The AVP debuted streaming platforms for its season-opening tournament two weekends ago (March 16-19) in Miami Beach. It was a rough way to open the season, or, as the AVP said to us in a statement, “The reality of producing sports entertainment programming is that we will never make everyone happy.”
Change rarely is well-embraced by viewers, but the switches to the established ESPN+ subscription service and the work-in-progress Bally Live app were skewered across social media.
Fans griped about the showcase Stadium Court matches being streamed behind a paywall on ESPN+, and seemed particularly miffed that the new Bally Live app, which showed matches from one of the two outer courts, was not compatible with many of their devices such as Android cellphones and personal computers.
Below is a sampling of comments made under posts on the AVP’s official Facebook site:
“Hey sponsors, people want to watch and can’t! In this day & age of live-streaming at the very least, are you getting your money’s worth if the majority of your target market can’t access the event??? No wonder AVP has failed so many times to gain traction as other “fringe” sports have!”
“This is annoying enough I may not go spend an obnoxious amount of money in Atlanta this year at the tournament. This is a really out-of-touch move that will alienate a ton of the fans.”
“I’m not paying for ESPN+, and I can’t get Bally to download in my iPhone. Guess it’s gonna be a long summer!”
“The year is 2023. One AVP tournament is being streamed on two different apps. One is a paid app, the other is an app that’s not available on any TVs. Between the two apps, the coverage is two courts total. People outside the US have no way to watch. It’s been a great six years AVP, RIP.”
“What a disaster… AVP has a following but getting the product to the people seems to be so hard. For me I’ll switch over to March Madness [because] accessibility is too difficult.”
“Sucks. Once again you need to pay for an extra channel or app.”
“Oh, the bally live app that only apple cultists can enjoy.”
“Terrible decision on AVP’s part to make it so no one can watch. Way to promote the sport.”
“Where can I watch full match replays?”
“How can it be that a sports-streaming app (ESPN) is missing an instant rewind feature. The time scrubbing user experience feels decades old.”
“Different apps. Bally Live app seems to be only for iPhone….
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