ESPN Gameplan
As I have mentioned before, I am from Canada and we have very poor NCAA football coverage in my neck of the woods. I am thinking of getting ESPN gameplan to follow UM this year and I'm trying to figure out which route to take. I need to know if purchasing it will insure I get to see all UM games this year or are there some even gameplan won't provide? If they only show certain games I will likely just pay for it each game as opposed to the season pass as football is the only thing I am interested in. Thanks for your help!
EDIT* I guess another question would be whether there are better options than Gameplan noting we can't get dishnet or direct tv etc in Canada.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:25 PM ^
Living in Tennesse, I needed the Gameplan for several years. Now , with the Big Ten Network and ABC/ Espn 2 connection, I have not needed the gameplan for the last 2 years. And so far won't this year for the first 4. If not on ABC Saturday, Michigan will be on ESPN 2 , because they are not evn available on the gameplan. The other 2 games are. So ESPN 2 is a lock for me this week.
Hope this helps.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:29 PM ^
on regular TV it isn't carried by gameplan? We don't get ESPN up here in Canada and ABC always runs the damn Big East games. We get TSN which is ESPN's Canadian affiliate but they never carry College Football. Just so I am clear, gameplan doesn't run games that air on ABC or ESPN?
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:33 PM ^
While living in Charlotte, NC I subscribed to ESPN GamePlan. Great investment. All but one Michigan game was televised on ESPN GamePlan. If the game was on ABC in Michigan, I was able to view the same ABC broadcast via ESPN GamePlan. However, sometimes you are only able to view the ABC broadcast of the ABC affiliate of the other team (which sucks). All in all, great investment.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:36 PM ^
... IIRC, The Bug Ten does not have a distribution deal with ESPN GamePlan in the US once The Big Ten Network took most (all?) games that would have otherwise been televised by ESPN-Regional or ESPN-Local.
As has been mentioned before, any 12:00 or 3:30 game featuring a Big ten team televised regionally by ABC will be mirrored on ESPN2 in regions of the US where ABC is not televising the Big Ten game in question. Virtually ever other game I remember from last year - and definitely every other Michigan game was either on ESPN or BTN. However, ABC primetime games are not guaranteed to be mirrored on ESPN2, so one could miss out there.
As for what this means for Canada, I have no idea. Do you get ESPN2 or ABC at all? You may want to call your cable or satellite operator to see what options they offer. Maybe Big ten games are on GamePlan in Canada but not in the US, though I doubt it.
Sorry that this wasn't more helpful.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:40 PM ^
No ESPN channels in Canada but we do get ABC. I have no idea what games they choose to show but it is usually Big East on one the eastern ABC an Pac Ten on the Western. Is there any way to get the big ten network on the internet or epsn perhaps?
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:48 PM ^
Here is a link to the coverage map: http://www.mgoblue.com/uploadedImages/Sports/Football/Articles/2000s/20…
No Big East game or Pac-10 game about which to worry, though Georgia-Oklahoma State is certainly a good matchup. If you get whaetever ESPN in Portland, ME or Boston shows - frequently, a Big East game, I imagine - you'll be getting Georgia-Oklahoma State.
I'd say call your operator and see what they say. I know that's not too helpful.
And FYI, Big Ten Network will stream games online internationally. Brian posted about it a few weeks back. Sorry that I don;t have the link. I'll try to dig around for it. That may help you watch Indiana, Eastern and Delaware State games; maybe even Purdue.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:02 PM ^
And sorry if I got your hopes up even for live streaming of BTN games... it's available outside the US AND Canada only: http://mgoblog.com/content/big-ten-network-stream-all-football-basketba…
EDIT: The above post, which I can no longer edit, should read, "If you get whaetever ABC in Portland, ME or Boston shows - frequently, a Big East game, I imagine - you'll be getting Georgia-Oklahoma State." The original post says ESPN. Same result, but I may have confused you. If so, apologies.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:05 PM ^
i grew up in windsor so i kind of know how you feel. if a michigan game wasn't on ABC i was screwed. majority of the time i could just go to the bar i worked at because we had direct tv with a opened up card. but if it was down then i had to drive around windsor to the bars i knew that had an america dish.
your best bet is to get an american dish(direct tv) and get the card opened up or if you can afford it pay for all of the channels.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:17 PM ^
Has both WXYZ Detroit and BTN. That should be good for at least 9 games.
Fellow dweller of Canada. Edmonton, AB.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:49 PM ^
Don't know if Dish is available in Canada, but Dish with the HD option has all the M! football games and most of the basketball games seen on ABC, NBC (ND of course), ESPN (all but ESPN U) and the BTN.
The sports package has all of the Fox stations including Detroit so I get some of the hockey games, "Inside Michigan BB" and "Inside Michigan FB."
Lastly, with the DVR, I can delay the game (usually 10-22seconds required) and synch it up with the Brandstatter and company MGoBlue.com webcast (Clearwire internet) avoiding the crappy, er annoying TV announcers. Yes, they are biased, but so am I!