Free Sports Channel?

Question

We just had a guest complain because we “only” had Roku TV. We didn’t have sports channels. What does everyone else offer? I’m not a sports guy but my understanding is Roku offers free sports channels and if you have your own streaming subscription you can connect thru Roku.

John Underwood · Answer

We have YouTube TV and NFL Sunday ticket.

We make a big deal of the fact that we offer typical cable channels plus NFL Sunday ticket.

We say if the others guys doesn't have this what other corners are they cutting?

Corby Goade · Answer

Oh my gosh, people are ridiculous. Tell them they are welcome to log in to their own accounts and watch whatever they like.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

I use FUBO being a big sports guy. I was disappointed with the other providers, and I found that FUBO carries an abundance of different sports.

Now that's not saying they offer all sports for free. I was trying to watch an MLB game last night and couldn't get it.

Christina B. · Answer

We used to provide Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, etc. We only got one complaint in that entire time and it was only because they were having problems logging into their YouTube account for a big game (and we fixed that problem in a few texts). Once we switched to Roku Guest Mode, I cancelled all subscriptions, made this clear in our online guidebook, and have never looked back.

Anyone who's a major sports fanatic has their own subscriptions. It takes a little effort to log in to their account but all major platforms have made this easy by either providing QR codes (on the tv screen) or codes to sync to the apps on your phones. This one is not worth the hassle, IMO.

Garrett Brown · Answer

I do BYOL. Bring your own logins. I do disclose this in the description and messaging before and tell them to use Roku Guest Mode or  remember to log out. The advice about the $40 antenna is smart if you have the setup for it. Some demographics, however, will expect a certain level of TV service, so it really depends on your target audience. Mine like to stream so I can get away without it.

Joseph Sauer · Answer

We offer a couple subscriptions, but no "sports channels" outside of the Fox, NBC, and CBS apps on Roku, but they still need a subscription to watch anything.

Biggest bang for our buck though was an HD antenna. I never see anyone talk about these, but for $40 you can get all the local free channels in HD.

Andrew Steffens · Answer

Well on roku you can download FOX, CBS etc and log in to watch live NFL...

Josh Ball · Answer

There definitely are free sports channels on Roku, maybe not the sports he was looking for but believe there are channels offering the more common sports. Not sure if he struggled to find them but they're offered. I don't include any other subscriptions but do have it on my listing that it's a streaming TV only & you may have to login to your favorite provider to watch certain programs.

JD Martin · Answer

We used to provide everything through Charter but consistently polled our guests and found that no one was using it at all. We cancelled it and went to an all-streaming Roku setup for the last year and had one complaint, but since they were just general complainers (a bug was inside the pool screen, for example) I don't think it would make a difference. This year was an exception but being near Disney we usually get a decent number of foreigners and they mostly watch soccer and cricket and things like that so they have their own streaming subscriptions.

It just depends on your market. If you're somewhere that you expect a lot of people to stay home, you might want to provide some entertainment. In my market people often leave early and come back late so they generally don't care.

Benjamin Louie · Answer

@Mike Kirby

We’ve run into the same thing, Mike. Roku does have some free sports channels, but most guests are usually looking for ESPN, NFL, or regional games, which typically require a subscription. A simple option is to offer something like Sling TV, YouTube TV, or Hulu Live and just include the sports package. Some hosts also leave instructions so guests can log into their own streaming accounts through Roku.

It really depends on your target guests. If you’re in an area that attracts a lot of sports fans, the small monthly cost of a streaming package might save you from repeat complaints.

Free Sports Channel?

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