I'm torn on this. I really don't want to give them any of my money after this third fiasco. On the other hand, I really want to see the Wings. I have no option for that other than Gamecenter. I'm not going to use Hockeystreams because of the legal issues. I paid $159 for Gamecenter in 2011-12 which comes out to $1.93 per Wings game. $50 for 48 games comes to $1.04 per Wings game. OTOH, 21 of the 48 will be nationally televised in the States. Of that number, I'll be able to see the 4 on NBC. I don't really mind watching the games the next day, sans commercials.
The figures above aren't completely accurate either, because I have watched plenty of non-Wings games too.
The question is: do I try to make a "point" with the NHL by not subscribing even if that means missing an entire year of the Wings? I guess I'd be more P.O.'d if I believed that Mr. I was a driving force behind the lockout.
A couple things....
First, I am not 100% convinced that every owner was for the lockout. That being said, I do believe that Illitch is tired of spending money to bail out owners who are not making money AND Illitch believes he should be making 50% of the revenue and not 43%. So was Illitch the driving force behind the lockout? No. Was he participating willingly with much to gain? Yes.
I live in MI so I will be able to watch the Wings on FSD. No gamecenter live for me this year. This coming from someone who has subbed to them for the last couple years. I am going to miss it a little bit as a hockey nut, but I just cannot spend money on the NHL this year due to the lockout nonsense. I will watch them on TV when I can. The NHL network, NBC Sports Network, and NBC will have games too. I will also attend Griffins games when I can instead.
If I lived out of town and I needed to watch the Wings, then I would relent and probably buy the Gamecenter Live package. I hate to admit, but thats a fair price for a half of a season.
