The ins and outs of why I continue to pay for cable

When I lurk around the financial blogging world, I see plenty of declarations from people whose earnings and net worth is eons above mine declare that they have/had cut the (cable) cord and are now happier than they've ever been without it and the lack of any cable bill is saving them hundreds and hey, why doesn't more people realize that the money they spend on cable is a waste?

In my household of myself and two roommates, I'm the only one who pays for the cable as I'm the only one that deems it worth my money to pay for it. One roommate is more than happy streaming her content off the internet and the other actually pays for a Netflix account. (which, like my cable, access is then made available and shared within the household) So I'm the sole payee on the account. 

I don't even have a television loving dog to justify it.

Coupled with a special discount I get, at about $50 a month for a full gamut of televised options and it is a price I feel is fair value for the amount of actual time I use it.

But as some may or would say, wouldn't it be better for that $50 to go towards something like my student loans or my savings? Think about it, $50 a month adds up to about $600 in a year, which would go a long way when invested or decrease the money I owe and by extension the interest I pay on my student loans, right?

Sure if you put it in plain old dollar value like that. But that's assuming the full $50 dollars I would have otherwise paid to my cable is saved, which by my calculations would not be the case really for one solid reason.

I work in sports in addition to being a sports fan. The first and foremost of these loves being hockey. 

Sports is increasingly becoming a multi-billion dollar industry, particularly its television deals. And the result is due to the fact that these days sports remains mostly PVR-proof. 

Most television series or shows like The Big Bang Theory have increasingly become television items that people have no problem delaying a few hours or days even to watch when they're able, rather than planning their day or evening around watching the show. And the delay has an added effect; people can totally bypass  commercials. 

So what does that mean then? Money advertising companies are willing to pay for television shows have decreased rapidly as the people who watch such things are more likely to PVR and therefore not watch the commercial spots that come with it.

Sports, however remains one of the few television properties that remain an event that fans of the genre (like me) tend to plan their day around and make it a part of their routine to watch. 

Why? Because sports easily spoil, especially in this day and age of social media. There is nothing worse than watching a game after having been told who won. It's harder to watch when you already know that it's the team you cheer for that lost, especially by a large margin. And often the big events in the game have already been widely discussed and debated by friends online and off. At that point, you may as well just watch the game's highlights.

Sports fans watch games to be excited and surprised by the team they support, while knowing that they risk also being angered and disappointed as well. (And as a Leafs fan, let's say I suffer more disappointment than excitement) It's a form of emotional gambling and plenty of people gamble that through the low points, there will eventually be incredible highs. What more, this gambling happens as a whole community. It's not only you going nuts, it's a whole other group of people that are sharing in the same emotions you are feeling and sometimes to greater degrees than yourself. 

These Red Wings know what I'm talking about when it comes to the low points.

But the gambling doesn't happen when the event you're looking for has been spoiled. You end up emotionally detached. And it's harder still when you can't share the feelings of joy and despair with others, especially when most of the others are already freaking out over another event having moved on from a previous one.

 So how does this all add up as far as me paying for cable? 

I pay cable primarily so that I can partake in these events. I also pay cable because it is a helluva lot cheaper than the alternative route I took in order to 'not miss a game,' a task that amounted to me going to the bar to watch. Cable keeps me at home to watch my sports, which is cheaper than going out and doing it. Cable also wastes a whole lot of time watching other stuff when bored, which also keeps me from spending money by going out or shopping online.

There are minuses, as in cable keeps me at home on my butt rather than go out and exercise, but that's something I can do better towards than simply cutting off the cable as a remedy.

TL;DR, I pay for cable because I look at it as an entertainment expense. I look at it as an expense I pay in lieu of buying movies, going to the theatre or a number of other things used as entertainment by the rest of the world.

And because I need to watch my sports.