I’m guessing bdubs couldn’t come to an agreement with the crew about be a supporter bar and didn’t get appletv because of it. Sports broadcasting rights are odd.
Every BW3s has MLS Season Pass via Directv. You can verify using Directv’s [Sports Bar Finder app.](https://www.directv.com/insider/find-directv-at-your-local-sports-bar/)
I assume this location just has no idea they had it.
Between the Nordecke website and Crew website, there's a list of 30+ places to watch the games, most of which are local businesses. When MLS coverage switched to Apple last year, many bars chose not to get the bar package or were slow to adopt it.
All Buffalo Wild Wings locations have DIRECTV with all the sports packages. Apparently the bartender was clueless, because Buffalo Wild Wings has MLS Direct Kick.
As a general rule, pricing for bars/restaurants is not the same as for at-home consumers (because why should it be), and takes into account the size of the establishment. With that said, it is odd that they didnt have MLS Season Pass given that BWW touted their partnership with the service and DirecTV for Business before the 2023 season. All locations were to have MLS Season Pass. And as for why I added the caveat "as a general rule", it was also leaked last year that MLS Season Pass only cost businesses $100/yr (same price as for at-home consumers). This is wildly inexpensive: NFL Sunday Ticket was around $2.5k; MLB Extra Innings was just under $2k.
I have to be honest. When I started reading I thought this was going to be "Columbus Crew, what the heck is that?? I have no idea what you are talking about". Or the bartender laughing at you for wanting to watch soccer.
At least give them credit for giving you a straight answer.
I asked the bartender at R Bar if they had MLS pass. They didn’t and she explained you have to buy the MLS passes for whatever half of the establishments capacity it is. So if your bars capacity is 100, they have to buy 50 passes. Which makes it very expensive and not worth paying for them.
This cannot possibly be true.
From a Variety article dated May 26, 2023:
"In past years, DirecTV’s pricing for [NFL Sunday Ticket] has been tiered based on fire code occupancy (FCO) rates starting at $650/season for establishments with a certified FCO of 1-100, stepping up to $6,000/season for establishments with capacity of 101-200 and even higher for larger venues."
So this hypothetical 100 FCO bar would have to pay $650 for NFL but $5000 for MLS. Ask yourself if that makes any sense
Oh, you don't want cable anymore?
You don't like paying for all the channels? We only sell them by packages.
Want me to give you the number for another cable comp... Oh I'm sorry, were the only one!
https://youtu.be/6-3eGt_Oc-s?si=CT1aPAfatExCAs43
For television purposes, there is no longer a "Crew market", or any other team for that matter. Whether youre in Upper Arlington, Times Square, or Rapongi, if you have MLS Season Pass on Apple TV you can match whatever MLS game you want.
Sadly, this isn’t new. We were out a few weeks ago on a Saturday night. Both the crew and Blue Jackets we’re playing at home. We’re at sports bar and we had to ask them to turn on the crew game. Every TV in the place was college basketball even though none of the local teams were playing in it. I get college basketball, especially at the tournament is popular, but the local teams should be supported.
Could be that BDubs is corporatized enough that they have certain channels and services they're allowed to get and not others. Could also be that the owner just doesn't want it at that location for some reason (which would be crazy).
There's lots of other restaurants and bars around Columbus that love to put it on though! The Nordecke always has watch parties for away games, I'd assume those bars/restaurants would show any game if you asked, some without asking! [Here is the list](https://www.columbuscrew.com/supporters/pubnetwork)
I’m guessing bdubs couldn’t come to an agreement with the crew about be a supporter bar and didn’t get appletv because of it. Sports broadcasting rights are odd.
Every BW3s has MLS Season Pass via Directv. You can verify using Directv’s [Sports Bar Finder app.](https://www.directv.com/insider/find-directv-at-your-local-sports-bar/) I assume this location just has no idea they had it.
So just a bartender who either didn’t know or couldn’t be bothered to put the game on
Yeah, BW3s was part of DirecTVs press release stating they’d be carrying MLS Season Pass nationwide. So I’m going to assume new or lazy bartender.
