foreign game watch spots? help...

Benddontbreak

Benddontbreak

Well-Known Member
I'm going to be studying abroad in Italy this fall and will miss the first 10 football games. I've heard of people using slingbox to watch games, and as of now that's about my only option. The place we're staying at has espn but no btn or anything. Any ideas? Any specific bars in florence or anything?
 
Wouldn't DishNetwork and DirectTV be available overseas and wouldn't there be a BTN option with them, if they were available? or does that option vary with the part of the world you are in as a suscriber? Maybe I am completely wrong, but for some reason I thought both were international in their scope.
 
I have an idea. Spend your Saturday nights in Italy hanging with the local ladies and have a friend or family member tape the games and send them to you so you can watch them during the week sometime.
 
okeefe4prez said:
I have an idea. Spend your Saturday nights in Italy hanging with the local ladies and have a friend or family member tape the games and send them to you so you can watch them during the week sometime.
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1. Who has a VCR.
2. Whos parents know how to DVR a game, then convert it to DVD video.
3. Do you know what international postage costs?

Where are you going BendDontBreak?
 
raspberrytea said:
1. Who has a VCR.
2. Whos parents know how to DVR a game, then convert it to DVD video.
3. Do you know what international postage costs?

Where are you going BendDontBreak?
Click to expand...

My 73 year old mother in law DVRs stuff and burns it to DVD for my wife all the time - it ain't rocket surgery. Postage for a DVD ain't that much unless you're a lumpenprole, in which case you would have no business going to Italy for a semester. When I lived in Japan during the 2002 season, my family recorded the Iowa games and mailed them to me - one time my mom threw in a bag of chili cheese Fritos and I thought I won the lottery.
 
I have been living in London for the past year and had the same anxiety about watching the Hawks games as you do. I spent about $500 investing in the SlingBox technology and I have had mixed reviews. If you are just wanting to watch US sports and don't care about general US TV, I would skip the SlingBox. If you are wanting to keep up on your US TV, it is somewhat worth it (local news, TV series), but now you can buy shows on iTunes and other places. Keep in mind you can't access shows via abc.com, nbc.com, etc internationaly as they are blocked outside of the US. If you are doing the Sling, I would ensure you have it connected to a DVR, keeping in mind the time difference. One other thing about the Sling, the ideal connection is to have your router and cable box (DVR) in the same room connected via a LAN connection. There are other options if it is not possible to have that setup, but your quality and speed suffers if you have to sync them any other way.

If you are just interested in keeping up with the Hawks and maybe a few other sports, I would invest your money in a Big10 network account and a ESPN3 account versus Sling. For one of the Iowa games last fall, we had ESPN3 running next to a Sling connection and it was night and day better streaming ESPN3. They offer streaming HD quality. For the money, I would spend $150 or so investing in the BigTen Ticket and the ESPN3 account. These sites will take you to different URL's if you are based in the US, but these are the links you'll want to use when you get to Italy to sign-up. It will recognize you are out of the country and offer you the international package. ESPN3 is 90 pounds for an annual pass and Big10 Ticket is $70 for just Iowa or $90 for all Big10 conference Men's BB and Football games that are aired on Big10 Network.

www.bigtenticket.com

http://www.espnplayer.com/espnplayer/console

There was only 1 game (Iowa/Indiana) that I wasn't able to find video anywhere. Apple has an app called iHeartRadio where I listened to Dolph on some Cedar Rapids radio station.

Also, www.justin.tv is a somewhat unreliable free streaming link I've used a time or two, but more of a pain really.

Good luck, enjoy Italy and Go Hawks!
 
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Benddontbreak said:
I'm going to be studying abroad in Italy this fall and will miss the first 10 football games. I've heard of people using slingbox to watch games, and as of now that's about my only option. The place we're staying at has espn but no btn or anything. Any ideas? Any specific bars in florence or anything?
Click to expand...


If you happen to find a pub that is Hawkeye (or B1G) friendly, do let us know!

And make sure you add it, and ALL Hawkeye friendly locations, to this list! Gamewatch Locations This has come in helpful in the passed...

Speaking of Gamewatch locations, if anyone knows of something in the Twin Cities, pass the information along! No game will be on, but I always support Hawkeye-friendly establishments at anytime of the year!


Go Hawkeyes!
 
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