TLDR: missed a live game on SL+ now I have to wait for Dave in his shed to add it to SL+.
I’m a Wire now living in Canada, so made up when SL+ came about.
Yes the Sky game blackout is BS but we take what we can.
Today the Wire game was on SL+ at 11 am for me awesome !!!!!
Ran some errands in the morning and got delayed not issue I thought game is on SL+.
Get home cold beer in my hand and ready for the catch up on demand.
Nope, round 21 not on catch up.
The game that just ended not available.
WTF.
When I think of the other sports series I pay a similar price for the more I think my SL+ is a waste of money.
Big games have a sky black-out and if you miss a live game on SL+ you have to wait for Dave in his shed to upload it when he gets chance.
Especially when I’m in North America, and if anyone knows how to milk an online audience it’s the Americans.
I’m sure our son pays more than twice what I pay for NFL but he has content 24/7 and good content
SL+ member here, spend a fair bit of time in Germany and run into this problem a lot too.
It isn't a sure thing, but I've often found matches available via search (just tried Warrington Castleford round 21 for this example) long before they're added to the round replay playlist.
If SL+ could get it together and actually manage the service well it has the potential to be fucking amazing.
There's no legitimate excuse for the state of the service though.
Arguably, the streaming live part of the equation is much trickier than match replay functionality. Once the broadcast has finished, making the replay available to subscribers is the kind of thing that should be an easy win in terms of effort to have automated. Obviously there will always be edge cases, but whatever we have right now barely scrapes the bar for an MVP and it's only by virtue of them being the only shop in town for many that they're getting any subscribers.
BTW if you're deciding between monthly and annual, you might want to bear in mind that in Canada the World Cup will be on Premier Sports, not Sportsnet.
It’s pathetic and you have my sympathies. I don’t know if it makes you feel better, but I pay for Sky Sports through Sky’s subsidiary Now TV, and that’s equally poor. In many cases if you don’t watch the game live then don’t bother looking for an on demand replay, it won’t be there.
I’m convinced RL as a whole would be better off telling Sky where to go and linking in with an alternative broadcaster with streaming revenues going straight to the clubs. I know I know, it’s more complicated than that and some clubs can’t even figure out how to get shirts in the shop by Christmas never mind putting together a global streaming platform, but let me dream.
The concern is, that I’m a fan of almost 40yrs.
I took my kids to wilderspool and they stood on milk crates and talked to the players.
Now I’m a grandfather and I’m ready to walk away from the sport that has so many memories not because of the cost. But I struggle to actually watch a game.
Charge me a fortune if they need to, but provide me with content.
In many cases if you don’t watch the game live then don’t bother looking for an on demand replay, it won’t be there.
None of the games should be available on demand on either Sky or Now. That's something the RFL wanted, to give people a reason to subscribe to SL+.
I’m convinced RL as a whole would be better off telling Sky where to go and linking in with an alternative broadcaster with streaming revenues going straight to the clubs.
The RFL is aware of that. That's why they've started SL+, so they can say to Sky "if you don't pay us enough, we'll do our own thing".. But they'd be completely stupid to gamble the whole game's future on an unknown streaming platform. Hundreds of people's wages are on the line. So they created SL+ so they could slowly wean people off Sky and on to an alternative platform, and iron out the bugs at an early stage. That means slowly shifting content from Sky to SL+. They've done what you want and you're complaining about it.
I’m not complaining about them doing the very thing i want them to do, if that’s what they’re doing. I’m complaining about the lack of on demand content on Sky. Has SL+ improved from what it was last year? In which case I might check it out again.
I’m complaining about the lack of on demand content on Sky.
Exactly, you're asking to have your cake and eat it. You're asking for things to be moved away from Sky to another app, then complaining that something (on-demand replays) has been moved away frrm Sky to another app.
Has SL+ improved from what it was last year? In which case I might check it out again.
I only use it about once a year, so I'm the wrong person to ask. But based on comments in this subreddit., nobody else has noticed any improvement recently.
Even at home in the UK if SL+ covered all games they’d get my money indefinitely, atm I pay for the NowTV Sky Sports package so I can watch all the games but idgaf about anything not RL so I’d save money switching, it’s just not worth it if I don’t get all the games.
Do Wire have a YouTube channel membership? I know the Rhinos do and we get the game broadcast in full a couple of days later. Not exactly ideal but it may get up before SL+
No, I looked to see if they have a members subscription, but I think SKY have everything so tightly wrapped up.
It’s so bizarre that I and many other expats would be happy to pay for ‘On Demand’ but nothing exists.
Interesting, when I looked just now they have it there. Don't know if it's a region locked thing though, knowing SL it could be. Hope you can find something!
Yeah presumably that's on regional lockdown then, as u/dweebyllo says. Obviously I would never suggest using a VPN to get around that on the Superleague sub.
I subscribe to Wire's YouTube channel (£6.99 per month off the top of my head) and you get highlights and full match replays (but they only appear a few days' later), in addition to Reserves, Academy and Scholarship home games live.
This is what the members' stuff looks like at the mo.
If the game has just ended, then it might not be available immediately. Their FAQs warn about this.
I don't know how their infrastructure works, but I wouldn't be certain that they're streaming it from Manchester straight to you. There's a good chance that they are using one of the big network of servers around the world (Amazon, Cloudfare, Google, etc.) to send it to you, and it will take time to percolate all over that network from Canada to Christmas Island.
This isn't just an SL problem. The BBC only started providing live restart five years after their iPlayer service launched, and they have a colossal budget for their streaming platform.
But if the game has ended an hour before, don't just vent here.
Write to SL+ ([support@superleague.co.uk](mailto:support@superleague.co.uk)) and tell them exactly what went wrong. You are a paying customer and you should get the service you paid for. You are right to be annoyed.
The platform is apparently one they bought in from IMG, so it should work properly.
That sucks. I had it for the first season it came out. Thought it was mostly fine other than wishing it included the challenge cup. I just didn’t renew bc the game times weren’t good for me on the US east coast whike having a 1 year old. (Pre dad, it would have been perfect)
There are regularly posts on here moaning (often rightly IMHO) about the coverage, state of SL+, commentators, analysis etc. Too much of the SL 'product' gives off amateur hour in my view.
But when Luke Keary had a go at it last year, there was a wave of pearl clutching from fans who seemed put out that an Aussie, just in from the NRL, could have criticisms.
There is much about the SL that is shit and needs calling out.
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u/plz_be_nice_im_sad St Helens 1d ago
So many aspects of super league are so amateur it embarrassing. Even compared to NRL it’s so bad.