NFL Games on Royal

[artvlay]

Going to take a Greek cruise on Odyssey  in October. Will they show NFL games in the cabins onboard?

[twangster]

The NFL has launched its own streaming service in 2022 while their contract with DTV is expiring.  Consequently it's a whole new game (streaming versus what Royal will be able to pick up).  I'd be careful making projections or assumptions from years past now that the NFL is promoting its own streaming service.  

 

Time will tell.  

[Moonarino]

@twangster, yeah, kinda sounds like it's up the air a bit.

 

On the other hand, @artvlay, I daresay the NFL won't quickly give up the channels (or games) that other streaming services carry, meaning those Sunday/Monday/Thursday series that assure lots of revenue. In fact my own streaming subscription is showing specific "upcoming" preseason games starting very soon (next week??) so the "network" games are apparently still as normal, for now anyway. I'm betting you're fairly safe, at least for this October -- that is, if a Greek cruise would even show those game anyway? No idea myself, never sailed anything except US-based cruises.

[George C]

14 minutes ago, twangster said:

The NFL has launched its own streaming service in 2022 while their contract with DTV is expiring.  Consequently it's a whole new game (streaming versus what Royal will be able to pick up).  I'd be careful making projections or assumptions from years past now that the NFL is promoting its own streaming service.  

 

Time will tell.  

Last I heard they hadn’t made up there mind yet , I am switching to directtv to get all the games this year but contract expires after this season. 

[twangster]

Doesn't Amazon have a lock on Thursday games?  Maybe I got that wrong but I thought some service or another has the rights to Thursdays.  

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by twangster

[George C]

Not sure, I have Amazon, would hate for nfl ticket to go streaming since you couldn’t tape game and skip commercials, I know some baseball games on there also but still can get them with dish or direct tv. 

[George C]

9 minutes ago, twangster said:

Doesn't Amazon have a lock on Thursday games?  Maybe I got that wrong but I thought some service or another has the rights to Thursdays.  

 

I just looked at Buffalo Bills schedule and they open on Thursday and it shows it’s on nbc . We are getting off topic a little.

Royal will attempt to get those games if possible, I was saw a pay per view fight that rccl showed for free.

[twangster]

In the past streaming services were an alternate for when games didn't play on Royal, or Royal only carried the prime game of the week ignoring teams that aren't prime TV draw. 

 

I've streamed games on board using Voom in the past but the new streaming service NFL+ only works on phone and tablets so it can discover your GPS location.  Something tells me they'll block a device outside of the US. 

 

Other streaming services worked on laptops that don't have GPS chips which is how I've watched games on board before.  I suspect this is going to get harder with NFL+.  It's a decent price for an annual subscription right now but it only works on phones and tablets.  

[smokeybandit]

16 hours ago, twangster said:

Doesn't Amazon have a lock on Thursday games?  Maybe I got that wrong but I thought some service or another has the rights to Thursdays.  

 

DirecTV and Amazon were working on a deal for commercial airing of games. Not that cruise ships have DirecTV of course.

[watcher_62]

This is always a point of frustration for us, as RCCL seems to have a deal with the ESPN Caribbean and don't carry many games at all. Even this last cruise in Europe, while ESPN carries F1, the ship did not have the channel for the races.

 

No NFL, no F1, but you can watch all the Cricket or University Ladies Softball (no slight intended) you want...😳

[jerseyjjs]

18 hours ago, twangster said:

Doesn't Amazon have a lock on Thursday games?  Maybe I got that wrong but I thought some service or another has the rights to Thursdays.  

 

 

 

According to the NFL schedule, Amazon Prime has ALL Thursday night games aside from the Buff/LA Ram opener on 9/8 and the 3 Thanksgiving games.

[leisuretraveler223]

I love football. But if I'm on a cruise, I'm pretty ambivalent to it.  So many other things I'd rather do.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, jerseyjjs said:

 

 

According to the NFL schedule, Amazon Prime has ALL Thursday night games aside from the Buff/LA Ram opener on 9/8 and the 3 Thanksgiving games.

 

Right, so will ESPN Caribbean be allowed access to any Thursday games this year?  

 

Amazon Prime exists beyond the US so does this exclusivity apply internationally?  

[Sea Dog]

49 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

I love football. But if I'm on a cruise, I'm pretty ambivalent to it.  So many other things I'd rather do.

 

I feel the same way. I DVR the game and watch it when I get back home.

[smokeybandit]

Has anyone tried NFL Game Pass (their international streaming package) on board?

[SummerBeee]

Last fall Sunday games were shown poolside.

[jerseyjjs]

7 hours ago, twangster said:

 

Right, so will ESPN Caribbean be allowed access to any Thursday games this year?  

 

Amazon Prime exists beyond the US so does this exclusivity apply internationally?  

 

 

I posted this question on here a month ago.  Looks like I'll have to find out next month.

