No more ESPN score alerts texts for any Sprint brands

[jkil22]

So posting about a service change to your phone is considered a rant?

Aren't rants more opinion based than fact based? Why was this thread moved into the rant section??


Please move this back to the general sprint section so people can see this and call Sprint to complain.

Come on Mods, step up and do your job right!

(Now that last sentence was a rant ;-)

[NFrabbit]

And talked Weather Channel texts are stopping. I assume for the same reason as ESPN.

[AnthroMatt]

And talked Weather Channel texts are stopping. I assume for the same reason as ESPN.

Received that notice as well.

My girlfriend is at an AT&T store porting her 2 lines right now. This recent development was the last straw for her (in addition to various other issues with Sprint). That leaves me with 2 lines for $130, one of which is out of contract in 40 days. I don't have any need for data on that line so it will likely end up getting canceled next month so I can drop down to a cheaper single line plan.

[NFrabbit]

And now 4INFO is stopping. They are a provider of sports messages although not as good, in my opinion, as ESPN.

Obviously Sprint is making a play for more money and these companies are calling Sprint's bluff. Any quesses if AT&T and Verizion will follow suit?

My guess is that they will. Following that these services will be offered as "premium" services, either by the companies (ESPN etc) or the cell phone company.

[AnthroMatt]

And now 4INFO is stopping. They are a provider of sports messages although not as good, in my opinion, as ESPN.

Obviously Sprint is making a play for more money and these companies are calling Sprint's bluff. Any quesses if AT&T and Verizion will follow suit?

My guess is that they will. Following that these services will be offered as "premium" services, either by the companies (ESPN etc) or the cell phone company.

I think it is a bit too early for any company to decide they want to copy Sprint. It would be one thing if Sprint had some sort of premium SMS messaging replacement option available to coincide with their decision to raise rates to these 3rd parties. But all the alternatives they provide are data-centric. And it costs Sprint a heck of a lot more to support the delivery of data than it does to deliver SMS.

I tend to think this is yet another example of Sprint acting first, and thinking later.

[Shizam76]

I tend to think this is yet another example of Sprint acting first, and thinking later.

...and now they just lost 2 lines of your girlfriends. How many other people are going to port over because they are no longer getting their sports scores...or tornado watches? I wonder......

I just have TWC or whoever send me an email, and I have a filter set up in email to forward all emails in inbox from XXX@TWCalerts.com or whatever the from address is, to my sprint MMS address @pm.sprint.com

[AnthroMatt]

...and now they just lost 2 lines of your girlfriends. How many other people are going to port over because they are no longer getting their sports scores...or tornado watches? I wonder......

I suspect it will be a small amount. It's not reason enough, IMO, to leave. But combined with the new $10 smartphone fees, the terrible EVDO speeds (at least in Phoenix), and the coverage issues we had anyway, it tipped the scale and made AT&T more attractive for her.

[JCSanders1964]

I still get my NASCAR alerts! W00t!

[Shizam76]

I suspect it will be a small amount. It's not reason enough, IMO, to leave. But combined with the new $10 smartphone fees, the terrible EVDO speeds (at least in Phoenix), and the coverage issues we had anyway, it tipped the scale and made AT&T more attractive for her.

It seems like it is starting to add up for alot of people. The EVDO speeds here are crap too. I think most populated areas have problems.

at&t was starting to get to evil for me...raising ETF...raising early upgrade...not allowing side loading of apps....throttling...MMS delays, etc. There is an at&t tower in my backyard. Service would probably be fast and superb, I just can't handle their new antics.

Who knows...Sprint may be heading this direction too...we may just be screwed. In 2 years I will just have to reevaluate. With everyone taking 2 more years to buildout 4G, the game may be different then.

[TheBigCheese]

Fair to charge for text messaging? They already mark up the price 100,000% over their cost. Will they start charging to send emails to Sprint customers? A text message is 160 characters max, many of the advertising emails I get are over a megabyte.

[AnthroMatt]

Fair to charge for text messaging? They already mark up the price 100,000% over their cost.

That is what I find so puzzling about the whole situation. Sprint suggests, as an alternative, that we use various data-centric applications to get the information we used to get via SMS.

So Sprint, being greedy, wants to charge 3rd parties more for the right to send SMS, and in doing so is going to drive more data traffic as people seek out alternatives, thereby increasing the strain on the network and losing out on money from these 3rd parties at the same time. Brilliant!

[NFrabbit]

I have no idea how much money Sprint will lose on these, maybe not much but:

1) They've already lost the revenue from ESPN, Weather Channel, 4INFO, and who knows how many others.
2) My guess would be that ESPN and the Weather Channel would be two of the biggies and therefor have lost the most.
3) I would assume that every person walking into an AT&T, Verizon, T-mobile store is asked if they are interested in Sports. If the person answers yes they area told about Sprint.
4) Even if the person doesn't follow Sports they are probably being told how Sprint is forcing these other services off their network.

So where does Sprint come out ahead on this deal?

Unless Sprint is actually losing money on delivering these messages this seems like a lose - lose situation for them to me.

[Barmalei]

I don't have any others to officially add to the list, but two of the suggestions, have not worked for me. For both Yahoo and CBS Sports alerts I was able to register, set my alerts, and receive the subscription confirmation texts. After that I still have not received a single score or game alert.

http://www.sportsalert.com/

[huntm856]

Just got notification that one of the local news stations I relied on for school closings is no longer supporting Sprint/Virgin/Boost/Nextel. Guess I have plenty of time to find an alternative....