something to come out of it in the future.

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='CorvusCorax' timestamp='1290311884' post='545810']
The reality is people are broadcasting games online and they are viewing it online. How many times does the same question come up about viewing the game online? Every game right? The reality is people are watching them online. Might as well give them the opportunity to view it legally online. Online viewing is an untapped market. That's the reality.

Contracts are constantly being updated, so anything is possible.
[/quote]
The NFL and the networks recognize that people are viewing games online, hence the legal alternatives that the league presents to fans outside the country and NBC's Sunday Night Football simulcast. However, as much as they recognize the untapped potential, all of the networks and DirecTV pay boatloads of money to the league to retain the rights to their respective contracts because the ratings on television mean significantly more ad revenue for them than online ads and clicks. That's the biggest factor here.

Although this is a proposal that the Ravens could present to the league, this wouldn't be the first one, nor would it be the first to be defeated; the NFL is more inclined to keep the networks happy than the fans because of their bottom line, and the Ravens can do nothing to circumvent that. The league does not necessarily have final broadcasting privileges, because even though footage of the game is their property, the right to broadcast it live lies strictly with the networks and their contracts.