Perhaps with a lot of subs getting "discounts" on ST every year and the fact that most new D* subs get ST included at no cost, these may be the chief reasons why the rest of us have to pay more and more each season for the package. When ST was reasonably affordable at around $229, quite a few bitched and ran to the phone and got their discounts, while the rest of us just paid the price and went on with our lives. Well if, let's say, only 10 percent of the ST subs get even just a $50 credit from their annual ST bill, that could mean a significant chunk of change taken from the main pool that D* uses to pay for the rights to ST. And I'm being conservative with 10 percent. My point is that in the earlier days if everyone had just accepted the price and not tried to get something for nothing, perhaps we wouldn't be looking at over $300 this season. D* may make the rate this high knowing that a good percentage of subs will bitch again this year and they will come down on the price to satisfy them. And the fact that new D* subs get ST included is most likely also raising the price significantly. It may be good business sense for D* to get as many new subs this way, but it certainly isn't fair to those of us who have been subs for a long time. I don't like the price for ST any more than the rest of you, but unless there is a slowing down of everyone trying to get discounts, and/or D* including ST to new subs, the initial price will go up again next and year, and the year after that. Does this mean that we all have to plead for D* to give us a discount every year? I agree that if the cost of ST is too high for you, cancel it. Sports subscriptions are getting way out of hand, and with so many TV outlets, many games are on in most markets any way. I am a Yankee fan in Massachusetts and have Extra Innings, but I've noticed that there have been A LOT of Yankee games on national TV, whether it's ESPN, TBS, or MLB Network, and I am beginning to think that if this many games are available without EI, why pay the price for EI if that's all I watch? The same can be said for NFL games. Once upon a time only a few games were on TV each week, but now there are many as five or six games shown per week towards the end of the season. Sure it's nice to have access to every game, but the cost should be weighed with against the options available. So it needs to be up to the individual as to whether ST is worth it or not...but, in my opinion, the begging for discounts is a contributing factor to the outrageous increases for the rest of us every year!
