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2020 Around the MLB Thread

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Nobody is claiming watching baseball is a right. Might want to step off that high horse before you take a tumble. It'd hurt from up there.

If you're MLB, blackouts are a self-inflicted wound. You're hurting yourself and reducing your revenues over the long-term. But, for how ass-backwards the sport has been run, I'm not surprised they've kept them in place.
Between blackouts, awful announcers who disparage the game, and the unwritten rules police the game has no chance to grow.
 
I do understand the general frustration when you cannot watch something you want to watch. MLBtv makes no claims that you will be able to see nationally televised games. It's out of market, non nationally televised. This is the same way the NBA does it, same way the NHL does it. If you buy Sunday Ticket, you don't get to see Monday Night Football without an ESPN subscription. It's every professional league and it seems completely fair to me. Those networks pay SO MUCH money to air these games. How much do you think the packages would have to cost if you had to subsidize what leagues would normally be paid for a national TV package? I'm guessing at least double.
Well, I guess that's the issue people have. Corporate partnerships are being valued over the fans.

You can say ESPN deserves the exclusive rights because they pay for them, but the MLB has to be careful because as fans disappear, so does the ESPN money.
 
If you're MLB, blackouts are a self-inflicted wound. You're hurting yourself and reducing your revenues over the long-term. But, for how ass-backwards the sport has been run, I'm not surprised they've kept them in place.

Exactly how many games a year is a fan likely to have blacked out? If it's like the NFL where you can't see any home games that aren't sold our, I'd understand. But if fans are only being restricted from seeing a few nationally televised games involving their team each year, and can watch all of their team's other games, I'm not seeing that as inflicting much of a wound. The only people likely to be pissed that they can only watch 150 instead of 162 games each year are the die-hard fans that you're not losing anyway.

Or maybe I'm missing something -- honestly haven't given it a ton of thought.
 
Exactly how many games a year is a fan likely to have blacked out? If it's like the NFL where you can't see any home games that aren't sold our, I'd understand. But if fans are only being restricted from seeing a few nationally televised games involving their team each year, and can watch all of their team's other games, I'm not seeing that as inflicting much of a wound. The only people likely to be pissed that they can only watch 150 instead of 162 games each year are the die-hard fans that you're not losing anyway.

Or maybe I'm missing something -- honestly haven't given it a ton of thought.
I'm not sure how far the blackout is spread, but I live in Summit County and every single Indians game is blacked out on MLBtv for me.

Regardless of your feelings about how they should handle nationally televised games, we can all agree that's bullshit, right?
 
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I think for whatever your zip code is, only one team should be allowed to be blacked out, two if you have two teams in your city. The real problem is the way the blackouts are zoned. People in Iowa have like five teams blacked out and they do not have local broadcast access to seeing all of those teams. That is where you really risk losing fans because those people have literally no option to see some teams play legally.
 
Exactly how many games a year is a fan likely to have blacked out? If it's like the NFL where you can't see any home games that aren't sold our, I'd understand. But if fans are only being restricted from seeing a few nationally televised games involving their team each year, and can watch all of their team's other games, I'm not seeing that as inflicting much of a wound. The only people likely to be pissed that they can only watch 150 instead of 162 games each year are the die-hard fans that you're not losing anyway.

Or maybe I'm missing something -- honestly haven't given it a ton of thought.

There was a post the other day that stated what places have what teams have the games blacked out. I live in Northern Indiana and there is 4 teams that are blacked out, Tigers, White Soxs. Cubs and Reds (look at the Indians schedule, i won't be able to watch very many live Indians games sadly since its at least half of the games will be blacked out).

What MLB needs to do is have more than one option. They have the standard option that is what they currently have and they need to have the Individual team option, where you only get that team games without blackout and like MLB Network. This would allow the customers to have options. I like watching all baseball games, so I want the full subscription, but someone who isn't a baseball nut like me, may only want their team.
 
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I think for whatever your zip code is, only one team should be allowed to be blacked out, two if you have two teams in your city. The real problem is the way the blackouts are zoned. People in Iowa have like five teams blacked out and they do not have local broadcast access to seeing all of those teams. That is where you really risk losing fans because those people have literally no option to see some teams play legally.
Why should any local broadcasts be blacked out?
 
I'm not sure how far the blackout is spread, but I live in Summit County and every single Indians game is blacked out on MLBtv for me.

Regardless of your feelings about how they should handle nationally televised games, we can all agree that's bullshit, right?

Do you have access to STO through cable in your area?
 
I don’t have an issue watching every game legally. I’m quite fortunate.

I don't understand what that means. I think blackouts of games that people can't see by subscribing to a service are unfair. Otherwise I don't see any problem.
 
I don't understand what that means. I think blackouts of games that people can't see by subscribing to a service are unfair. Otherwise I don't see any problem.
Huh?
 
Can you merit spending 100 bucks a month to watch a couple stations?

I pretty much only watch sports and cooking shows, so I'm not one to ask. But the issue is an economic one. The rights are more valuable if there aren't cheap options available.
 
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