Watching Ireland vs. England in New York?

georgeous

Hi everyone,

I recently moved to New York for work. On the first day of the Six Nations I went to a pub I knew would be playing the match (Clancy's - Lexington Avenue) and was blown away when I walked in the door and was asked to pay $20 to watch the match (pay-per-view apparently, although how the hell would their service provider know how many people were in there watching the match?!)

Does anyone know of anywhere in New York to watch the Nations for either free or at a price that doesn't take the mickey? Any advice would be great!

afatbollix

setana sports usa has the rights.. find a pub with that channel and they should have it on for free... its the bbc coverage

d8player

afatbollix wrote: »

setana sports usa has the rights.. find a pub with that channel and they should have it on for free... its the bbc coverage

I was over in NYC for the French game. The problem is that in the US Setanta have a deal with the pubs whereby they get to charge on the door. The money is collected by a Setanta representative and the bar/pub gets nothing from it other than the increased business.

Sparky14

Don't think you'll find anywhere for free unfortunately, I've had a look around but it seems to be $20 everywhere. I've also wondered why they're so vigilant if the money goes straight to Setanta.

d8player

Sparky14 wrote: »

Don't think you'll find anywhere for free unfortunately, I've had a look around but it seems to be $20 everywhere. I've also wondered why they're so vigilant if the money goes straight to Setanta.

From what I have heard the money is actually collected by Setanta, not the pubs.

Sparky14

d8player wrote: »

From what I have heard the money is actually collected by Setanta, not the pubs.

Yeh that would make sense alright, presume you couldn't just argue you were there to watch the premiership.

hardCopy

Just wait until someone starts giving out to the rep on the door, then walk past with your phone to your ear.

Worked for me during the World Cup!

buynow

d8player wrote: »

The money is collected by a Setanta representative and the bar/pub gets nothing from it other than the increased business.

That explains a bit. I was wondering why they were not showing the games on their regular cable tv channel.

I do think it is a bit shortsighted of them, I would pay for the cable channel if it had the games, but I am not going to pay $20 every weekend morning to see them. So they get nothing from me now.

vorbis

Its 10 dollars on Setanta Broadband, if you have a broadband connection.
If you're going to be over here for at least a year get the annual subscription to Setanta Broadband. Its circa 150 dollars but includes all ppvs and the stuff on the cable channel.

Sparky14

Considering I'll probably just end up paying the $20 again, where do people recommend? I went to the Irish Rogue on 8th Av for the French game, decent crowd with good atmosphere, but is there anywhere known for its atmosphere for 6 nations games?

georgeous

Thanks for the replies guys, sorry for getting back late.

Sparky14 wrote: »

I've had a look around but it seems to be $20 everywhere. I've also wondered why they're so vigilant if the money goes straight to Setanta.

Yeah, there was a guy on the door who wanted the $20, but I don't think he worked for Setanta, as he did say "Don't blame me, it Setanta!".

Surely there must be an Irish pub out there willing to stick their fingers up at Setanta!

chalad07

georgeous wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys, sorry for getting back late.



Yeah, there was a guy on the door who wanted the $20, but I don't think he worked for Setanta, as he did say "Don't blame me, it Setanta!".

Surely there must be an Irish pub out there willing to stick their fingers up at Setanta!

I've been here a while now and it's always the same story for all Setanta games. Same with the all-ireland final, same with Ireland world cup qualifiers. It's a pisser, but sure what can you do?

There's loads of decent pubs to watch the game. Looking forward to it already. Nice bar down on MacDougal called 'Slane', not too crowed, good screens, good sercive etc. But for this game maybe it'll be better to have somewhere thats packed with a good atmosphere,

Anyways, dont think theres anyway around paying the $20, unless you watch the match online or something,

georgeous

chalad07 wrote: »

Nice bar down on MacDougal called 'Slane', not too crowed, good screens, good sercive etc.... dont think theres anyway around paying the $20, unless you watch the match online or something,

I've heard Slane is a great place, especially for food, that might have to be my match venue!

As for the $20, you're right, no way around it. Let's hope karma gets Setanta!

Thanks for all the replies/experience, much appreciated.

G

d8player

georgeous wrote: »

I've heard Slane is a great place, especially for food, that might have to be my match venue!

As for the $20, you're right, no way around it. Let's hope karma gets Setanta!

Thanks for all the replies/experience, much appreciated.

G

I was in The Red Lion Bar on Bleecker and it was overly crowded and hard to get a good vantage point. It had not helped that there had been a game on earlier but I would not go back.

chalad07

d8player wrote: »

I was in The Red Lion Bar on Bleecker and it was overly crowded and hard to get a good vantage point. It had not helped that there had been a game on earlier but I would not go back.

Yeah, the Red Lion can get a bit mad. Slane is just around the corner. Only thing about Slane was that it was a bit quiet for the France game, might try and get somewhere better for the England game,

any suggestions?