How do you feel about Flo?

[ionel]

Biggest complaint is they simply refuse to listen to the customer.  If they had done so early on they would not still have the same issues today.

I signed up because they were covering certain college teams and duals you couldn't get elsewhere.  Espn+ is now a much better option for video & duals maybe not for brackets and results.

Is it worth the price?  Probably especially if interested in high school &/or international, but they make it so difficult to sort thru all their info if you are interested in a particular style.  They purchased track and it is worse making the combination even harder if you have to filter thru both.

I will be letting my subscription expire next fall.  If they had a 3 month or true monthly option, might sign up during international season but as said before, they don't listen to the customer.  

[D3 for LU]

Yesterday's freeze-ups that came in the most unfortunate time in a lot of matches was totally frustrating!

This is just... sad all over.

D3

[Scouts Honor]

i do like espn+ but i dont see them covering any freeco

[Scouts Honor]

to whit

i have never had the flo problems until yesterday.. first time i really had to miss part of a match i wanted to watch...

it was frustrating...but i saw more than if I hadn't had flo.

[fishbane]

3 hours ago, ionel said:

I will be letting my subscription expire next fall.  If they had a 3 month or true monthly option, might sign up during international season but as said before, they don't listen to the customer.  

If you sign up with Flo Wrestling they monthly option sucks - $30/month or $150/year.  If you sign up with another Flo "parallel" you can get a much more reasonable price $12.50 billed monthly or $8/month billed yearly and you have access to all parallels.

[fishbane]

4 hours ago, Eagle26 said:

They’ve got us by the balls. The streaming issues are totally unacceptable especially considering it’s been a common theme for YEARS. However, if you are a fan of international styles, they cover some can’t miss events. The cost of a ticket alone to Final X was about the cost of a yearly Flo subscription. I can’t afford to travel to every event I want to see, so I’m not canceling my subscription. They know that, so they don’t care to invest the money to fix the issues. I’ve often really wanted to cancel out of spite, but I’m just not willing to give up watching those events to “teach them a lesson” (that they might not learn). And so it continues…

Before this event they had been better with their streams.  I remember a couple years ago they simply could not provide a reliable stream to a major event.

Not sure how many wrestling fans were aware of this but Flo Sports had streaming deals with some MLS teams to distribute their matches.  They signed a 4 year deal with DC United starting in 2019 and the very first broadcast was plagued by service interruptions that they never fully solved.  Flo reportedly paid $12million for the broadcast rights and the team terminated the contract after less than a year, offered refunds to fans, and streamed the rest of their matches for free on the teams website.  It would seem like the inability to stream a major event without interruption has costs Flo millions of dollars and should be something they have sorted by now.

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/dc-united-flosports-streaming-deal-ended-mls-tv-rights/?zephr_sso_ott=s0FZRU

"The move brings to an end what proved to be a problematic deal for DC United. Fans of the franchise were initially unhappy at having to pay between US$5.99 and US$8.99 per month for FloSports, which was compounded when the streaming service suffered technical difficulties. DC United’s draw against New York City FC in March, for example, was marred by interruptions."

[MPhillips]

Millions and millions more soccer fans than wrestling fans. Squeaky wheel.

[Scouts Honor]

funny, i am watching espn+ baseball super regionals and the feed just went out

and a screen chyron cameacross...fix as quickly as we can

about a min later good again.

[ionel]

33 minutes ago, fishbane said:

If you sign up with Flo Wrestling they monthly option sucks - $30/month or $150/year.  If you sign up with another Flo "parallel" you can get a much more reasonable price $12.50 billed monthly or $8/month billed yearly and you have access to all parallels.

Yes and couple years ago felt like it was worth the yearly for the added benefit of cycling.   This past year (kind've like wrestling) seemed like they had lost a lot of cycling events or only available in Canada.  With all the other streaming services we get it just doesn't provide much content of interest compared to a few years ago.  And then there's the dropped streaming then.  If Peacock, GNC etc can stream a multi week 6+ hr/dy cycling event thru the mountains in a foreign county, how can a 2 hr wrestling meet in a fixed location university arena be so difficult? 

[billyhoyle]

49 minutes ago, fishbane said:

Before this event they had been better with their streams.  I remember a couple years ago they simply could not provide a reliable stream to a major event.

Not sure how many wrestling fans were aware of this but Flo Sports had streaming deals with some MLS teams to distribute their matches.  They signed a 4 year deal with DC United starting in 2019 and the very first broadcast was plagued by service interruptions that they never fully solved.  Flo reportedly paid $12million for the broadcast rights and the team terminated the contract after less than a year, offered refunds to fans, and streamed the rest of their matches for free on the teams website.  It would seem like the inability to stream a major event without interruption has costs Flo millions of dollars and should be something they have sorted by now.

