Is NBA League Pass Worth It?

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The NBA is one of the top sports leagues in the United States, boasting some of the most talented athletes on Earth. As basketball fans, many of us have watched our favorite teams from sitting in the stands or, even better, courtside, getting to see the match up close. 

The NBA season starts again in October. Millions of people around the globe will be tuning into their favorite NBA team’s games. League Pass invites you to an exclusive viewing party every day. If you are a big hoops fan, you always seek ways to maximize your experience. 

If you’re an avid NBA fan, you’ll probably consider purchasing an NBA League Pass subscription. But is NBA League Pass worth it?

What is an NBA League PassWhat is an NBA League Pass?

One of the best things about being a sports fan is supporting your favorite team year-round. From the first preseason game to the last playoff game, you have someone to root for and cheer on. Yet, keeping up with your team’s games is often difficult, especially when they’re playing at different times. That’s where NBA League Pass comes in!

If you’re a basketball fan and live in the US, you’ve probably seen commercials for NBA League Pass. But what is it, and how do you use it? 

The NBA League Pass is the official streaming service of the National Basketball Association. It’s a subscription-based product that allows you to watch nearly every game live and on demand.

There are eight available packages in NBA League Pass – The League Pass Premium, League Pass Standard, Team Pass, Eight-Game Choice, three-Game Choice, Day Pass, Single Game, and NBA TV.

The service is available on most streaming devices, including mobile phones and tablets. The best part of League Pass is that all games are shown live as they happen, meaning no waiting around for your favorite team’s next matchup or checking scores throughout the day.

What is an NBA League Pass

You can also rewind and watch games and get highlights, interviews, and more. If you’re a diehard fan of NBA teams and want to follow them throughout the season, League Pass is the way to go. 

The downside to League Pass is the cost. If you’re a casual fan who wants to watch the big games, it’s probably not worth the investment. If you’re a diehard fan who wants to follow your team throughout the season, it’s worth looking into.

What Does NBA League Pass Include

What Does NBA League Pass Include?

To answer the question of whether NBA League Pass is worth it, we must first determine what it includes. NBA League Pass offers multiple service tiers, and the price depends on which one you choose. 

The following are the NBA League Pass packages and their respective inclusions:

Features NBA League Pass Premium + NBA TV NBA League Pass + NBA TV NBA Team Pass NBA TV
Watch live games in HD Yes Yes Yes Yes
Live NBA TV games No No No Yes
Access to full-length and condensed game replays Yes Yes Yes (for the team of your choice) No
Classic and archived games on-demand Yes Yes No No
Commercial free Yes No No No
Home and away team broadcast feeds Yes Yes Yes No
Listen to select games in alternate languages Yes Yes Yes Yes
Watch on two devices at the same time Yes No No No

As you can see, the NBA League Pass Premium is the lone package that allows you to watch games on two devices simultaneously. It is also the only commercial-free subscription that lets you see what’s happening in the arena during commercial breaks.

Aside from the four packages above, the NBA League pass also offers 8-Game Choice, 3-Game Choice, Single Game, and Day Pass.

NBA 8-Game Choice

From the phrase itself, the NBA 8-Game Choice package allows subscribers to choose up to eight games per month. It includes the following features:

  • Choose from every game
  • The package is only available in selected international markets and cannot be purchased in the US. 
  • Subscribers will have access to games that are purchased for the period of the recent season. 
  • Purchased games will be accessible until before the next season begins.
  • For subscribers accessing Canada and the US, all games not restricted by Canadian and US Blackouts will be available to watch. 

NBA 3-Game Choice

NBA 3-Game Choice is the 3-game version of NBA 8-Game Choice. Like the 8-Game version, only those games not restricted by Canadian and US Blackouts will be available for viewing. It is also not available for purchase in the US.

NBA 3-Game Choice

NBA Single Game

NBA Single Game is a one-game version of 8-Game and 3-Game packages. It offers the same features and has the same subscription terms and conditions as the 8-Game and 3-Game versions.

NBA Day Pass

The NBA Day Pass subscription allows subscribers to access the League Pass for 

24 hours from purchase. It includes all games live and on-demand. The Day Pass is available in selected international markets and cannot be purchased in the US. 

All of the subscriptions mentioned above are available on the web, Android, iOS, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku (selected countries), PlayStation 4 and 5 (selected countries), Xbox One and Xbox Series X (selected countries), Amazon Fire TV and Fire Stick, Chromecast, CarPlay, Comcast Xfinity Flex Platform, and Apple Watch. 

They also feature home and away broadcast feeds, Mobile View, and additional camera angles and languages.

How Much Does the NBA League Pass CostHow Much Does the NBA League Pass Cost?

The NBA League Pass is a subscription service offered by the league itself, which allows fans to watch every game of their favorite teams. The NBA League Pass is a great deal for those who want to see their favorite team play, but not so much for casual fans who might end up paying for games they don’t even care about. 

Is it worth paying for NBA League Pass if you’re a casual basketball fan? 

It’s hard to imagine being a casual fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA)—the league is so exciting, there are so many excellent players, and it has such an incredible history. But even if you’re only mildly interested in the NBA, watching your favorite team’s games on TV can be fun while you eat dinner or have a few beers with friends. It can also be fun to keep up with the season’s significant storylines by looking at highlights and reading news articles. If you can easily find games on TV and read news articles without paying anything, you might wonder whether it’s worth paying for the NBA League Pass.

