NBA League Pass Review

 

What is NBA League Pass?

NBA League Pass is a standalone sports streaming service boasting live, out-of-market events, and an expansive archive of classic games. It mainly focuses on broadcasting games that you won’t get on national TV or through local cable networks. For example, a Lakers fan living in New York will finally get to watch every live broadcast of the team’s games even if the event takes place outside of the New York television market.

This makes NBA League Pass a must-have for die-hard basketball fans who want to keep up with games that aren’t nationally televised or broadcast locally. Especially since the service comes with special features like condensed game replays, mobile-enhanced viewing, and personalized broadcasts to enhance your streaming experience.

NBA League Pass plans and pricing

 

Single Game Pass NBA TV NBA Team Pass NBA League Pass NBA League Pass Premium NBA League Pass Premium + NBA TV
Price $6.99 $6.99/mo. $17.99/mo. $28.99/mo. $39.99/mo. $44.99/mo.
Annual price N/A $39.99/yr. $119.99/yr. $199.99/yr. $249.99/yr. $219.99/yr.
All-team access No N/A No Yes Yes Yes
Number of regular season games 1 N/A 3/mo. 82 1,230 1,230
Access to classic games No No No Yes Yes Yes
Watch multiple games in mosaic view No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Streaming quality HD HD HD HD HD HD
Simultaneous streams No No 5 5 5 5
In-arena stream No No No No Yes Yes
Ad-free No No No No Yes Yes

 

The main difference between the basic NBA League Pass plan and the Premium plan is the absence of ads. With a Premium subscription, you get to watch live NBA games without commercials. During ad breaks, you get to see what’s happening in the arena instead.

But for those who only want to follow one team, Team Pass makes the most sense. You won’t have access to the classic game archive since you’re only paying for access to your favorite team’s games.

All three plans allow up to 5 simultaneous streams on 5 different devices. You even have the option to watch multiple games through a single screen using mosaic view — in case two or more of your favorite teams are playing at the same time.

In addition, you can also subscribe to NBA TV to get live access to every game airing on the channel. Although this standalone subscription won’t provide League Pass benefits like access to classic games and simultaneous streaming, you can bundle it with your Premium plan as well.

For those who only want to watch one out-of-market game, the service offers a Single Game Pass for $6.99. This gives you access to one specific game. The Single Game Pass makes sense if you don’t plan on using the service much and only want to watch a particularly important event.

Besides getting NBA League Pass as a separate subscription, you also have the option to add it to your existing cable or streaming service plan. The following providers offer NBA League Pass as an add-on, although prices won’t vary from the standalone service.

  • Amazon Prime
  • DIRECTV
  • DISH
  • Sling TV
  • Spectrum
  • YouTube TV
  • Verizon FiOS
  • Xfinity

NBA League Pass supported devices

You can use your NBA League Pass subscription to access live and archived games from a number of devices, including virtual reality systems. On your laptop or desktop, games are accessible on the official NBA website through your browser. You can also download the NBA app on the following devices:

  • Amazon Fire TV and Fire Stick
  • Android phones and tablets with version 5.x and above
  • Android TV
  • Apple TV 3 and above
  • Google Daydream
  • HTC Vive
  • iPads and iPhones with iOS 11.0 and above
  • Kindle Fire
  • Magic Leap One
  • Oculus Go
  • Oculus Rift
  • PlayStation 4
  • PlayStation VR
  • Roku 3 and above
  • Samsung Gear VR
  • Windows Mixed Reality
  • Xbox 1

What to watch on NBA League Pass

Your League Pass subscription lets you watch live broadcasts of games that aren’t available on national TV or through your local cable provider. And if you happen to miss a live broadcast, you can replay the entire game from the archives. The service even lets you watch archived games in a condensed format, allowing you to catch up with the highlights quickly.

With Single Game Pass, you can access the replay for that particular game for the rest of the season. Team Pass subscribers can enjoy replays of all the games for that particular team.

For League Pass and Premium subscribers, the service even offers access to NBA Hardwood Classics. This lets you relive some of the greatest and most iconic games in NBA history and watch basketball legends at the height of their playing prowess. 

It even lets you watch select TNT broadcasts of NBA events at no additional charge. The service regularly updates this lineup based on popular demand.

NBA League Pass features

Besides providing you with access to out-of-market NBA games, NBA League Pass comes with features optimized to enhance your game-viewing experience. Most cater to die-hard basketball fans who want to keep up with multiple games at the same time or personalize their viewing experience. The only drawback is that it doesn’t come with DVR capabilities, so you’ll have to wait for missed games to appear in the archives.

Mobile-enhanced viewing

NBA League Pass gives mobile users an enhanced viewing experience. It optimizes mobile playback for small screen viewing, with interactive graphics and stats that don’t crowd the screen. It also provides zoomed-in views of the game, so you get a proper look at what’s happening on the court.

Simultaneous streaming

The service offers more simultaneous streams that most, letting you watch from 5 different devices at a time so you won’t have to fight with family members over which game to watch. Other streaming services typically provide 2 or 3 simultaneous streams. 

Mosaic view

In case you want to keep up with multiple games at the same time, NBA League Pass makes it easy with mosaic view. This lets you watch up to 4 games on a single screen, so you don’t have to switch between multiple devices to keep up with the action.

Personalized broadcasts

NBA League Pass lets you personalize your viewing experience with access to announcers from every team. Some broadcasts even feature foreign language commentary. 

Customize your plan with add-ons

The service comes with a bunch of add-ons to customize your plan. For instance, you have the option to get live radio streams of Home and Away games. The Home/Away radio streaming add-on costs $9.99/yr.

If you own a VR system, you can purchase the VR live streaming add-on for $49.99/yr. This lets you access VR-enabled games live with VR-supported devices.

The final cut

With access to almost every game from out-of-market teams and advanced features to enhance your viewing experience, NBA League Pass is a must-have for die-hard basketball fans. But it might not make sense for those who only keep up with their local team and already get live broadcasts through a regional cable network or an HD antenna set up. 

The service mainly caters to those who want a premium and enhanced basketball-viewing experience. It offers up to 5 simultaneous streams and even lets you watch in VR. To get a better feel for NBA League Pass, see how it works on multiple devices, including your laptop, mobile, Roku, and Xbox 1.  

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