Where to watch...

Looks like ESPN+ will continue to show that EFL Friday afternoon match here in the states. Which means we'll have a chance to see the match vs. Huddersfield on the 16th of August. But what's the deal with FulhamTV subscription, anyone try to purchase for this year? The club website still reads:

"Why can international subscribers no longer watch live streams of Fulham matches?
Following the Club's promotion to the Premier League, we are no longer permitted to stream matches live, but audio commentary will still be provided for every fixture."

Any ideas?

 

http://worldsoccertalk.com/championship-tv-schedule/

 

I sent an email to Fulham asking for some clarification - still waiting to hear back.

I'd like to pick either FFCTV or ESPN+ since I'm cheap and don't want to plop down $$ for both. If FFCTV is streaming matches this year, any matches carried on ESPN+ will not be available live on FFCTV. ESPN+ will carry the Fulham's first match of the season vs Barnsley. Of the 12 opening weekend matches, ESPN+ is showing 5. They seem to show one match from each time slot a game is being played. If Fulham has a good season there might be more live games on ESPN+ than FFCTV since ESPN+ will go for the matches that are likely to generate the most interest.

 

I already pay for espn+ so if FFCtv streams the rest for a reasonable rate then I’m game for both. I would love to be able to hear Gentleman Jim again. It’s been a couple years...

 

Speaking of watching...have y'all seen Sunderland till I die...talk about painful

 

My espn app says that the opening match against Barnsley will be on espn+.

Five days to go...

 

Fulham has updated their info on FFCTV: http://www.fulhamfc.com/News/2019/August/02/FFCtv-Launched

The important points in my view are:

• You can see live Fulham matches on FFCTV if they are NOT broadcast on ESPN+
• The season-long subscription with access to live broadcasts is £120, which is about $150
• All matches will be available on replay, even those broadcast by ESPN+
• A season-long subscription to the replays and matchday audio, but without live TV broadcasts, is £45, which is about $55
• In 2017-18 FFCTV had 33 of the 46 league matches carried live - I have no idea if it will be similar this year since I don't remember if ESPN gave it the same level of coverage then
  
• No cup matches are included in the live video feed

The costs are equivalent to other teams, but still seems high to me given that ESPN+ costs only $50 for the season. Economies of scale at work I suppose.

 

I think I paid $50 for the Premier League pass last year to be able to stream every non-televised match for every team. This year it went up to $65 ($60 for returning subscribers). I do also suppose that it is an economy of scale, but I would think that all the infrastructure is in place and each team would merely need to tap into that. So maybe it should cost a little more than the entire Premier League, but not 3x as much.

Odds are I'll be checking our opponents youtube channel for match highlights and missing Gentlemen Jim again.

 

Signed up for espn+ today. Pretty excited for tomorrow morning.

 

Agree with astroevan and MicahMan.

I picked up the ESPN+ sub thinking it would be like the old NBC Gold package for PL matches. Oops. I did enjoy watching the Huddersfield win but checking the posted schedule I only see one more upcoming Fulham match on ESPN+ (Cardiff on August 30). Granted, the current schedule is just for the next few weeks. I'd like to get the FulhamFCTV package but don't want to shell out the money with no guarantee of what matches will be available versus the ESPN+. Sigh. Football watching in the US may never be easy.

On the plus side (pun intended), ESPN+ is adding a lot more football to my life. USL and MLS are OK, and NWSL might show up there soon.

 

Can someone confirm that they want your credit card info to keep in their files if you want to get ESPN+? That's a line I won't cross. I want to have my card info in as few vendor DBs as possible.

 

@sacffc, yes if I go into my payment settings I do not have to re-enter my credit card number. The number is ghosted so that only the last four digits are showing, but it is stored by ESPN.

I also noticed something unnerving that I wish I had seen before. The password reset page for ESPN+ is unsecured! The ESPN+ page is not available via HTTPS so logging on to ESPN from a public location is especially dicey for security. The payment page is secure, but the same login information to get to that page is passed unencrypted. I've sent a message to them since what makes it more ridiculous is that if you try to force it to be secure by manually going to HTTPS it removes it - even though if you go to the ESPN homepage it is automatically made HTTPS. They are intentionally disabling the encryption.

Whatever you do (and you shouldn't be doing this anyway) don't use a password for them that you use for anything else. Really poor form by ESPN, what a Mickey Mouse operation they have!

Full disclosure - this site is also not HTTPS so don't use your bank password for goodness sake!

 

As I've said before, I spent my career in the computer center. I'm sure every company has a smiling clown in marketing who can assure the world that they have state-of-the-art security. I won't find out about a massive security breach until it's too late.

On the Internet, there's more financial incentive to help consumers spend money than there is to keep things safe. Pretty much inevitable.

My solution is I won't give my credit card information to ANYONE without a compelling reason. ESPN wants my card info to store in their computer. That's why it looks like I won't get to see the lads too many times this season.

 

I do a good bit of online work and shopping, so I share the cc# concerns. I think you can subscribe to ESPN+ through iTunes or Apple Pay if you're in the Apple ecosystem. Should be more secure than giving your permanent card number to ESPN. I also frequently use the one-time virtual card number option that some banks offer. I know Citi and Capital One have that service if your card is through them.

 

ESPN+ just added the September 14 West Brom match to the schedule.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/team/fixtures/_/id/370/fulham