Last season, Fox sports didn't have any NBA, espn did.

You can get espn with one of the other pasckages, so no need to get the fox sports channels.

What exactly do you mean by "solely"?

Cheers fellas. I got one HD and saw the Finals etc when I got home.

I'll have a look at the foxtel packages and see what's best for me. Getting the NBA in HD is pretty cool. NBA broadband is great also.

A long way from the old days of paying to get a 3 week old game mailed out. LOL.

Marcus- can you please fill me in on that "games mailed out"? sounds like some old school concepts you guys had back in the days.

The only real way to watch the NBA 20 years back mate was to get someone to mail it to you from the states. I am 39 now, but I've followed the NBA since I was a kid. There was the odd game on tv, but nothing much.

Nowadays it's a hell of a lot easier :)

I am looking at Foxtel's site now.

ESPN and ESPN HD show the exact same shows, is that right? So, I don't need the sport package for $16, just the ESPN HD channel for $10?

The basic package for $40 a month is a bit annoying as I don't think there's a single thing on there that I will watch. I guess you need it though as you can't get the add on channels without it.

Looking at ESPN International, they only have scheduling up until the end of October but they do have the Celtics v Bulls season opener scheduled for Oct 31, so I guess that confirms they'll be showing the NBA 2009/2010 season :)

ESPN Australia-NBA-All
Date Start Time End Time Description
10-31-2009 10:30 AM 11:00 AM NBA Pre-Game
Description : NBA Pre-Game
10-31-2009 11:00 AM 1:30 PM NBA Friday
Chicago Bulls vs. Boston Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden Boston, MA USA
Description : NBA Friday

it would've been VHS too huh! that'd be pretty heavy on the postage. lol. Totally off topic, just wondering would kids these days even know what VHS is?!

I don't subscribe to pay-tv in Australia so have no clue. I would just get big ass broadband limit and subscribe to NBA TV if I really wanted to watch each game live, that's my opinion.

"Games mailed out" would refer to Pontel, right? I ordered some from those guys at the end of last year and I was very happy with the service.

Marcus, 20 years ago there were NBA games on a friday night (replay on the next day....sometimes) on the ABC, hosted by Peter Gee. Their coverage was a thousand times better than the crap CH10 used to serve up when they took over.

Yeah, there were games. Not many though.

I have used Pontel, but the games I got sent were from friends. I.e. I've got friends in NYC and also in LA, so they'd take all the games and mail me them on VHS.

I am glad those days are long gone. LOL :)

I rang foxtel today and the min cost for ESPN HD will be $76 a month they told me.

$40 standard package.
$16 sports package
$10 HD sports
$10 for IQ2 to get HD channels
+ $200 up front to get IQ2

Are you guys watching the games on ESPN HD? Or simply using the normal ESPN channel?

That's a fair whack for only two games per week. The guy told me they'd occasionally show double headers on a sat (our time), but mostly it would be two games a week.

ONE HD will be showing THREE games a week, for free. Is that right?

Five games total a week would be pretty nice. However, three games a week on ONE HD has got me wondering how much I need Foxtel now?

Thanks for the post (above)

I got it on and it looks SENSATIONAL :)

I will be interested to see what they have. I noticed ESPN (Standard) have Spanish football at 7am on monday.

But ESPN (HD) have:

WNBA Basketball : Los Angeles Sparks vs. Phoenix Mercury. US Airways Center Phoenix, AZ USA.

So, maybe the HD channel will show more basketball? Different shows etc.

Either way, I am glad I've got it. I also am a huge punter, so having the horse racing channel is pretty cool :)

BLAZE HAVE 9 GAMES ON FOX THIS SEASON. 5 AWAY WHICH I WILL BE WATCHING AND 4 AT HOME WHICH I WILL TAPE ON IQ TO WATCH AT A LATER STAGE BECAUSE I WILL BE AT THE ACTUAL GAME IN MY COURTSIDE SEATS.

Completely disagree with the NBA League Pass not being good enough quality to watch on a big screen, but guess it depends on your definition of big screen.

I watched the HD league pass last season on a 40" and a 46" lcd and I had too bad experiences for the entire season. Sure, every so often its blocky for a second or two, but getting to watch my pick of 5 or 6 games a week this way is definatly a winner.

The two duds were the boston vs lakers christmas game and the first bulls vs celtics playoff game....both were not watchable.

Really, the major downside was being massively sleep deprived going to work after watching 3OT games LIVE.
PS - If anyone has got a good way to record these streamed games please say so.

Stick it right up 'em!