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/dc-united-flosports-streaming-deal-ended-mls-tv-rights/?zephr_sso_ott=s0FZRU

"The move brings to an end what proved to be a problematic deal for DC United. Fans of the franchise were initially unhappy at having to pay between US$5.99 and US$8.99 per month for FloSports, which was compounded when the streaming service suffered technical difficulties. DC United’s draw against New York City FC in March, for example, was marred by interruptions."

This is hilarious. I wonder if they replayed the video of Martin from the Okstate/Iowa dual after this saying he takes full responsibility and it will never happen again, 

[Eagle26]

1 hour ago, fishbane said:

Before this event they had been better with their streams.  I remember a couple years ago they simply could not provide a reliable stream to a major event.

Not sure how many wrestling fans were aware of this but Flo Sports had streaming deals with some MLS teams to distribute their matches.  They signed a 4 year deal with DC United starting in 2019 and the very first broadcast was plagued by service interruptions that they never fully solved.  Flo reportedly paid $12million for the broadcast rights and the team terminated the contract after less than a year, offered refunds to fans, and streamed the rest of their matches for free on the teams website.  It would seem like the inability to stream a major event without interruption has costs Flo millions of dollars and should be something they have sorted by now.

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/dc-united-flosports-streaming-deal-ended-mls-tv-rights/?zephr_sso_ott=s0FZRU

"The move brings to an end what proved to be a problematic deal for DC United. Fans of the franchise were initially unhappy at having to pay between US$5.99 and US$8.99 per month for FloSports, which was compounded when the streaming service suffered technical difficulties. DC United’s draw against New York City FC in March, for example, was marred by interruptions."

Wow! I did not know that. Screwing up for DC United is a huge deal, and honestly can’t believe they didn’t learn from their mistakes. I really did think the issue was that they practically had a monopoly on some of the niche sports and didn’t really care because they weren’t losing many subscribers. Knowing this, maybe I was wrong and it’s just total incompetence?? I just don’t understand how they couldn’t fix it for this long though if they really wanted to?

[1032004]

1 hour ago, fishbane said:

If you sign up with Flo Wrestling they monthly option sucks - $30/month or $150/year.  If you sign up with another Flo "parallel" you can get a much more reasonable price $12.50 billed monthly or $8/month billed yearly and you have access to all parallels.

I thought the lowest on some of the other Flo sites was $19.99 a month, and that it was all $150/year?

[fishbane]

35 minutes ago, billyhoyle said:

This is hilarious. I wonder if they replayed the video of Martin from the Okstate/Iowa dual after this saying he takes full responsibility and it will never happen again, 

They can reuse that video over and over.  That dual was 2017?  The DC United fiasco was 2019.  Their only other MLS team, DC Cincinnati dropped them in 2020.  

It was amazing how right quick the plug was pulled on their crappy service when they tried to take on a sport with a more sizable fan base.  MLS fans were only paying $9/mo vs the $30/mo they try and get out of wrestling fans and they weren't putting up with this for even a season.

[fishbane]

59 minutes ago, 1032004 said:

I thought the lowest on some of the other Flo sites was $19.99 a month, and that it was all $150/year?

That's probably true if you go to the individual sport website (baseball, wrestling, grappling, whatever), but if you sign up with a team or conference they have different pricing.  I think you can get as cheap as $12.50 billed monthly or $7.99/month billed annually. https://go.flosports.tv/partner/caa Back when they had MLS teams you could get it even cheaper $8.99 billed monthly or $5.99 billed annually.   

Wrestling is one of the most expensive ways to sign up for Flo because there is little to no competition in this sport.  Fans are not used to paying a reasonable price for a service.  They are used to not having any access whatsoever so $30/mo doesn't sound that bad.  Flo bought their only US competitor Trackwrestling some years ago, which in my opinion can only be seen as a negative for fans.

[peanut]

42 minutes ago, fishbane said:

That's probably true if you go to the individual sport website (baseball, wrestling, grappling, whatever), but if you sign up with a team or conference they have different pricing.  I think you can get as cheap as $12.50 billed monthly or $7.99/month billed annually. https://go.flosports.tv/partner/caa Back when they had MLS teams you could get it even cheaper $8.99 billed monthly or $5.99 billed annually.   

Wrestling is one of the most expensive ways to sign up for Flo because there is little to no competition in this sport.  Fans are not used to paying a reasonable price for a service.  They are used to not having any access whatsoever so $30/mo doesn't sound that bad.  Flo bought their only US competitor Trackwrestling some years ago, which in my opinion can only be seen as a negative for fans.

The biggest events for many US wrestling fans are (1) the NCAA tournament; (2) the Big Ten tournament; (3) Final X; (4) OTTs; (5) worlds; and (6) the Olympics.

But as far as I know, Flo only carries two of those events: Final X and worlds.  That means that even if you have a yearly Flo subscription, you still have to make other arrangements to watch (1) the NCAA tournament; (2) the Big Ten tournament; (3) OTTs; and (4) the Olympics. 

