Issue Tracking Board

[Asellus]

Yes. I am trying to watch the US Open as well. It looks like they are not going to be able to fix this quickly, so my only option is to watch the matches they post to the US Open Tennis Championships channel on YouTube. They are posting a few matches that are on the main courts (which are the same ones on ESPN3). Only issue is they are behind a couple of days. But it was my only option to finish one of the matches I started watching on ESPN3.

I guess short of buying a different streaming device (not Roku), I don't have any other options right now. I don't have a Smart TV, and I don't have a cable provider. I get ESPN3 through my internet provider, and as a result it only gives me ESPN3 through set top boxes. I cannot get it through my laptop.

I like Roku a lot, but does anybody have a recommendation for another streaming device in case this is possibly unfixable? This issue happened during Wimbledon as well, and it didn't seem to get fixed until weeks later after it ended. I pretty much missed a lot of matches or could not finish a lot of matches I really wanted to watch. I honestly thought that this had gotten fixed and I would not have this problem again now.

[iplay10us2]

Not sure why you can't log in with your ESPN credentials on a laptop, though.

Best option is to get a free trial of Hulu Live, Youtube TV or similar, and then download that app on your Roku to watch.

[Asellus]

I certainly can log in on a laptop with my ESPN credentials, but it would not give me access to ESPN3 or any ESPN channels. I did pay for ESPN+, so my ESPN credentials would give me access to that. I do not authenticate with a tv provider sign in as I do not have a cable subscription of any kind; that would give me access to ESPN content on the website.

My access to ESPN3 is authenticated over my internet connection. I get access through AT&T, my internet provider, and for whatever reason as part of their deal I am only given access to ESPN3 over OTT streaming devices. So phones, tablets, laptops do not work. I found this answer a long time ago on reddit. Honestly, I did not originally know I had ESPN3 when I got my Roku device a couple of years ago. I came across it by accident.

However, yes, your solution of signing up for a cable tv/streaming tv provider would probably allow me to access ESPN3 on my laptop. I will consider that. Since another user who had YouTube TV could not access ESPN3 on the ESPN app on Roku, I am assuming that means the YouTube TV app does not have access to the same replays that ESPN3 has? So I am assuming using the Roku app for YouTube TV still wouldn't change that issue? Thanks!

Also, since ESPN3 is a streaming only channel and was traditionally not part of a cable package, I wonder if that's part of the problem on the Roku app? It was originally only offered to people who had high-speed internet access with an internet provider that paid fees to ESPN. It probably still authenticates over the internet for everyone, even people with a cable package. Maybe some update ESPN did through their app this year messed it up. Does anyone who has a cable package have problems connecting to ESPN and ESPN2 replays on the ESPN app on Roku? Just curious.

[iplay10us2]

I just checked and only found one ESPN2 On Demand and got the same "Connection Error" when I tried to play it. I was able to use ESPN+ On Demand without an issue. This only occurs on Roku.

If I use the ESPN app on my smart TV  (Direct TV stream is provider), I have zero issues using On Demand.

[EricC]

• iplay10us2
  Binge Watcher

yesterday

Re: ESPN Playback - Connection Errors

"Only suggestion I have right now is to watch on computer/phone. If you are able to cast from either of those to your TV, it should work.

Not sure why ESPN3 works when watching live, but only fails for "On Demand."

Excellent suggestion, that worked great! I mean it's absurd to have to do that but that is the workaround. Thankyou! Cheers

[zm2]

Has this solution been resolved for anyone? Community manager mentioned they would update the thread but I don’t see anything.

[Draggio]

Have the same problem here. I am trying to watch on demand F1 qualifying through my roku ultra and get this message: "Connection error. We are unable to connect you to the service. Please verify that you are connected to the internet and try again."

The weirs part is that when I use my Android cel phone and my IPad everything is fine. The issue is trying to watch it on my TV through the roku device. 

[iplay10us2]

It has not been resolved. If you have a smart TV and have a TV provider like Direct TV, Youtube TV, or similar, you can download the ESPN app on your smart TV, login there, and you should be able to watch On Demand this way. Doing this worked for me.

[Asellus]

No posts from them since yesterday. So far they have only collected information, and my opening post was on Tuesday. No updates and no timeframes have been given on resolution. At this point, since it has been about four days, I think a lot of us are just looking for alternatives for now as it doesn't seem this will be fixed quickly. I think everyone has come up with some excellent alternatives, so I don't see any further input being useful from the community at this point. We will just have to wait until someone from Roku responds.

The first instance I had of this issue was during Wimbledon in June. I didn't have this problem before then. I'm sure there's some issue having to do with the recent app updates, but none of us are in any position to do anything about it.

[iplay10us2]

The issue is seems to only be with Roku. Check my other replies for a work around that might work for you.