Baseball Blackouts

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CardsofSTL
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Baseball Blackouts

Post by CardsofSTL »

Manfred says ending blackouts is top priority


Many fans also complain that too many networks now broadcast MLB games, many behind paywalls. Fans say games are difficult to find and access, and blackout rules remain an irritant. “Our No. 1 business priority right now is reach,” Manfred says. The topic was a main discussion at an owners meeting in June. “Believe me,” he says, “we hate blackouts as much as fans do.” Manfred notes that the blackout clauses are written into broadcast deals — which he has overseen — but he says it’s now a “top priority” for MLB to phase them out.

Later in the interview Manfred pissed on a group of passing baseball fans and told them it was raining.

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sighyoung
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Re: Baseball Blackouts

Post by sighyoung »

Image

Manfred sounds like he was really upset about blackouts.

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dmarx114
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Re: Baseball Blackouts

Post by dmarx114 »

Both Yankees and Cardinals on Apple TV Friday night. MLB is about to get skewered.

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Famous Mortimer
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Re: Baseball Blackouts

Post by Famous Mortimer »

I just wish there were actual big-time baseball journalists who weren't in MLB's pocket. Like, that quote admits that Manfred oversaw the blackout clauses, but no-one thought to ask him why.

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NDark
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Re: Baseball Blackouts

Post by NDark »

I get the intent with blackouts originally but given the movement away from cable MLB is falling behind the times. My son and all of his buddies on his travel baseball team like basketball more and they hardly ever play basketball. They play baseball pretty much year round. The complaint from him and his friends is that they can’t watch the Cardinals. For a few years he begged me to get cable just to pay then more money to get the sports package to get the RSN. Sorry kid. Not gonna happen.

I would gladly spend the money for MLB.tv every year if it wasn’t for blackouts. There has to be a middle ground and I imagine the money being lost on guys like me that they can easily get anytime can make up for some lost on the RSN/cable bundle side though it would require negotiations.

But that is short term finances. Where MLB is dropping the ball is on the kids and losing the opportunity to create lifelong fans. It kills me my son would rather go to an NBA game than Cardinals game. I used to think I failed as a father but I’ll put that on MLB.

Even when the Cardinals game is the MLB Free Game of the Day it is still blacked out! How stupid is that.

Blackout Rant Over

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Famous Mortimer
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Re: Baseball Blackouts

Post by Famous Mortimer »

I think the intent was to maximise profits, and to not care about the future of the game. NDark, I'm sure your experience is being repeated all over the country, but as long as they're getting their fees from the cable companies, all is well for MLB (well, the owners). I feel like, just maybe, someone at MLB should have been prioritising future generations of fans over present-day profit.

Even if you accept blackouts as a sensible business choice, there are still some really odd rules. The one I noticed is Dubuque, Iowa. Nearest major league team is the Brewers, but thanks to blackout rules and Bally Sports WIsconsin not being available in Iowa, there is no way, at all, for fans from that area to watch their "local" team.

(although there's a highway direct to Chicago where it's not as easy to drive to Milwaukee, and I presume Cubs and White Sox games aren't blacked out in Iowa. The rule is still bad and will have a negative effect on baseball)

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Transmogrified Tiger
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Re: Baseball Blackouts

Post by Transmogrified Tiger »

NDark wrote:
September 22 22, 9:17 am
I get the intent with blackouts originally but given the movement away from cable MLB is falling behind the times. My son and all of his buddies on his travel baseball team like basketball more and they hardly ever play basketball. They play baseball pretty much year round. The complaint from him and his friends is that they can’t watch the Cardinals. For a few years he begged me to get cable just to pay then more money to get the sports package to get the RSN. Sorry kid. Not gonna happen.
I'm not sure I get the connection to blackouts, the NBA has the same rules and restrictions. Even markets without a team like St. Louis have them(can't watch the Grizzlies or Pacers).