And of the big events I listed, the only unique service Flo offers is broadcasting Final X.  When it comes to worlds, Flo is merely taking the UWW's feed -- which is free in most countries -- and then requiring US customers to pay to watch that feed.

Basically, if Flo is charging $150 per year, it is hard for me to understand how that is a good deal.

Edited June 12, 2023 by peanut

[MPhillips]

13 minutes ago, peanut said:

it is hard for me to understand how that is a good deal.

It isn't. Not for Joe wrestling guy.

[jross]

It’s a fantastic deal.

[LJB]

2 hours ago, peanut said:

Basically, if Flo is charging $150 per year, it is hard for me to understand how that is a good deal.

how much is a plane ticket overseas?

[fishbane]

FC Cincinnati fan thought $150/year was prohibitively expensive.

"FC Cincinnati were forced to defend the FloSports deal last year after fans aired frustrations that the platform was technically unstable and prohibitively expensive. Annual subscriptions for the 2019 season were priced at US$150, with the first 2,000 to sign up receiving a discounted rate of US$99 for the year."

They could have told their season ticket holders that $150/year is cheaper than traveling to the 17 road games per season.  Instead they terminated the dealer after less than 1.5 seasons.

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/fc-cincinnati-flosports-streaming-tv-rights-local-cancel/?zephr_sso_ott=VGSHXq

 

[billyhoyle]

42 minutes ago, LJB said:

how much is a plane ticket overseas?

How expensive is it to pay a couple people in Azerbaijan to stream an event with their phones?  10 years ago, Flo was doing a service for the community and $150/year was a great deal.  Today, it is horribly overpriced given the content they offer and where technology has gone.  The exception is if you like watching youth/HS wrestling. In that case, Flo provides an incredible wealth of content.  Otherwise, $150 for WTT is pointless.  

3 hours ago, peanut said:

The biggest events for many US wrestling fans are (1) the NCAA tournament; (2) the Big Ten tournament; (3) Final X; (4) OTTs; (5) worlds; and (6) the Olympics.

But as far as I know, Flo only carries two of those events: Final X and worlds.  That means that even if you have a yearly Flo subscription, you still have to make other arrangements to watch (1) the NCAA tournament; (2) the Big Ten tournament; (3) OTTs; and (4) the Olympics. 

And of the big events I listed, the only unique service Flo offers is broadcasting Final X.  When it comes to worlds, Flo is merely taking the UWW's feed -- which is free in most countries -- and then requiring US customers to pay to watch that feed.

Basically, if Flo is charging $150 per year, it is hard for me to understand how that is a good deal.

Add in that a VPN, which is legal, can be purchased for much less money than a Flo subscription to watch the exact same feed that Flo is broadcasting for worlds.  

[bnwtwg]

 

[jross]

10 hours ago, LJB said:

how much is a plane ticket overseas?

How much is a ticket, gas, food, and hotel for a tournament within driving distance?  How much for access to training videos and a library of historic matches?  

[pokemonster]

FWIW, Pyles addressed the streaming issues to start FRL today. He apologized, said it was unacceptable, and that the higher ups are prepared to fix it. Not that we haven't heard that before... but better than nothing I suppose. 

[Wrestleknownothing]

3 minutes ago, pokemonster said:

FWIW, Pyles addressed the streaming issues to start FRL today. He apologized, said it was unacceptable, and that the higher ups are prepared to fix it. Not that we haven't heard that before... but better than nothing I suppose. 

Have we heard that before? I have not, but I am not an always listener.

[alex1fly]

Pros. The searchable archived matches in particular are amazing - you don't have to watch live. The yearly price is less than the price of a single night in a hotel. They cover more events than any one person could by traveling. FloArena works pretty darn well for keeping track of tourneys. The technique videos are pretty cool.

 

Cons. They have a near monopoly. They lean too hard into the talking head/pundit side of things. Streams drop often. Apps aren't always easy to use. And this a personal beef but as an Okie State fan when the Big 12 dropped Flo and went to ESPN, Flo took every opportunity to badmouth us and make us look like idiots. Even now they have a clip on IG of Daton vs Desanto... and it's a 0-0 scramble. Not a Daton takedown, not a Daton counter, nothing about the Daton win. They seem to abhor portraying OKState in any kind of positive light. This may be a reach but it happens often enough to make me wonder. They do interview some OKState guys but it the vibe is often "we have to do this, if only it was a Big 10 wrestler I'm interviewing then I'd be excited". I'm not saying they should worship the ground OKState walks on, but the way they choose to portray our program DEFINITELY changed when the Big 12 went to ESPN.

 

Honestly its not a bad product overall, but it might not be a bad thing if they got bought out by a real sports network that knows what they're doing and doesn't feel like a tech startup.