2019 - NBA

Start of this nba season I was really excited to see how it would unfold because of all the offseason activity that took place. I had bought the nba season pass in the past using my local cable provider and loved being able to watch any game, but due to 1) work obligations and 2) living on the west coast (PST) I couldn’t watch many of the games and the pass held no value for me. I have used the app to watch games as I am out and about and really love how it works— even with the slight delay in timing. What I have found horrible (and some what of a turnoff) has been when I try to cast it to my Visio Smart TV. Each time I do this, it starts out fine and then about 1 min into the casting it cuts off and goes to a blue screen that says “Sorry, Something went Wrong”. Doesn’t tell me how to fix it or who I should call to attempt to identify what the problem is. Just cuts off. This happens repeatedly without fail each time I cast and re-cast the game. If the team could help me fix that, I’d move my rating up a star. Also, my app doesn’t show me any stats or scores. If that can be resolved my, I’d move it one more star.

It's not bad, but the delay that the video feeds operate on frequently creates an obvious difference between the score during "live" action and the score visible on the app. There's no (obvious) in-app option to switch video feeds, and the video quality varies wildly even when you have tons of available bandwidth on your network, with long periods of lower-quality video and occasional freezes. Instead of pouring millions into VR add-ons, the NBA should be shoring up base functionality - you'd think they were hard up for cash instead of sitting on billions of dollars. The one thing that seems worthwhile is the package that allows you to watch commercial-free games (of course you'd think that's what you pay $200 for, but no; they'll continue to show ads if they think you'll pay for them). It is a bit weird to see courtside activity during a road game, since obviously it's the home team's feed that provides that action, but it's far superior to the garbage commercials you'd see instead.

This review isn't a reflection of the app itself, I'd probably rate that 3 stars. I'm very dissatisfied with NBA tv which was marketed to me through the app. They put out nba tv for $6.99 a month in an attempt to bring in revenue from younger viewers without a cable subscription. Don't bother. You get access to the most boring games that you would never want to watch and they're never your home team. The 99 cent 10 minute pass is a complete waste too, the clock starts running as soon as the purchase goes through whether you're actually watching the game or not. Time will run out as you're connecting to the server, through time outs, on commercial break, literally anytime that isn't the game. I bought a ten minute pass 5 separate times and just barely got through 9 and a half minutes of actual game time. I basically paid to sit through commercials. They will also run ads past the end of the actual commercial break, as you'll see in the awkward transitions from advertisements to the middle of a play.

I’ve been buying NBA league pass since 2013. Every year at least a couple times a year it logs me out and won’t let me reactivate. Either I give up and still buy the next year or I contact tech support and try to fix it some how. 6 years and this app is still this buggy? The level of cockiness exhibited by not fixing major bugs over that time period is ridiculous. I’ve had this app downloaded on 1 iTouch, 3 iPhones, and 2 iPads (never more than 2 of those in a season) over the last 6 years and I’ve had the same problem on every-single-one. Sometimes the “Listen” doesn’t work. Sometimes it just tells you the game isn’t available and it has nothing to do with blackouts. Sometimes the app just crashes altogether and you have to start it again whether you’re enjoying the game(s) or not. The bugs are consistent and no matter how much you love the nba, if you travel for work, it’s not worth $200 because it only works consistently on the TV at home. I want to buy this. I want to be a loyal customer because of how much I love the Association, but I need the app to work and it doesn’t and has shown no signs of reaching that point.

**Update** The Audio only version has been fixed, and we are able to listen to all the games. We love the app, and appreciate the developer’s response. The only issue we have now is volume control - sometimes the actual broadcast is very very quiet, so we turn the volume all the way up, but the commercials come on and are on blast. Otherwise we are very happy. We purchased the Audio only version, we were excited to listen to opening night games. The app says we are “listening” but there is no sound. I decided to leave it on in case there was a long loading time, and then forgot about it. The audio came on suddenly and lasted for about 15 seconds, and then went back off. Came on for another 10 seconds about 20 minutes later. We were disappointed pointed to miss opening night play. Hoping this gets fixed soon! We actually purchased the Audio League pass on 2 devices, and it didn’t work on either of them.