[mt99808]

I've had Cogeco for 5 years with the Super Sports Pack and never had a Lions game blacked out. I just switched to Bell this year to get more HD even though it's costing me triple the price for my sports packages. Why the hell is Bell blacking out Lions games in Southwestern Ontario? I was of the understanding that the blackout restrictions for the Lions didn't include Canada.

 

[topherpaquette]

I live in Windsor, Ontario and the Lions game wasn't blacked out for me. I've been with Bell for years and always had Sunday Ticket and never once had a Lions game blacked out.

 

[mt99808]

I'm in Chatham .... i called soon after the game started and the guy read off some spiel about how the game was blacked out in Windsor, Sarnia and Chatham. The guy was clearly just reading scripts and had no idea what he was talking about .... he didn't even know if i was referring to hockey or football at first. I asked him to get somebody on the horn who actually had knowledge of blackout restrictions. He put me on hold and left me there until it finally hung up on me after about 10 minutes. Classic Bell customer service. I wasn't calling back to talk to some other incompetent moron who didn't have a clue what they were talking about.

 

[Davey]

Blackouts are determined by the NFL, not Bell. OP, you didn't mention if you had NFL network or not, as it wouldn't be blacked out that way, I believe.

Dave

 

[mt99808]

What does NFL Network have to do with anything. I have Sunday Ticket if that is what you are referring to. Like i said i've subscribed to Sunday Ticket on Cogeco for 5 years and never had a game blacked out. Wouldn't the same rules apply? Also, the 2nd post in this thread got the game in Windsor which is 100km closer to detroit than I am.

Also, I know for a fact they show games at Casino Windsor when they're blacked out in Detroit.

 

[DSgamby]

If the game was on NFL Network, it would be blacked out on ST

 

[mt99808]

What does that mean if the game was on NFL Network? NFL Network doesn't show games live.

 

[DSgamby]

Then the game wouldn't be blacked out.

 

[mt99808]

The game was in the guide, but when you go to the channel it says "game not available in your area, click on help for more details". Click on help and it says the game is blacked out in your area. Both the HD and SD versions were the same.

I don't understand how this has anything to do with the NFL Network.

 

[mt99808]

Spent another 45 minutes on the phone today trying to get an answer. They say blackouts apply to Windsor, Sarnia and Chatham for Lions blackouts. I was on the Cogeco Super Sports pack for the last 4 years and never had a game blacked out on Sunday Ticket. How are there 2 different sets of rules applied?

 

[oorwully]

Feeds

My best answer is where each provider gets it's feeds from. Cogeco seems to utilize the Detroit feeds for most of their American broadcasts. Bell, well they seem to prefer the Buffalo/Boston feeds for all their American broadcasts. So instead of our lovable Lions, we are stuck watching the Laughable Bills.

 

[topherpaquette]

I am tempted to call in and find out...

If those are the blackout rules for Windsor, Chatham and Sarnia then why have I always recieved the Lions games in blackout conditions (Lions not selling out at home)? I am reluctant to do this however as I don't want to tip them off that I live in this area and am viewing these games. May be a setting in their computer system?

 

[mt99808]

Ya that doesn't make much sense but I wouldn't be calling in to ask.

This makes absolutely no sense because I know for a fact i've watched blacked out games at the Casino where you can practically see Ford Field from but I can't get the game when I'm probably an hour and a half at least with a decent wait at US Customs.

 

[jjoch]

I had the NFL package 2 or 3 years ago and dropped it when I found out that blacked out Lions games are not shown in the Windsor area. My guess is, and it is purely a guess, that the Direct TV feeds are sent to Bell. Since DTV blacks out the signal for roughly 50 miles around Detroit, that means Windsor loses out. Cogeco picks up the feed from another area and is not reliant on DTV so cable customers win out. I am a big Lions and NFL fan and when we move next year will be dropping Bell for Cogeco. They are much cheaper and I am tired of Bell's business practices and outsourcing to India for tech support.

 

[mt99808]

The Super Sports Pack is garbage. Everything is in standard definition and it looks like a 1982 VHS tape on a high def tv. Also the guide doesn't work properly, games missed for whatever reason and just plain bad service. In all honesty the quality is very close to the feeds you get from the sites on the internet that upload the streams.

It's a choice that really comes down to economics. It's costing me more than double with Bell and that doesn't include NBA, OHL, and Nascar (which I'd never watch) that also comes with SSP. So I guess if Bell were to offer those it would be over triple the price. But getting over 80% of the content in HD is huge for me and is the ultimate difference maker.

That being said, I contacted the NFL to find out why the difference between cable and satellite and have yet to receive a response. I submitted my question through their website because I couldn't find a phone number anywhere.

 

[mt99808]

I also thought of a work around that should work but I can't see anymore Lions games being blacked out this season. They've got the Jets, Pats and then 3 divisional games left. All should sell out I would imagine.