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NDark
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Re: Baseball Blackouts

Post by NDark »

Transmogrified Tiger wrote:
September 22 22, 9:59 am
NDark wrote:
September 22 22, 9:17 am
I get the intent with blackouts originally but given the movement away from cable MLB is falling behind the times. My son and all of his buddies on his travel baseball team like basketball more and they hardly ever play basketball. They play baseball pretty much year round. The complaint from him and his friends is that they can’t watch the Cardinals. For a few years he begged me to get cable just to pay then more money to get the sports package to get the RSN. Sorry kid. Not gonna happen.
I'm not sure I get the connection to blackouts, the NBA has the same rules and restrictions. Even markets without a team like St. Louis have them(can't watch the Grizzlies or Pacers).
Just to understand from a 10yo perspective I asked him before if he has any issues watching NBA games he wants to watch on a regular basis like he does with the Cardinals. He said he does not and doesn’t need any extra NBA packages. Maybe the NBA nationally televises more rather than on RSNs. I really don’t know and don’t care because I don’t like the NBA product. So anecdotal to be sure. Could be the NBA is cooler and has more reach. But him and his friends are the key demo for young MLB fans. They literally just take off from baseball in January/August/December. The rest of the year is either practicing and/or tournaments. And they can’t watch their favorite team unless dad shells out for cable and the sports package.

Maybe not much of a direct connection directly but the NBA appears to be more accessible from the little I do know and I do feel fixing blackouts can go a long way to increasing the popularity of the game.

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Re: Baseball Blackouts

Post by Birdfan57 »

This is such a weird situation. I have AT&T cable TV in So Cal. I get Dodgers on Spectrum Sports and the Angels channel on Bally Sports. So when their games are on MLB Channel, it's blacked out. No big deal to me since I have both teams channels on my cable and watch them there.
But I have a friend that lives in Las Vegas. He has Dish Network and neither the Dodgers or Angels network are offered on Dish. But he can not watch the Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Giants or A's games on MLB Channel, these are all "local teams" for Las Vegas whether they are at home or playing on the East coast. Local teams? He lives 300 miles from LA, 275 from Anaheim, 330 from San Diego, 500 from SF or Oakland. Only way he sees these teams games is on the local Las Vegas Fox channel for Saturday games, ESPN, or Fox Sports 1. This doesn't make sense.
So I don't have Apple + or other special channels so I don't get to watch the Cardinals Friday night game against the Dodgers on TV because of the game being on Apple+, have to watch on MLB.TV on my laptop. Not crazy about watching games on the computer.

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Transmogrified Tiger
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Re: Baseball Blackouts

Post by Transmogrified Tiger »

NDark wrote:
September 22 22, 10:29 am
Transmogrified Tiger wrote:
September 22 22, 9:59 am
NDark wrote:
September 22 22, 9:17 am
I get the intent with blackouts originally but given the movement away from cable MLB is falling behind the times. My son and all of his buddies on his travel baseball team like basketball more and they hardly ever play basketball. They play baseball pretty much year round. The complaint from him and his friends is that they can’t watch the Cardinals. For a few years he begged me to get cable just to pay then more money to get the sports package to get the RSN. Sorry kid. Not gonna happen.
I'm not sure I get the connection to blackouts, the NBA has the same rules and restrictions. Even markets without a team like St. Louis have them(can't watch the Grizzlies or Pacers).
Just to understand from a 10yo perspective I asked him before if he has any issues watching NBA games he wants to watch on a regular basis like he does with the Cardinals. He said he does not and doesn’t need any extra NBA packages. Maybe the NBA nationally televises more rather than on RSNs. I really don’t know and don’t care because I don’t like the NBA product. So anecdotal to be sure. Could be the NBA is cooler and has more reach. But him and his friends are the key demo for young MLB fans. They literally just take off from baseball in January/August/December. The rest of the year is either practicing and/or tournaments. And they can’t watch their favorite team unless dad shells out for cable and the sports package.

Maybe not much of a direct connection directly but the NBA appears to be more accessible from the little I do know and I do feel fixing blackouts can go a long way to increasing the popularity of the game.
If you're talking about a situation where you don't have cable, the only NBA games that are accessible live are ABC games, which over the course of the season are less frequent than weekly, probably about the same cadence as the national baseball games on Fox. What feels likely to me is that they're engaging with the sport in a different way, which I think is somewhat common across age brackets. Baseball is a sport people follow for their favorite teams, so being able to watch your team is a big driver of engagement. I personally consider myself a big baseball fan, but don't watch many random MLB games even though I have MLB.TV and access to national broadcasts. In contrast, lots of folks are NBA fans for the personalities and individual feats of athleticism. That makes it much easier to get what you want from the sport via social media or from highlights.

All that said my main point isn't that blackouts are great, I hate them as much as the next guy. But in comparison across sports, MLB and the NBA handle that dynamic similarly(and I believe the NHL does too). It's the NFL with all-national games and soon to be MLS with its only-streaming/no blackouts setup that are the deviation from the norm.

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