Baseball on TV = Dead

Baseball has signed a deal with DirectTV for their "season pass" which means that the majority of TV owners have to either sign up for Direct TV or live on the limited games that ESPN and Fox will televise.

It may be good money for Baseball but I think it will hurt in the long run.

BOO!

Local stations will still carry the games, right? Please tell me that.

Though that may be awesome for me after the move if they decide to offer the season pack on the UK's BSkyB.

Boo-urns!

Get haircut, Manny, you dirty hippie!

Cubs suck!

Oh, sorry. When I start going down the baseball heckling path, it's hard to stop.

Haakon7 wrote:

Local stations will still carry the games, right? Please tell me that.

Man, they'd better.

I heard on the radio that local games will be shown but any out of market stuff will only be on DirectTV.

karmajay wrote:

I heard on the radio that local games will be shown but any out of market stuff will only be on DirectTV.

That's f*cking bullsh*t.

IMAGE(http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/45305/2/istockphoto_45305_nickel_no_shadow.jpg)

IMAGE(http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/07/money/image/2005_dime.jpg)

Haha, FDR had polio.

...Too soon?

Isn't baseball offered an antitrust exemption by congress saying they have to make the game publicly accessible? Aren't most baseball stadiums paid for by taxpayers? For many people who pay taxes it is impossible to get Directv.

wordsmythe wrote:

Haha, FDR had polio.

...Too soon?

I have NESN so I get all the Red Sox games anyways, but that is total sh*t. I hope they both lose money on the deal.

Thing is, you will still be subject to black-out rules.

Then F*ck it and them. I'll live without it before I pay DTV.

I think some version of satellite radio will be my answer to this, if Sky doesn't carry the season ticket.

Heck, the radio's almost better anyway.

LeapingGnome wrote:

Isn't baseball offered an antitrust exemption by congress saying they have to make the game publicly accessible? Aren't most baseball stadiums paid for by taxpayers? For many people who pay taxes it is impossible to get Directv.

I believe the antitrust exception is from the judiciary (Supreme Ct). The argument they put forward (some 100 years ago, originally) was that baseball was too special to apply the antitrust laws to -- because it's such a good game.

Am I the only one who can't find any text for this online? Sounds to me like it's no different than getting out of market games for the NFL or NBA, namely in that if your favorite team is local, it's all okay, but if it isn't, you're SOL.

I'm missing something I guess. For many years the only way to get MLB Extra Innings was on DirecTV (right?). Then I *think* a couple years ago MLB started offering the package to Comcast and other cable TV providers. Doesn't this really just put things back to the way they were a few years ago? Obviously less choice since cable customers can't get the package without DirecTV (which is how it was for many years). So I can see people being upset about that. But it's not like MLB is taking away "free" games that we could have watched previously. And the Extra Innings package is really valuable to people who follow out-of-market teams - which is a subset of baseball fans in general. So how many people does this really impact?

I wonder what the subscription rates were for MLB Extra Innings on cable franchises. Apparently not good enough to tempt MLB to stay with that deal vs. DirecTV.

DirtierParsley wrote:

I'm missing something I guess. For many years the only way to get MLB Extra Innings was on DirecTV (right?). Then I *think* a couple years ago MLB started offering the package to Comcast and other cable TV providers. Doesn't this really just put things back to the way they were a few years ago? Obviously less choice since cable customers can't get the package without DirecTV (which is how it was for many years). So I can see people being upset about that. But it's not like MLB is taking away "free" games that we could have watched previously. And the Extra Innings package is really valuable to people who follow out-of-market teams - which is a subset of baseball fans in general. So how many people does this really impact?

I wonder what the subscription rates were for MLB Extra Innings on cable franchises. Apparently not good enough to tempt MLB to stay with that deal vs. DirecTV.

I think Extra Innings has always been open to most people. I think there are like 10 million DirectTV customers. I live in Wisconsin and the only way for me to get A's games was through exra innings. I'm really pissed at this news.

Ulairi wrote:

I think Extra Innings has always been open to most people. I think there are like 10 million DirectTV customers. I live in Wisconsin and the only way for me to get A's games was through exra innings. I'm really pissed at this news.

I feel for you Ulairi. As a Red Sox fan I'd be super pissed if I was out of NESN's broadcast area and didn't have access to Extra Innings. I'd probably be pissed enough to get DirecTV in my case (I've actually made it clear to my wife that if we ever DO move out of State to live near her Dad I have several *requirements* - one being the Extra Innings package). Then again there are sure to be folks who can't get DirecTV for some reason (line of sight issues most notably) so for them this could be really depressing news.

Ulairi, you don't want to just become a Brewers fan? There's plenty of extra seats at Miller Park.

The Democratic senator says a proposed deal with Major League Baseball would be unfair to cable viewers.
By Phillip Swann

Washington, D.C. (February 1, 2007) -- DIRECTV is close to landing an exclusive deal to carry Major League Baseball's 'Extra Innings' package. But Sen. John Kerry still hopes to knock the plan out of the park.

The Massachusetts Democrat plans to raise concerns about the proposed deal today during a Senate subcommittee hearing in which FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will testify.

Looks like someone doesn't have DirecTV.

Good, then he can go after the EA/NFL exclusive deal!

Don't resist, get the dish.

I can't wait for DirecTV to launch those damn satellites and give me local HD programming (damn launch explosion!!), so I can come running back to the dish.

I think it's time we all realized that pro sports leagues are not about the fans, strictly about the massive amounts of money to be made. A shame actually.

Surely TBS will still broadcast the Braves games. I mean, it's Turner Field.

Oh who am I kidding. I don't even have basic cable.

I've been watching highlights on MLB.com for about 2 years now.

wordsmythe wrote:

Ulairi, you don't want to just become a Brewers fan? There's plenty of extra seats at Miller Park. :)

I like teams that win. However, if Zito pitches at Miller Park, I'll show up to watch. I actually have a 10 game pack to the Brewers. I love baseball but I have to watch every A's game to feel complete.

Wow, John Kerry and the Something Worthwhile. It's a whole new look!

In other news, looks like I'm fine either way. Go Astros! SIGN CLEMENS!