[jerseyjjs]

5 hours ago, SummerBeee said:

Last fall Sunday games were shown poolside.

 

 

Different parameters this year.

[SummerBeee]

13 hours ago, jerseyjjs said:

 

 

Different parameters this year.

I don’t do sportsball. I only remember enjoying the pool deck with glorious weather and a great book then BOOM the NFL loudly appeared on the TV. I begrudgingly went to the solarium 

[Moonarino]

On 8/7/2022 at 10:19 AM, jerseyjjs said:

 

 

According to the NFL schedule, Amazon Prime has ALL Thursday night games aside from the Buff/LA Ram opener on 9/8 and the 3 Thanksgiving games.

I'm looking at weeks 1-18 on Youtube TV's "upcoming" sports listings and just about every week shows a Thursday night game. The channels are shown as "TBD", but Youtube (Google) doesn't do Amazon Prime, in fact they don't like each other very much, and YT-TV doesn't show "upcoming" games that it won't carry (AFAIK). Where did you see that NFL schedule? Was it from an actual NFL source or some net or mag that might have misrepresented?

 

(Not off-topic because of course limiting sources can affect whether we'd even have a chance to see one game or another on a cruise.)

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Moonarino

[Lane Hog]

 

5 hours ago, Moonarino said:

I'm looking at weeks 1-18 on Youtube TV's "upcoming" sports listings and just about every week shows a Thursday night game. The channels are shown as "TBD", but Youtube (Google) doesn't do Amazon Prime, in fact they don't like each other very much, and YT-TV doesn't show "upcoming" games that it won't carry (AFAIK).

 

Pretty certain that both MNF and TNF games get re-played on NFL Network during the week, so that might be why there's a placeholder on YTTV.  It won't be live, but it will be carried and available to record to your library.

[Moonarino]

44 minutes ago, Lane Hog said:

 

Pretty certain that both MNF and TNF games get re-played on NFL Network during the week, so that might be why there's a placeholder on YTTV.  It won't be live, but it will be carried and available to record to your library.

That schedule looks like it always has under my subscription, all the dates/days of week for live games right down the line, Thursdays, 3 Sunday games, MNF, etc.. For 2-3 years I've been watching live NFL on the network channels included in my YT-TV subscription (pretty much all the major nets).

 

I just think we're gonna have to wait till the dust settles to see what (if anything) is actually changing, i.e., live games disappearing from one source and only showing up somewhere else.

 

The question I think: Does any deal between the NFL and DTV (or whoever) necessarily affect game availability elsewhere. Doing one new thing doesn't mean that some other old thing will go away completely. NFL of course will maximize profits however they can.

 

Here's an article on Fox's upcoming NFL coverage. As long as Fox and CBS or NBC still show live games, I'll still see them under my subscription. It's not a complete list of games, but the page shows Week 1 Packers vs Vikings, so I expect to see that game live on Fox the day it gets played, as always.

https://www.foxsports.com/presspass/blog/2022/05/12/fox-sports-unveils-2022-nfl-broadcast-schedule-featuring-robust-playoff-lineup-ever-roads-leading-super-bowl-lvii/

 

Edit to add: I did find a link for Fox's 2022-23 schedule in the article, a pdf file.

 

My overall point being, it could very well be that nothing changes regarding NFL games on cruise ships this year.

Edited August 8, 2022 by Moonarino

[Lane Hog]

What I have noticed is that DTV doesn't seem to be selling Sunday Ticket as a standalone.  They're including it in the Choice package and higher.  Big change from a few years ago when it was in the $300 range for the entire season.... Last year I threatened to drop DTV and they gave me Sunday Ticket for free (which only delayed my dropping DTV until after the Super Bowl).

This will be our first football season with YTTV.... As long as Sunday games remain on broadcast TV, I think I'll be OK being able to watch my Packers from Chicago. Most of the games are on a national feed, and there should only be a couple weeks where a Bears game gets in the way.  For those weeks, there's Plan B, which is using my Android phone and a Fake GPS provider... .This weekend, I was able to watch some of the Family Night coverage and a Brewer's game with my phone screen mirrored to the 55" TV.... 

That same solution (fake GPS + screen mirroring) should work on a ship with decent wifi.  We don't cruse during hurricane season, so I won't be testing that anytime soon.
 

Edited August 9, 2022 by Lane Hog

[steveru621]

I don't remember DirecTV beling part of what's on a RCI ship.  It's ESPN and a contract with the NFL.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, steveru621 said:

I don't remember DirecTV beling part of what's on a RCI ship.  It's ESPN and a contract with the NFL.

 

Except for Playmaker ships that had extra contracted for extra sports programming beyond ESPN Caribbean.  In the past any ship that had a Playmakers carried additional sports programming.  It wasn't available in your cabin but the TV's in Playmakers would often show more games than the two ESPN Caribbean channels.