SEC Network/sports networks

[NYIceQueen]

I know that down south SEC Network is offered; however, considering you offer the Big 10 network and the Longhorn network nationwide I don't see how a network for such a huge fanbase isn't offered.  Especially for the Ultimate Package.  Can we please get more sports channels, especially in HD?  

[SECFanUpEast]

Susans19

Thanks for sharing the information they gave you; it's interesting to see the range of responses.  Seems like we are missing the month and the year though! 

I truly feel sorry for the reps on the front line  - they are in the dark as much as we are.

[hallrk]

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@Razor2633 wrote:

Brighthouse came today and I took my Verizon equipment to turn in and cancel at the same time. I was asked why and I told them because you don't have the SEC Network. The agent got an attitude and said I jumped the gun and said they will have it by the first game. I stated the network started yesterday and was announced months ago. Plenty of time for negotiations. They offered me $30 per month for 12 months to stay. Of course I said too late. Unbelievable!

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Tell them their first live game was today. A UK basketball game. UK fans are fanatics for their basketball as much as most are about football. I'll be missing three UK games in the Bahamas this weekend because of Verzon's stupidity. Really sad they care so little for their customers. 

[Malcolm11]

I am so sick of the sell, sell , sell attitude of Verizon without giving me the time of day on whether they will have the SEC network. I was told "I am sure we will have it before the first game...".   What crap--you will either have it or you won't.  Don't play silly games.  I was ambivilant about FIOS before, but now I am angry.  I just don't want any crap from them, and I have been seeking rates from other carriers.  {please keep your posts courteous}  Must  be a bunch of Yankees as besty I can determine.  They simply are tone deaf with their customers.  

[bmrgn39]

I'm a die-hard Gator who is just as impatient as the rest of you. I believe they'll have it by the 28th (blind hope?) but am more than anything disappointed at Verizon's tight-lipped ignoring of their customer base on the topic.

Now, with that said, I also work in Customer Service for a very popular entertainment company and am cringing at the way some of you say you are treating the guys on the other side of the phone. It's not their fault the corporate office is dragging their feet. It's not their fault upper management isn't communicating to them any more than they are to us, their customers. It's not their fault the ones who may know more are not allowed to say. Do you think the company is going to allow Joe Shmoe who works in the call center to release details that they're obviously witholding from the world? Many of you who weren't offered the bribe to stay... probably didn't treat your customer service rep very well. Trust me, I know from experience, customers who treat customer service like crap get crap offers in return. 

Keep fighting the good fight and stick it to the corporate snails... but have a heart and be nice to the customer service folks. It's not their fault. They don't get paid enough for you to yell at them over something they have absolute ZERO power over.

VERIZON GIVE US THE SEC NETWORK!!!!!!!!!!!! 

And Go Gators! 🙂

[sportsdoc]

Called Verizon Corporate office in NY on Friday to complain about them not reaching an Agreement on the SEC Network.Person took my 'phone# and said a person familiar with the situation would call me, which she did. I was told that Verizon is in ongoing talks with ESPN on the SEC Network and that they are trying to get the best deal for their customers, so as to not have to raise rates. ( REALLY!) I was also told that they are well aware that the first live televise game isn't until later in the month! When I told this person that I believe they are losing customers by not commenting about this network, I was told that they have no reports of customers leaving as of yet due to them not having the SEC yet! I would say that the evecutive office is completely "out of touch" with their customers on this matter. When I mentioned that they never picked up the PAC12 network last year she said what's the PAC12?

If you want to voice your displeasure to the Corporate Office you can google this Office info in New York.

My take is that they will reach an Agreement right before the 8/28 games.

[streetsma]

Correct.    They   are  only   puppets   for  the  establishment   with  no  decision  making  authority   at  all.

as  with   everything   in  corporate  America ,   the  decision  makers   are  always  hidden  behind  closed  doors , and  petrified   to  step   out   and   speak  with  the  paying  customer.

If   they  think  that    not  carrying   the  SEC  NETWORK   is  a    smart    business   decision,    then  they  need   to  step  out  into  the  real   world  every  once   in  a  while.

[uaphan]

I will be calling the Corporate offices on Monday to voice my anger and frustration over the SEC Network. If they believe that no one is cancelling due to them not offering then they are not reading any of their reports or listening to their reps. 

[GAMECOCKFANinMD]

I agree.  I have been asking them for at least 6 months.  Last weekend, COMCAST Xfinity added SEC Network in my area, so now I really have a choice.  I don't want to leave FiOS because of the hassle, but COMCAST is ready.  I'm going to see the first game at a neighborhood eatery with a fellow USC alum; if FiOS doesn't have SEC network then, I'll be calling COMCAST on Friday the 29th.

[HokieDave]

Yankees don't realize that college football exists.  They think that "football" is that boring game played between millionaires where you can lose seven games and still be the national champion.

College football is real football - we're not rooting for some business that we have no relationship to - we're rooting for our own school that we chose and where we spent four(ish) years of our lives bonding with our schoolmates.  Virginia Tech is MY school.  The Redskins are a company owned by a billionaire  that happens to be near me geographically and to whom I have no more allegiance than I do to the power company.

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@uaphan wrote:

Verizon Fios is now trolling all of us about the SEC Network. On their official Facebook page they now have a #FootballisBack and "Catch it all with Verizon" banner and message with NO mention of the SEC Network....unbelievable!!!

They are now playing games with us

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[uaphan]

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@HokieDave wrote:

Yankees don't realize that college football exists.  They think that "football" is that boring game played between millionaires where you can lose seven games and still be the national champion.

