The people over at Aussie Sport TV (aka Perform Group) have issued their offer for live AFL match coverage via the web in 2010 under their Omnisport.tv service. For those fans who want to see a match not shown by ESPN360 / ESPN3 / TSN.ca or cannot access those services, this is an option you may consider. AFANA makes no guarantees as to how well it will work for you and you must decide what live footy is worth to you. It appears this is similar to the offer last year with perhaps more complete coverage of all matches. Here is the offer:
"Watch over 100 games of the 2010 Toyota AFL Premiership LIVE on Omnisport.tv!
For the first time, in 2010, you’ll be able to watch live AFL on your PC from the UK, Ireland, USA Canada, New Zealand and Europe for just $5.99 US per match!
Starting this Thursday, the sixteen clubs commence battle for the ultimate prize of the 114th AFL Premiership.
As well as last year’s premiers The Cats and minor premiers St. Kilda, The Western Bulldogs will be amongst the favorites, after beating St Kilda in the NAB Cup Final earlier in March.
This weekend we’ll be showing five matches LIVE from Round 1:
Friday 26th March – Geelong v Essendon 08:40 GMT [currently US EDT is 4 hours behind "GMT"]
Saturday 27th March – Melbourne v Hawthorn 03:10 GMT
Saturday 27th March – Brisbane Lions v West Coast Eagles 09:10 GMT
Sunday 28th March – Port Adelaide v North Melbourne 02:10 GMT
Sunday 28th March – Fremantle v Adelaide 09:10 GMT
So what are you waiting for?"
You can subscribe here.
(Disclaimer: AFANA benefits from orders made through the above link and it supports what we do however AFANA is not involved in the production or delivery of this product and cannot guarantee it will work for you.)
Article last changed on Thursday, March 25, 2010 - 7:13 PM EDT
Comments
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
Hi Jim,
Regarding MHz, we are a big fan of theirs, you can find out all you need to know on their coverage and schedules (right thru Round 21!) by checking our TV Info page and our TV schedules page. We already have that covered for fans. It's well known and MHz coverage extends to over half of the major US TV markets. We also mention the Roku player and have had links to their promos for it.
Our TV info page has pretty much the full story on TV network coverage of the sport and most of the internet coverage as well. Anything else you find is not legal or sanctioned and we can't (for obvious reasons) publicize it without endangering our organization. We've also published several other articles besides this one with later breaking info on the internet side of things.
Regarding Omnisport.tv and ASTV, discussions elsewhere on our site as well as articles previously posted have mentioned that as of this year, only PC's not Macs are supported. This is unfortunate and related to the answer to your question about downloading the games. They have implemented yet more obnoxious digital rights management this year and my guess is that you might find a way to download them but it won't be easy.
-Rob
AFANA Chairman Emeritus and Site Admin
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
Problem is that these dorks don't support Macs. I'd be happy to pay multiples of what they charge if they actually provided a service that catered to customers.
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
Unfortunately, they [ASTV] have dropped support for Macs entirely, not that it was ever very good. However, ESPN360 (now renamed ESPN3. com) supports Macs without an issue. So for fans with access to ESPN3 or TSN. ca they have that.
Please do not post language inappropriate for a family site. Our terms and conditions prohibit that and I have modified your message accordingly. Do not post the same message more than once as this will get you labeled as a spammer (and it did).
Finally, for the benefit of all readers. If you register and log in then your messages appear immediately. Unregistered users have their posts go into moderation as the screen tells you following your post. We do this as a necessary block against the incessant spammers.
-Rob
AFANA Chairman Emeritus and Site Admin
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
Thanks for letting us know about the Hawthorn v Geelong problem. Did the feed just end after 3 quarters or did they not post the replay of the 4th quarter for later viewing?
Your words of support are appreciated. Ben, Paat, Jeff, and the rest of the staff appreciate it.
-Rob
AFANA Chairman Emeritus and Site Admin
Re: Hawks-Cats
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
The 4th quarter is there now.
Re: Hawks-Cats
As noted on our TV Info (always start there!) and TV Schedule pages, the games on ESPN3 are supposed to be up there for 48 hours from the start of the match (not 2 days, but 48 hours by the clock from the scheduled starting time). If the games are not available for that entire window please let AFANA know with specific information on the game, what time you checked, etc. and we will advise ESPN and the AFL. This limitation is contractual and designed to protect the relative rights of ESPN and ASTV / Telstra.
-Rob
AFANA Chairman Emeritus and Site Admin
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
Bruce,
Sorry to hear of your difficulty. The service uses your IP address, your ISP info, etc. to do "geolocation". Occasionally, that either results in the wrong determination of your location or there is a problem at the Omnisport.tv end. I don't have any reason to think, based on the reports from other users, that this was anything other than a mistake. I'm glad they refunded your money after all. You might try again in the future with another game and see what happens. If it still fails then obviously it isn't going to work for you. The game should be available to all US viewers as promised. In the future, feel free to email all of your correspondence to AFANA and we'll forward it to our contacts at the AFL and ASTV.
Just to be sure, you were using a compatible PC and not a Mac or Linux machine as the latter two won't work. Who is your ISP?
-Rob
AFANA Chairman Emeritus and Site Admin
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
AFANA has received reports of a similar problem with a Round 3 match which is listed as not available to US fans when it is supposed to be available. We've taken the issue to the AFL and they are following up. We'll post more when we know it.
-Rob
AFANA Chairman Emeritus and Site Admin
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
Re: Omnisport.tv Offering for 2010
Hi Darren,
Sorry to hear this problem is plaguing you, too. As noted above, we've become aware of other users with similar issues and we've taken those to the AFL and they have forwarded the problem to Telstra. We can hope that means that Telstra will take the problem to ASTV as necessary. I think we can assume that Omnisport is serious about transmitting games to the US because this is their largest market or nearly so and they paid good money to do so. In the future, send us copies of your correspondence with Omnisport. We can see that it gets to the management levels at the AFL and Telstra and that might help yourself and other fans.
Just a reminder to all readers: please do not double post. If you are not logged in to the web site (joining this site is free) your posts will not appear immediately as the screen will tell you after you hit submit. The post goes into moderation until it can be reviewed. If you register and log in it appears almost immediately. If the site appears slow, be patient as our servers are under heavy load at the moment. Thanks.
-Rob
AFANA Chairman Emeritus and Site Admin