MSG Islanders hockey blackouts in upstate NY

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Islesfan21

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Dec 17, 2014
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New York
Not sure if any of you are hockey fans living in upstate NY, but hoping someone can answer my question. I'm a huge Islanders fan and finally have something to cheer about this year, which makes this issue even more upsetting.

According to my zip code (12817), I'm in the home team territory for the Islanders, Rangers, Devils and Sabres. However, on any given night when any of these teams are playing on MSG, MSG+, MSG+2, some, if not all are blacked out (My guess is about half the games seem to be blacked out for each team). I've spoken with several reps & supervisors at DTV and no one can give me a direct answer. One supervisor told me to re-program the box, so I can receive the MSG SD broadcasts & I should receive all games in SD (of course that didn't work). Next supervisor told me that if the games are blacked out, they are blacked out in HD and SD and doesn't know why the last supervisor told me that. Anyway, their final answer always ends explaining that they have no control over blackouts and it's the NHL that blacks out the games, which really doesn't help me. I've called NHL Center Ice, just to see if I would get the blacked out Islander games if I purchased Center Ice. They told me no, because the Islanders are my home team. I've also called the NHL and they were also unsure of the exact reason.

As an avid hockey & Islanders fan, there's no worse feeling than being able to watch the pre-game show and when the end of the last commercial comes on at 6:59, wondering if the screen will go to gray with the error code 721! Some examples, the last 4 Isles games were blacked out (both the Devils and Islanders broadcast 3 nights ago & the Sabres game was the only game shown on MSG that night (MSG+2) and the previous 2 Isles games before that were both shown (Isles vs. Blues, Isles vs. Wild). Another example on 11-29 Isles vs. Devils I got lucky and the Isles broadcast was shown and the Devils broadcast was blacked out. I understand there are blackout rules, but why list those 4 teams in my home territory if they aren't going to broadcast them all? I guess what ticks me off the most is not knowing if a game will be blacked out until right before the game starts. I can't figure out any patterns and it seems like they just blackout random games. Really hoping someone here can shed some light on the situation, because it's driving me crazy.
 
This the answer I posted on another forum where islesfan21 p;osted.
quote:'There have been many discussions about this over the years. I think I have this right.
Because you are in the Buffalo Sabres territory, when their home games are on, MSG has to blackout any Islanders, Devils and Rangers games. This is an NHL ruling, nothing to do with MSG or DirecTV. unquote

I also posted this link http://1045theteam.com/its-time-to-e...ackout-policy/

Does anyone have anything to add?
 
Yes, that really helped me out a lot and although I still won't be able to watch half the games, at least I'll have a better idea of which games will be blacked out. I still don't understand why the Sabres are my Home Territory when I live 5+ hours east of Buffalo. Honestly, the NHL should be ashamed of themselves as to how they treat their fans.
 
Yes, that really helped me out a lot and although I still won't be able to watch half the games, at least I'll have a better idea of which games will be blacked out. I still don't understand why the Sabres are my Home Territory when I live 5+ hours east of Buffalo. Honestly, the NHL should be ashamed of themselves as to how they treat their fans.

Have you considered "moving" a little closer to NYC?
 
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This the answer I posted on another forum where islesfan21 p;osted.
quote:'There have been many discussions about this over the years. I think I have this right.
Because you are in the Buffalo Sabres territory, when their home games are on, MSG has to blackout any Islanders, Devils and Rangers games. This is an NHL ruling, nothing to do with MSG or DirecTV. unquote

I also posted this link http://1045theteam.com/its-time-to-e...ackout-policy/

Does anyone have anything to add?
According to any number of NHL tv market maps, Zip 12817 is well within the territories of NYI,NJD, NYR and BUF...In fact I have friends that reside in nearby 12845, 12804 and 12801....I visit there a few times a year, I can assure you these places are inside the above teams markets and those games are not blacked out on Time Warner, Directv or Dish.....
Obviously the OP is having an individual issue and no one at D* is willing to work with him to get it rectified.
 
