First Row Sports

Hi All,

Not a massive issue for me as I go to most games but I used this site last year twice on reading recommendations from on here - thought it was quite good.

It seems that lots of people have been using it and it looks like it won't be available soon in the UK due to the court action vs ISP's

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23004880

Makes an interesting read in as much the conflict between Sky and BT now anyway.

I'm sure other sites will spring up but what does everyone really think about illegal feeds??

Apologies if this has already been posted but I had a quick scan and couldn't find anything


Edit: I should add that this blocking in the UK is more an issue for me watching my other beloved US sports!

 

They can't stop it, as soon as they try to a proxy will be up. They have no chance of getting rid of it and are giving them free advertising.

 

I bliddy well hope they don't block it. I have a season ticket but am usually unable to go to away games, and I used thefirstrow for nearly every one of our away games last season that wasn't on SkySports!

I understand SkySports' issue though. Watching the streams is theft. People don't like to look at it as stealing; it doesn't quite feel the same as going into Tesco and walking straight out with a load of drinks without paying. Nevertheless, the video is SkySports' own product, and having people watching it for free, without consent, is theft.

Then again, every Premiership match is shown on thefirstrow, yet not every match is on SkySports. I find it unfair that the whole website should be blocked, meaning that I have no way of watching a match that isn't on SkySports/ESPN/ITV/BBC etc.

For this reason, I'm in 2 minds about the whole court case. I just hope they don't block it so I can carry on watching the Saints!

 

This. The Pirate Bay is blocked in the UK but if you type "pirate bay proxy" into Google you can still find a way to use the site. First row isn't the only site that streams games anyway.

 

Surely if sky wanted to stop it they could do so at source.
The sooner they allow 3pm games to be watched live in this country the better.

 

Thing is though all the games are shown on their first choice thing on a Saturday night so they do end up showing all the games just not live.

 

If they don't want people using online feeds, they shouldn't monopolise (pretty much) tv coverage between about 4 or so teams.

 

Their server is probably in Russia or China if so they have no chance.

 

The BBC says they operate from Sweden. Pirate Bay is based in Sweden too and they're still running despite the fact various companies have been after them for years.

 

I disagree. Why is this for the better; so it's easier for you? It's a simple and valid reason why they don't: if they show live Saturday 3pm games, the lower league teams are more likely to have their "walk-up" gates affected.

 

Yes to a certain degree, personally I would sooner listen to saints on the radio than go see Pompey, Bournemouth or Eastleigh at the same time.
If they gave any real **** about lower league sides they would filter the money down or stop 12am & 5:30 PL matches too.

 

Really? Watching a good game of football is much better than listening to the radio, unless you're busy and can't go anyway or the weather is rubbish or you can't afford to. Plus, Pompey games aren't available out of the area anyway. Even if they were, I might listen to the odd game but there's no reason why you can't do both, radio one week, a trip to Eastleigh the next or something.

 

Perhaps a silly question......especially as I am not familiar with hacking or hackers.My question is how do they get these feeds and where do they get them from. Surely they cannot go to every game with a camera, Sky even is not at every game, or are they? Or are the camera's actually at the game paid to give Sky or the BBC copies or feeds? Surely the output would be inscripted and changed for each match. However I am unfamiliar with these things so perhaps it can be explained why this would not happen.

 

From my limited understanding I would guess that somebody in a foreign country where the 3pm games are shown on TV just connects a wire between TV and computer and then has some program that enables other people to view what is being shown on the computer screen

 

Of course, forgot that the games go out to other countries legitimately....I did say it was a silly question......

 

All the Prem games are recorded live by Sky, BBC and ESPN (possibly BT next year). When you watch Final Score or the other channel's equivalents all of the presenters will have those recordings up on monitors off camera. They go out all around the world and on the way, one or two find their way onto the internet.

Anyway, shutting down one aggregator of online streams, which is all First Row sports is, isn't going to make them go away. It didn't work for Pirate Bay. By the way, watching streams is at worst a civil not criminal matter and successfully taking action against individuals is pretty impossible/never cost effective.

 

Unless I'm mistaken this is action by the Premier League rather than Sky.
Good info about the proxy though as I use this for non football and still unsure of how much ESPN America footage that BT Sport will actually run on tv and online.
As someone has already mentioned, Sky and BT might not be that bothered as they are the dominant ISPs and it is still great advertising and online revenue for them, I wonder how many users have changed to high speed unlimited broadband as a result of illegal online feeds - not a bad revenue generator for them!

 

I pay £6 a month for access to a site that broadcasts every single prem game of the season in HD. I used to watch free streams but the pop ups and stream quality used to get on my tits.

Never regretted switching. Worth the £6 for the improved quality alone. Between my season ticket & the streming site, I barley missed a saints game last season

 

I would think that's the same one I use. I believe it is legal as well, as Abu Dhabi TV have the license for all Prem games, not to mention a load of other sports as well. Just today, I have watched the cricket streamed from SS1, and Le Mans and the cricket from Eurosport. All for a £6 a month subscription.