Free MLB.TV and The Athletic subscription for T-Mobile subscribers

[MurphDogg]

Hope this is an ok topic as I think some people would appreciate it.

T-Mobile have done the MLB.TV deal for the last several years, but The Athletic deal is new as far as I know.

Seems worth it for any T-Mobile subscribers, and Sprint customers are eligible too since they merged.

Just make sure you set a calendar reminder to cancel The Athletic after a year.

Details here

[eddie83]

Side note here. 

I am a long term subscriber of Directv. Years ago I got the NFL Sunday ticket but it’s been years. This year I am getting it for free from them. Sent me an email back in April. 

People should be aware this year that there may be more opportunities with good deals than usual. 

[HowAboutThat]

It’s for real folks, I’ve done it the last three years, And because it’s free, I don’t scream when they blacked out all the home games, although if I were paying for it I sure as hell would.

[oriole]

12 hours ago, Philip said:

It’s for real folks, I’ve done it the last three years, And because it’s free, I don’t scream when they blacked out all the home games, although if I were paying for it I sure as hell would.

Just get a VPN and you don’t even need to worry about them being blacked out

[HowAboutThat]

Just now, oriole said:

Just get a VPN and you don’t even need to worry about them being blacked out

Is there a particular one that you need, or one that you recommend?

[oriole]

2 hours ago, Philip said:

Is there a particular one that you need, or one that you recommend?

I used ExpressVPN but I’m not really that knowledgeable on it to be honest. It worked great though, sometimes the picture would get a little pixelated but I’m not sure if that was my internet or the VPN. I think I paid $100 for a year? But I use it for other stuff as well 

[atomic]

17 minutes ago, oriole said:

I used ExpressVPN but I’m not really that knowledgeable on it to be honest. It worked great though, sometimes the picture would get a little pixelated but I’m not sure if that was my internet or the VPN. I think I paid $100 for a year? But I use it for other stuff as well 

So $100 for the VPN and then $49 for the one team MLBTV.   Seems pricey for 2 months of baseball. 

[oriole]

1 hour ago, atomic said:

So $100 for the VPN and then $49 for the one team MLBTV.   Seems pricey for 2 months of baseball. 

Well the mlb.tv would be free with T-mobile and the VPN only really makes it worth it if you also want it for other things. But yeah, $150 if it’s all for 2 months of baseball is pricey

[Can_of_corn]

Interesting that the Athletic would do this.

[backwardsk]

44 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Interesting that the Athletic would do this.

Subscription services make a lot of money by people not canceling renewals.  I’ll probably be their sucker here.

[Can_of_corn]

1 hour ago, backwardsk said:

Subscription services make a lot of money by people not canceling renewals.  I’ll probably be their sucker here.

I know how they work but a full year?  Sounds to me like they want to prop up their subscriber number.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

I know how they work but a full year?  Sounds to me like they want to prop up their subscriber number.

Perhaps trying to build enough subscribers to make an IPO viable. 

The Athletic raises $50 million in new round of investor funding

   -But is the subscriber base growing to expectations?

[Can_of_corn]

54 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Perhaps trying to build enough subscribers to make an IPO viable. 

The Athletic raises $50 million in new round of investor funding

   -But is the subscriber base growing to expectations?

I've been questioning their business model this whole time.

But I'm probably wrong.

 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I've been questioning their business model this whole time.

But I'm probably wrong.

 

I have my doubts about The Athletic being profitable too with a subscription only model. I don't see enough people wiling to pay money for sports reporting even if it's well done.

I could see it potentially working if they provide good sports gambling coverage. Sports gamblers wanting a leg up will consider paying for good intelligence. Maybe The Athletic does this, but I haven't heard about it.