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Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

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Re: Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

#31

Post by Sargos »

mmanfrin wrote: post #14
pdubs wrote: post #8

Has Netflix done live video on anything approaching this scale? I don't doubt that they have the capabilities to put a live streaming infrastructure together for something like this, but DTV's out starting next year and there's a lot of work to get done in that time. That would be a lot of risk.

At its peak, Netflix accounts for something like a full third of internet traffic in the US (almost double Youtube's haul).

None of that is live streaming. Netflix can only do that via cached videos at ISPs and other tricks.

Live steaming is a whole new ballgame and something Netflix has never tried. YouTube has live streamed many events such as Google IO and Presidential debates.

It would be interesting to see if Netflix's architecture is even capable of supporting NFL Sunday Ticket.

Re: Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

#32

Post by GFischer »

ajross wrote: post #29
dbarlett wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What ISP do you have? Degraded streaming is widespread these days: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/07/why-yo...

It's just a Comcast line at home. But my point wasn't that video streaming works perfectly, just that I don't see a notable difference in reliability between Youtube and Netflix. They both work about the same, which is to say "well enough for me".

I'm in Uruguay, and the difference in quality between Youtube and Netflix is staggering.

Netflix is surprisingly smooth and fast and extremely good quality, while Youtube stutters awfully.

It is, of course, anecdote (and not relevant to the U.S.)

Re: Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

#33

Post by dragonwriter »

consultant23522 wrote: post #9
aroch wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no pro team with several hundred miles of me. I know why blackouts exist, and they make sense to a degree in larger cities/areas near a team. However, if we're going to be honest, they have no problems selling tickets to games people actually want to go to. Assuming I had a more flexible work schedule, I would try to go to a few Steelers games (Which would, basically, force me to fly there...I wouldn't relish…

I've never understood this mentality. If a company (in this case the NFL) doesn't want me to be their customer then I simply won't be. For example, I like watching the Sabres (hockey for the uninitiated), but only a couple games a season are available to me. Therefore, I have stopped watching the games and they don't receive any of my money in the form of merchandising or ad revenue because one fewer set of eyes are…

The basic logic is simple: the league makes vastly more revenue per viewer from people in the stadium (ticket sales, concessions, etc.) then from people watching remotely (TV, streaming, etc.), so it can afford to lose lots of TV, streaming, etc. viewers if doing so avoids losing a small number (or a small share of the revenues from) in-stadium audience.

> If a company (in this case the NFL) doesn't want me to be their customer then I simply won't be.

Sacrificing low-revenue customers to preserve revenue from high-revenue customers isn't exactly a novel business model.

Re: Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

#34

Post by heyheyhey »

VikingCoder wrote: post #17

The math here is all wrong. It's vastly more expensive than this, if you want to provide it a la carte. All cable subscribers are currently subsidizing live sports, whether they want to or not. It's a dinosaur that should die. Sports salaries should be 1/10th of what they currently are.

> Sports salaries should be 1/10th of what they currently are.

So where should that 9/10 go?

Re: Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

#35

Post by ubernostrum »

tmuir wrote: post #7

I think live sports is the last bit of programming that prevents a lot people from getting rid of cable completely. On the other hand, sports, football in particular, are one of the biggest selling points of HDTV and the high resolution picture it provides. If the future of watching football consists of the same buffering, crappy framerates and resolution, and all around frustration of using Youtube as it exists toda…

I have an MLB.tv subscription, and watch on my computer, iPad and TV (through the PS3 app). I have never had "buffering, crappy framerates and resolution, and all around frustration".

Re: Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

#36

Post by dragonwriter »

kodablah wrote: post #11
dragonwriter wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would certainly pay either company to get Live streams of NFL games (with no blackouts, I hate those with a passion). Blackouts exist to limit the extent that remote viewing substitutes for live attendance, as a means to support the live ticket prices. The alternative to blackouts is to accept that remote viewing is a substitute for live attendance, and to make the prices for remote viewing higher and those for l…

> Blackouts exist to limit the extent that remote viewing substitutes for live attendance Y'all are confusing your words. "Blackouts" you describe are local TV broadcast blackouts if they don't sell out the stadium. "Blackouts" the GP describes are the blackouts on Sunday ticket because you are supposed to watch them locally. Opinions: The former is good, it forces attendance. The latter is not, as it puts prevents r…

> Y'all are confusing your words.

No, I'm not.

> "Blackouts" you describe are local TV broadcast blackouts if they don't sell out the stadium.

That's one set of blackouts to limit the extent that remote viewing substitutes for live attendance, but...

> "Blackouts" the GP describes are the blackouts on Sunday ticket because you are supposed to watch them locally.

...that's also a set of blackouts to limit the extent that remote viewing substitutes for live attendance (in part). (It prevents Sunday Ticket from providing an end-run around the other kind of blackout.)

It also serves another similar purpose, to protect the local TV contract revenue in the same way that local TV blackouts protect stadium revenue.

Re: Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

#37

Post by JohnTHaller »

ajross wrote: post #15
tmuir wrote: post #7

I think live sports is the last bit of programming that prevents a lot people from getting rid of cable completely. On the other hand, sports, football in particular, are one of the biggest selling points of HDTV and the high resolution picture it provides. If the future of watching football consists of the same buffering, crappy framerates and resolution, and all around frustration of using Youtube as it exists toda…

I'm curious about your last paragraph. Certainly on-demand video is subject to buffering, but the rest of that doesn't seem to be my experience at all. We watch both Netflix and Youtube content at home on multiple clients (e.g. browesr, phones, the now-ancient Netflix app on the TiVo HD...) and while obviously we've seen the occasional network failure I don't think any of them seem to be service-specific. Basically,…

YouTube HD has been barely functional for most Time Warner customers for years now.

Re: Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

#38

Post by VikingCoder »

heyheyhey wrote: post #34
VikingCoder wrote: post #17

The math here is all wrong. It's vastly more expensive than this, if you want to provide it a la carte. All cable subscribers are currently subsidizing live sports, whether they want to or not. It's a dinosaur that should die. Sports salaries should be 1/10th of what they currently are.

> Sports salaries should be 1/10th of what they currently are. So where should that 9/10 go?

If the major expense of your business is the salaries of your employees, and your number of employees need to remain relatively unchanged, and your revenue drops in 1/10th, then roughly you will need to higher employees who will accept 1/10th of the wages. Some of your current employees may accept, but you can expect massive turn-over. And arguably lower-quality employees.

In short, I'm being forced to pay for live sports, if I want cable, and I predict that very soon that will change.

Re: Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

#39

Post by bcrescimanno »

Disclaimer: I worked at Netflix until the end of July 2013 but I have no inside knowledge relating to anything to do with NFL Sunday Ticket.

As many have said here, Netflix has absolutely no experience in live-streaming, which, despite the apparent similarity, is entirely different than streaming cached content. To my knowledge, the idea of doing anything live hasn't been on the company's radar. As recently as early February when we launched House of Cards, the company wasn't even set up to allow for a real-time, coordinated launch of a title on the service.

Unless something like this was being run as a top-secret, skunkworks-style effort (which I seriously doubt) the service architecture isn't at all prepare to handle live-content and there's little reason to believe that Netflix has any interest in dipping its toe into the live sports world.

Re: Netflix should buy the NFL Sunday Ticket rights, not Google

#40

Post by raldi »

If by "should" the author is referring to what would be in the best interests of consumers, then the NFL should forget about exclusive licenses and just sign deals with everyone.

Question for the room: If the government were to mandate FRAND licensing of live sports content, would the benefits to the consumer outweigh the market burden of regulation?

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