How Much Does the NBA League Pass Cost

The good news is that NBA League Pass is cutting its subscription prices for this 2022-2023 NBA season. In a current renewal email, League Pass notified that NBA League Pass Premium, which enables subscribers to watch games on multiple devices commercial-free, will cost $129.99. Last season, it was at $280.00. Similarly, a standard subscription cost has been slashed to $99.99 for the 2022-23 season from $230.00 in 2021-2022, as first reported by Sportico. The standard subscription service will cost $15.00 per month. 

To know the League Pass subscriptions available in your market, you can view the complete list of subscriptions, prices, contents, and features here

Do You Get Every Game with NBA League PassDo You Get Every Game with NBA League Pass?

If you’re a huge basketball fan, you might wonder whether an NBA League Pass is right for you. The answer to this question can vary widely depending on your chosen package and specific viewing habits. 

The biggest question NBA League Pass subscribers have is: Do you get every game with NBA League Pass? 

One of the best parts of being a sports fan is watching and following your favorite teams. Unfortunately, in some specific areas in the US and Canada, exclusive broadcasting rights have been sold to particular TV networks. The US and Canadian Blackouts restrict some games. That means NBA League Pass cannot air those games until three hours after the match has ended. You can’t watch your local team live if you live in the same TV market, and you can’t stream games broadcast on ESPN, ABC, TNT, or NBA TV. Nationally televised games are also unavailable on League Pass.

If you want to watch every game, the solution is to subscribe to NBA League Pass with added live TV streaming service or a cable or satellite TV provider. YouTube TV is the best option as it includes ESPN, ABC, TNT, and NBA TV for the best price. It means that if a game is blacked out from NBA League Pass, you can watch them on one of those channels.

Can You Watch Playoffs on NBA League PassCan You Watch Playoffs on NBA League Pass?

The NBA Playoffs is the most exciting time of the year for basketball fans. Whether you love watching your favorite team battle it out on the court or you’re a casual fan who likes to watch the best in the league play, there are plenty of reasons to love the NBA Playoffs. And there’s no better way to watch the action than with the help of NBA League Pass. But does NBA League Pass include playoffs?

Can You Watch Playoffs on NBA League Pass

League Pass does have some advantages: it allows you to watch live and on-demand games throughout the regular season. It gives you access to replays and highlights from all teams and lets you watch the games on your mobile device or computer. But there’s one big problem with League Pass: it doesn’t let you watch the NBA Playoffs live!

NBA Playoffs, including the Finals, are nationally broadcasted and hence, not available for live viewing on NBA League Pass. You can only watch these games three hours after the event has ended.

Postseason games are broadcasted live on ESPN, ABC, and TNT. On top of your NBA League Pass subscription, you might consider subscribing to streaming services that offer ESPN, TNT, and ABC through their platform.

Is NBA TV or League Pass BetterIs NBA TV or League Pass Better?

With the 2022-2023 NBA season fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about what you’ll be doing on those cold winter nights when you would rather stay in and watch basketball than brave the cold to go out. If you’re like me, this means gluing yourself to your TV for hours at a time, watching basketball games as if your life depended on them (You can’t help if you love this sport).

If you are thinking of subscribing to either NBA TV or NBA League, you maybe ask which is a better option. Here is our brief explanation of NBA TV vs. NBA League Pass: 

NBA League Pass is a complete streaming service, while NBA TV is just a streaming channel that can also be accessed through NBA League Pass. NBA TV includes NBA documentaries, highlights, interviews, expert analysis, and more. Just think of NBA TV as another network channel similar to ESPN, ABC, or TNT. 

With the NBA League Pass, you can watch every game live and on-demand (subject to blackout restrictions) regardless of where the game is played. On the other hand, NBA TV features around 100 games in a season not included in the NBA League Pass, such as NBA playoffs. 

NBA TV and NBA League Pass compliments each other. The answer to which between the two is better depends on how many games you plan to watch. If you want to watch fewer games, NBA TV will suffice. However, if you want to watch almost every game, then NBA League Pass will be the best for you. 

For the best viewing experience, you can add NBA TV to your NBA League Pass subscription.

Wrapping Things Up: Is NBA League Pass Worth It?

With another exciting NBA season set to start, you may be asking yourself, “Is NBA League Pass worth it?” 

Well, it depends on how much time you spend watching basketball, how much money you are willing to pay, and what kind of access you have to other games.

If you’re primarily interested in seeing live games from your favorite team, then NBA League Pass is definitely worth it—you’ll get tons of content that you wouldn’t usually see for free. If you want to watch highlights and read about the game later on, then maybe not—plenty of websites offer free summaries of what happened in games throughout the day.

We hope you enjoyed this post! If you did, be sure to check out our other basketball FAQ articles here.

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Hoops Addict

Hoops Addict was created to help basketball fans of all ages learn more about the sport and find the best basketball gear to improve their ability to hoop. He has been a huge basketball fan for decades, watching thousands of basketball games through the years to learn the ins and outs of the game.

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