College football is real football - we're not rooting for some business that we have no relationship to - we're rooting for our own school that we chose and where we spent four(ish) years of our lives bonding with our schoolmates.  Virginia Tech is MY school.  The Redskins are a company owned by a billionaire  that happens to be near me geographically and to whom I have no more allegiance than I do to the power company.

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@uaphan wrote:

Verizon Fios is now trolling all of us about the SEC Network. On their official Facebook page they now have a #FootballisBack and "Catch it all with Verizon" banner and message with NO mention of the SEC Network....unbelievable!!!

They are now playing games with us

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Now that the SEC Network is showing the early SEC games instead of the local JP station, I cannot miss an Alabama game. As you know Alabama football is a religion and our fans are insane and will do ANYTHING to watch our games. I hope we are getting closer to Verizon finally reaching an agreement. However the inconsisent messages being told to us by the Verizon reps is concerning. 

[beachbums624]

Well after 4 years of paying for Ultimate everything you have . I will be leaving fios if I miss a single Tennessee game because your negotiating skills are bad .

[GatorBait08]

I've called every single day about this since last week.  I literally just spoke to a rep who told me that I'm the first person who's ever called her about the SEC Network.  She said that even if Verizon doesn't pick it up at least I should be able to go to "SECnetwork.com" in order to watch it.....ugh.  I'm almost at the point where I'll start losing sleep over this.  I'm switching this weekend.

[kbhumphreys]

Verizon; get on with it and get the SEC network for your customers NOW. I will make a change for this reason

[douggercats]

Already missing 3 uk games in the Bahamas. Verizon's track record with me has been less than stellar. Gone to directv next week if sec network is not added!!!

[jolowe]

Not sure if anyone on this thread has tried contacting the Corporate Executives but here is a link:

{edited for privacy} ......I contacted {edited for privacy}, the Chief Communications Officer and got a phone call from an executive assistance. She indicated they were still in negotiations which we all know. I told her Verizon is the little fish with only 5 million subscribers compared with the others that add up to 90+ million. The rates are already set, there is nothing to negotiate. She had no good response to that. Think about flooding these folks with messages so that these pinheads/bean counters hear what is going on out in the heatland, away from the glass house.

[jl234]

I read this article on the Dallas Morning News this morning. From the article... 

When Longhorn Network debuted in 2011, Verizon Fios was the only major carrier to jump on board. Now, Verizon Fios (5.3 million subscribers) and Cablevision (3.1 million) are the only majors not carrying SEC Network. Neither carrier considers the Southeastern Conference a major part of its footprint although Verizon Fios is big in Texas and Florida.

Clearly VZ didn't see the value in the SEC Network for their customers and found out too late they were wrong. Now they are behind the curve and trying to negotiate a deal from a position of weakness (thus, why they are silent on the matter). The price is set and Disney/ABC will play hardball with VZ because they are last and a small customer base compared to the other carriers on board. 

My guess is if they miss the first weekend, no deal will be made this season. I'm not willing to gamble on them getting this done. I'll be going back to DirecTV.

A large miscalculation by VZ and unfortunately the only way to tell them in a way that matters is to leave.

[20011]

ordered direct tv today.  couldnt wait any longer to take my chances on missing SEC football games.

[Hubba_Bubba]

I have a DirecTV account for my lake house, but Verizon Fios here at home. I was probably in the first ten people in my city (Flower Mound, TX) to sign up for Fios. I've been loyal, but... it would be very easy for me to change and I personally know the owner of a service provider/installer for DirecTV, so I can quickly get up to speed at home with a new service provider, but if I do that, I'm dropping Verizon entirely. Their pricing is already through the roof and frankly, I am tired of dropped Internet service, low speeds and the fact that they are not in favor of Net Neutrality. I missed the opening of the SEC Network, thanks to Verizon not having it already, and... the speeds they provide for the price are out of line with what can actually be done for far less. Residents in many communities are getting Google Internet, at speeds of greater than 1Gbps. Another community I'm aware of (Lafayette, LA) has 1Gbps Internet service for their citizens available for $65 a month. That's about what Verizon charges for the "screaming fast 50Mbps service".

I will go about one more week of this BEE ESS and then I'm making the change. Read that Verizon Admins? A very long-time subscriber (four HD DVR's, all the movies, Quantum internet). Gone.

Fix this by end of next week.

[Malcolm11]

I am now at peace.  I will not beg FIOS again.  My wife almost died recently, but is on the road to recovery.  My priorities have changed over the past week.  SEC football is a huge part of my life, and I will simply change carriers rather than fight the angst with FIOS.  They don't care so I don't care.  Upper management at FIOS must be soccer fans without a clue of what the customer base really wants.  

I'm not a big Bill Mahr fan, but he did say that now that football season is here, it points out just how insignificant soccer is!  (or words to that affect).  

I suppose its Direct TV on Monday. 

[HokieDave]

Umm ... that's not how life works.  When you're talking about deals for millions of $$$, there's going to be negotiation over the rates.  It's not like they're buying a ham sandwich where the price is $5 and you can either buy the sandwich or not buy it.

(Unfortunately, Verizon waited so long so they are no longer negotiating from a position of power.)

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@jolowe73 wrote:

The rates are already set, there is nothing to negotiate.

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[richdenea]

Rates may be set (even though everything is negotiable) however, the terms likely aren't.  I'm not for Verizon, and cannot believe they haven't inked a deal for the SEC Network.  And, I defenitely agree, they have lost any ounce of negotiating leverage they might have had.  

I'm sure the SEC Network  wants all the eyeballs they can get, but sure won't bend over for Verizon with only 5 Million customers (even less in the two SEC states they cover).