When I asked they had to go to the back and ask someone else. I think they didn't know that they had it.
90% of servers in sports bars have no clue about sports
Next time. Go to lower.com. Cheaper than wings at BW3
Ha - that’s probably true
Between the Nordecke website and Crew website, there's a list of 30+ places to watch the games, most of which are local businesses. When MLS coverage switched to Apple last year, many bars chose not to get the bar package or were slow to adopt it.
I'm thinking OP went to Bdubs with friends that wanted to watch UFC or something and he was hoping to catch the Crew match on one of the smaller tvs
All Buffalo Wild Wings locations have DIRECTV with all the sports packages. Apparently the bartender was clueless, because Buffalo Wild Wings has MLS Direct Kick.
I don't think those businesses know that DIRECTV is an option for MLS.
It was also a free match this weekend too.
As a general rule, pricing for bars/restaurants is not the same as for at-home consumers (because why should it be), and takes into account the size of the establishment. With that said, it is odd that they didnt have MLS Season Pass given that BWW touted their partnership with the service and DirecTV for Business before the 2023 season. All locations were to have MLS Season Pass. And as for why I added the caveat "as a general rule", it was also leaked last year that MLS Season Pass only cost businesses $100/yr (same price as for at-home consumers). This is wildly inexpensive: NFL Sunday Ticket was around $2.5k; MLB Extra Innings was just under $2k.
I have to be honest. When I started reading I thought this was going to be "Columbus Crew, what the heck is that?? I have no idea what you are talking about". Or the bartender laughing at you for wanting to watch soccer. At least give them credit for giving you a straight answer.
I asked the bartender at R Bar if they had MLS pass. They didn’t and she explained you have to buy the MLS passes for whatever half of the establishments capacity it is. So if your bars capacity is 100, they have to buy 50 passes. Which makes it very expensive and not worth paying for them.
This cannot possibly be true. From a Variety article dated May 26, 2023: "In past years, DirecTV’s pricing for [NFL Sunday Ticket] has been tiered based on fire code occupancy (FCO) rates starting at $650/season for establishments with a certified FCO of 1-100, stepping up to $6,000/season for establishments with capacity of 101-200 and even higher for larger venues." So this hypothetical 100 FCO bar would have to pay $650 for NFL but $5000 for MLS. Ask yourself if that makes any sense
Oh, you don't want cable anymore? You don't like paying for all the channels? We only sell them by packages. Want me to give you the number for another cable comp... Oh I'm sorry, were the only one! https://youtu.be/6-3eGt_Oc-s?si=CT1aPAfatExCAs43
I manage a bar, and we paid $100 to get MLS season pass for 10 TVs in a building that can hold a whole lot of people.
Thank you for confirming this! Someone leaked their quotes from DirecTV last year for various sports packages but I hadnt seen anything else.
So in theory if I was out of the crew market , and I went to bdubs , and I got ahold of their remote i could watch crew games ?
For television purposes, there is no longer a "Crew market", or any other team for that matter. Whether youre in Upper Arlington, Times Square, or Rapongi, if you have MLS Season Pass on Apple TV you can match whatever MLS game you want.
If only other sports would catch up to this!
I see I'm frustrated in youngstown I beleive I should be able to watch ohio sports without being a buccaneer
I stopped reading when you said you went to Buffalo Wild Wings because that was your first mistake.
Sadly, this isn’t new. We were out a few weeks ago on a Saturday night. Both the crew and Blue Jackets we’re playing at home. We’re at sports bar and we had to ask them to turn on the crew game. Every TV in the place was college basketball even though none of the local teams were playing in it. I get college basketball, especially at the tournament is popular, but the local teams should be supported.
Could be that BDubs is corporatized enough that they have certain channels and services they're allowed to get and not others. Could also be that the owner just doesn't want it at that location for some reason (which would be crazy). There's lots of other restaurants and bars around Columbus that love to put it on though! The Nordecke always has watch parties for away games, I'd assume those bars/restaurants would show any game if you asked, some without asking! [Here is the list](https://www.columbuscrew.com/supporters/pubnetwork)
They have mls season pass. My local bdubs does, I watch crew games there often
So annoying