This the answer I posted on another forum where islesfan21 p;osted.
quote:'There have been many discussions about this over the years. I think I have this right.
Because you are in the Buffalo Sabres territory, when their home games are on, MSG has to blackout any Islanders, Devils and Rangers games. This is an NHL ruling, nothing to do with MSG or DirecTV. unquote

I also posted this link http://1045theteam.com/its-time-to-e...ackout-policy/

Does anyone have anything to add?
Well well. I stand corrected.. What a crazy illogical circumstance.
"Yes, you are in the Market, but you're not IN the market....You're really in THAT market....
This is typical of the NHL.....The league has never been run with logic at a forefront.
 
Well well. I stand corrected.. What a crazy illogical circumstance.
"Yes, you are in the Market, but you're not IN the market....You're really in THAT market....
This is typical of the NHL.....The league has never been run with logic at a forefront.

Illogical as it may be, it's logical as far as the owners are concerned. In this case, it's Sabres "primary" territory and so they control the broadcast rights.
 
12817 to Buffalo, NY 300 miles
12817 to Uniondale, NY 245 miles
12817 to New York, NY 230 miles
12817 to Newark, NJ 225 miles

Anything wrong with this picture? Buffalo is in Western New York and I'm in Northeastern New York, nowhere near Buffalo territory. Hell, I'm only 145 miles from Montreal, maybe the NHL should make the Canadiens my home territory!

Indeed, Saturday night, Buffalo was at home and the game was aired and the Islanders, Rangers and Devils were all blacked out. What pisses me off even more is that there's an ample amount of overflow channels for MSG, so why can't they show all games, even if Buffalo is playing at home? Does the NHL really think I'm going to watch the Buffalo Sabres game because my team is blacked out on MSG? Are they that stupid? Just unreal.....
 
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AsI said, the whole thing is pretty ridiculous. But unless you can peruade the NHL and the Sabres to change it, it is what it is. I think the link I gave you expresses the frustration also....
 
12817 to Buffalo, NY 300 miles
12817 to Uniondale, NY 245 miles
12817 to New York, NY 230 miles
12817 to Newark, NJ 225 miles

Anything wrong with this picture? Buffalo is in Western New York and I'm in Northeastern New York, nowhere near Buffalo territory. Hell, I'm only 145 miles from Montreal, maybe the NHL should make the Canadiens my home territory!

Indeed, Saturday night, Buffalo was at home and the game was aired and the Islanders, Rangers and Devils were all blacked out. What pisses me off even more is that there's an ample amount of overflow channels for MSG, so why can't they show all games, even if Buffalo is playing at home? Does the NHL really think I'm going to watch the Buffalo Sabres game because my team is blacked out on MSG? Are they that stupid? Just unreal.....

I live in a suburb West of Rochester and I get all of the NY teams games even if the Sabres are playing.

John
 
Ok, so now I'm even more confused than before. You get all of the games on MSG? Do you have their extra Sportspack or NHL Center Ice?

I don't have the Sportspack. Even before I got Center Ice I was able to watch any NHL games on MSG, or I could be wrong I guess.

I do have Center Ice, but that should not make a difference, I can tune any of the MSG channels to watch any of the games on MSG. I'm in market for all of the MSG teams, (Rangers, Sabres, Devils, and Islanders) with my zip code 14559.
 
I don't have the Sportspack. Even before I got Center Ice I was able to watch any NHL games on MSG, or I could be wrong I guess.

I do have Center Ice, but that should not make a difference, I can tune any of the MSG channels to watch any of the games on MSG. I'm in market for all of the MSG teams, (Rangers, Sabres, Devils, and Islanders) with my zip code 14559.

Appreciate the responses. Are the Islanders/Rangers/Sabres & Devils blacked out on NHL Center Ice or do you get the games on both MSG and CI? I'm still wondering if you're getting these games only because you have Center Ice. Being that these 4 teams are considered our "home" teams in both of our zip codes, they are supposed to be blacked out on CI. However, from what I've read elsewhere, they will be shown on CI because of the "unique" situation in upstate NY, although one person that I spoke to from CI told me the games would be blacked out in my zip code because all 4 teams are considered my home teams. I believe there's a free preview of CI coming up in February, so it should be interesting to see if the games will be shown.
 
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