MLB-DirecTV deal whiffs diehard fans

[Scott Greczkowski]

MLB-DirecTV deal whiffs diehard fans
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/oped/ci_5264453

THE Major League Baseball season will soon be upon us, but if you're a die-hard fan of any team beyond the A's or Giants, you may have been dealt quite a curveball.

Major League Baseball is close to a deal that would shift its Extra Innings package exclusively to DirecTV, a satellite television provider, starting in April. The package, which allows fans to watch out-of-market games for a fee, would move off cable television and satellite competitor Dish Network for at least the next seven seasons. DirecTV has agreed to pay $700 million for exclusive rights.

This is taking one under the chin for local baseball fans who adore teams from afar, such as the Yankees and Red Sox. Have you noticed how A's attendance spikes when those teams are in town? That's no accident — there's plenty of those fans around the Bay Area who will dearly miss their teams on cable TV. Strike one. And, in many cases, fans will sacrifice local programming through DirecTV to see their beloved squads. Strike two.

Oh, but Major League Baseball gives fans another option — you'll love this. Extra Innings also will be on MLB

.com's mlb.tv service. The only problem is you need high-speed broadband service (maybe Comcast shouldn't be totally disappointed). Only

28 million homes have such a service in the U.S., and don't expect good picture quality.

Strike three, you're out!

Read the rest at http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/oped/ci_5264453

 

[charper1]

Wouldn't the true diehard fan switch services to regain EI? This scenario works great for the NFL and true fans LOVE it to death. The MLB wants the same, so I bet most fans will know what to do.

Seems like a one-sided evaluation by a paper owned by a company known for bad business practices in many respects. Parent company MediaNews Group owns ANG Newspapers that did the mini-piece.

 

[Peter Parker]

There was more involved in my decision to choose E* over D* than MLB. If this happens I am disappointed but I don't know that you will see a lot of folks jumping to D* just over this.

 

[charper1]

Well I don't either, just the true diehard fans, which is my opinion is I think the media is just trying to create a sob story because cable providers will be removing something. This is just my opinion. Fans still have an option if they want EI.

 

[nomad816]

The EI package is load of crap anyway due to the complete arcane and idiotic blackout rules.

 

[mikew]

MLB.TV is doubling the bandwidth on their site. Instead of 350k streams, it'll be 700k streams. They are including MLB Audio and charging $119 for the season. That's a $40.00 increase over last year. (And you thought cable was bad....)

 

[mikew]

http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=16&Itemid=52

from the article...

The deal has not come without at least some internal acrimony. Padres President Sandy Alderson told the North County (CA) Times, “This deal is particularly unfortunate in San Diego. If you have satellite TV, you can’t get the Padres. Now, if you have cable, you can’t get the MLB package. And if you want both, it means adding one or the other, and it would cost quite a bit of money.”

Cox Communications offers its Channel 4 San Diego, with exclusive rights to Padres games, only to cable operators.

Suppose it would SUCK to be a baseball fan in San Diego or Philly.

 

[iceturkee]

well, this is the primary reason i reactivated my account with d*. that and being able to watch the marlins in hd on fsn florida....a luxary i wasn't afforded with cable!!

 

[dfergie]

Kerry Continues to Pressure Congress on Baseball Deal

By Ira Teinowitz
Congressional pressure is building on Major League Baseball and DirecTV to alter their still unannounced but reportedly $700 million exclusive deal for out-of-market baseball games.
Story continues below...


Sen. John Kerry, who has already told the Federal Communications Commission of his concern that the deal will make it impossible for Boston Red Sox fans who live outside Boston to watch their team's games, now says the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on the issue. The date has yet to be determined.

It might not be the only Congressional hearing. An aide to Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., said the senator's staff is examining whether there could be a need for the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to reexamine baseball's anti-trust exemption in the wake of the deal.

Sen. Kerry said his fear is that the deal will disenfranchise 60 million fans who have watched the Extra Innings package of games on both local cable and EchoStar's Dish Network.

The Extra Innings package of up to 60 out-of-market games a week has up to now been available on all three services. About 700,000 people get the package, with 300,000 getting it from EchoStar and cable.

Sen. Kerry in a statement said he continues to be concerned.

"I have serious problems with any mega-deal that makes it harder for people across the country to follow their favorite baseball team," he said. "I'm especially troubled by this agreement, which I believe is not in the best long-term interests of the sport. Major League Baseball is making a short-term profit, but they are shutting out fans that can't or won't be able to keep up with their teams if this deal goes through."

DirecTV declined comment on the scheduling of the hearing.
Source: Tvweek.com

 

[charper1]

Sen. Kerry in a statement said he continues to be concerned.

"I have serious problems with any mega-deal that makes it harder for people across the country to follow their favorite baseball team," he said.


Gee maybe they should go after the NAB and affiliates! Hell, they are never worried about the "cable only" deals.

 

[dfergie]

Gee maybe they should go after the NAB and affiliates! Hell, they are never worried about the "cable only" deals.

Yup... everytime I see Kerry I think of the Cheers episode... Sen. Gopher

 

[lou_do]

As a D*, EI subscriber, I am really sorry to hear that Kerry has his nose into this. I want it to stay the way it is. Competition keeps the prices down, as we found out since D* has monopolized ST.

If D* gets the monopoly on this, and the price goes up as rapidly as it did when they monopolized ST, they are going to loose me as a EI customer. I will drop it, just like I did when they started raking us over the coals, with huge price increases of ST every year.

 

[richiephx]

Who cares. The world won't come to an end.

 

[Peter Parker]

To be truthful this is not news. we talked about it when the rumors started to spread---we even had one thread that said it was "official." I for one would vote fora moratorium until something new actually happens.

 

[Ramy]

I am lucky and get my favorite team on my local RSN. If I lived away from the area then I would have to get this.

 

[bonscott87]

Sen. Kerry said his fear is that the deal will disenfranchise 60 million fans who have watched the Extra Innings package of games on both local cable and EchoStar's Dish Network.

He might want to get his facts straight. Less then a million people actually subscribe to it. The article itself says only 300,000 currently subscribe to it that aren't with DirecTV already. Hardly 60 million.

I really wish congress would spend their time on things that really matter like Iraq, budgets and stuff. It's just comical that they spend our tax money to complain over 300,000 people that might have to switch to DirecTV or use MLB.com. What a waste.

 

[charper1]

Yep, and totally sick of all of them throwing around that damn "disenfranchise" word. People are NOT going to be deprived of anything, they would just have to CHOOSE to move to another service to get it, or get it back!

 

[Jimbo]

Any word on pricing for the MLB E.I. yet ?

What did it cost last year ?

Jimbo

 

[Jhon69]

Yup... everytime I see Kerry I think of the Cheers episode... Sen. Gopher

Nah I think "Lurch"just needs a good swig of ketchup.

 

[lou_do]

If D* pulls this off 85% of the subscribers and possible subscribers they had last year, will not be eligible to subscribe this year. Someone will have to make up the difference to pay for it, guess who that will be?