Unfortunately, the NFL signed another contract with DirecTV this year - extending it's deal far into the future. So those of us who use computers to watch the majority of our entertainment may have to choose - shall we say - less official means to watch our games live. No big deal, I've been dealing with that forever, I can keep finding ways to watch. Going to the bar, or a friends house, etc.
However, I was planning on purchasing Preseason Live again this season. Something I've done every season since they first made it available. I love to watch the position battles unfold, or watch crazy plays. I mean watching Audie Cole get back to back pick 6's was unbelievably awesome. It normally provided a great way to watch preseason games, and then go back and re-evaluate the games (if I happen to be feeling obsessive).
But wait, I can't seem to find it anywhere...and I keep getting redirected to something called NFL GamePass...
Well, as it turns out the NFL, in their infinite wisdom and love for their fans (pukes in mouth), has decided to combine Preseason Live with NFL Rewind and rebrand it as NFL GamePass. This is basically a clever way to do two things:
1. Force anyone who wants Preseason Live to also buy NFL Rewind, and vice-versa.
2. Fool or re-fool a lot of poor fans into thinking that they will now be able to watch NFL games Live Online. Let me be exceedingly clear about that point:
YOU CANNOT WATCH REGULAR SEASON GAMES LIVE ONLINE WITH NFL GAME PASS.
Here's what you CAN do with your desktop (coming soon to SmartTV's, Tablets, and SmartPhones, no real timeline I can find on that tiny detail...)
- Watch Preseason games live - IF they are not being televised locally in your area, or nationally televised. Yeah, just consider this for a moment...basically, if you live in the same state as your team - chances are your games are blacked out. But for people like me, who grew up in MN but live in NYC, it works great. (Side-note: Same deal with DirecTV live streaming online. When the Vikings played the Jets or Giants it was blacked out here in NYC. Oh, and they only stream games on Sundays - not Mon or Thur - in the end, DirecTV only streamed about 60% of NFL games for New Yorkers. That's a rough estimate. Every game, every Sunday, my 4$$)
- Watch NFL Regular Season games the day AFTER they air. (possibly longer) - I can't remember what the exact waiting period is. In all honesty this has it's merits. For instance, you can watch an entire football game in less than an hour if you turn on their fast mode - which skips straight from the end of one play to the beginning of the next. You can also go watch every game played on Sunday if you want. Or if you missed a game - because family.
- Watch every game from 2009-present. - This is a new feature they have decided to include which allows you to go back to previous seasons. You know, in case you want to re-live the Brett Favre heart-break all over again.