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It isn't the "majority of popular content" we are looking for.

"live sports. This a great solution to those people."

Not if the live sports you want (which it usually is) is on your RSN.

dare2be said:

It isn't the "majority of popular content" we are looking for.

"live sports. This a great solution to those people."

Not if the live sports you want (which it usually is) is on your RSN.

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Keep in mind that this is just my opinion and I have no facts to back it up. From my experience I find that the kind of customers that watch their favorite teams on RSNs are usually the type of people who are willing to pay more money for sports. I myself am one of those people. There are a lot of people out there that do not have a serious favorite team yet just enjoy watching some sports. I really think the majority of people want the ability to be able to watch the major events that the rest of the world is watching and those sporting events are generally on the major networks and ESPN. If you can put that into a basic package for a very affordable price I think you cater to the majority of the population.

I'm not saying that I know everything and that I'm 100% right but I have a good feeling that it's pretty accurate.

Scherrman said:

Keep in mind that this is just my opinion and I have no facts to back it up. From my experience I find that the kind of customers that watch their favorite teams on RSNs are usually the type of people who are willing to pay more money for sports. I myself am one of those people. There are a lot of people out there that do not have a serious favorite team yet just enjoy watching some sports. I really think the majority of people want the ability to be able to watch the major events that the rest of the world is watching and those sporting events are generally on the major networks and ESPN. If you can put that into a basic package for a very affordable price I think you cater to the majority of the population.

I'm not saying that I know everything and that I'm 100% right but I have a good feeling that it's pretty accurate.

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My experiences are just the exact opposite. The general or casual sports fan that would value ESPN over a local RSN or sports team also tends to be the one who participates in fantasy leagues, watches a variety of sports between baseball, basketball, football, NASCAR, boxing, golf, etc...those are the ones that I would consider the ones willing to pay more for sports. Those that have a die-hard following to 2-3 local or hometown teams are not on the same level. They would obviously spend more money attending those games live or going out to watch at a sports bar for the camaraderie and atmosphere, but outside of that, not much else.

dare2be said:

My experiences are just the exact opposite. The general or casual sports fan that would value ESPN over a local RSN or sports team also tends to be the one who participates in fantasy leagues, watches a variety of sports between baseball, basketball, football, NASCAR, boxing, golf, etc...those are the ones that I would consider the ones willing to pay more for sports. Those that have a die-hard following to 2-3 local or hometown teams are not on the same level. They would obviously spend more money attending those games live or going out to watch at a sports bar for the camaraderie and atmosphere, but outside of that, not much else.

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Good points

Scherrman said:

Good points

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As an offshoot to that, the League Pass offerings are really missing the boat on not offering team-based subscriptions at reduced rates. I'd be much more willing to subscribe to Sunday Ticket, Center Ice, or MLB EI if there were single-team offerings for 1/4 the price of the whole league package.

dare2be said:

As an offshoot to that, the League Pass offerings are really missing the boat on not offering team-based subscriptions at reduced rates. I'd be much more willing to subscribe to Sunday Ticket, Center Ice, or MLB EI if there were single-team offerings for 1/4 the price of the whole league package.

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As an offshoot to the offshoot where they are missing the mark is not offering your local team on MLBTV. In today's world there is no technical reason you can't watch through MLBTV your local broadcast with the commercials just like you would directly from the RSN. I realize it can be overcome and many do, even more of a reason to just offer it.

Really making me think about cutting the cord. Just downloaded it on my fire stick and will probably try it out. Right now, I think the only thing I will probably miss is the red zone channel on Sundays durning NFL season.

Ahh. Dishs evil plan is working. Lol

Tampa8 said:

As an offshoot to the offshoot where they are missing the mark is not offering your local team on MLBTV. In today's world there is no technical reason you can't watch through MLBTV your local broadcast with the commercials just like you would directly from the RSN. I realize it can be overcome and many do, even more of a reason to just offer it.

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Because the RSN's get far more revenue from cable/satellite subscribers than advertising. Allowing those broadcasts in MLB.TV circumvents that. The out of market games dont have much value, hence the MLB.TV package.

How is the RSN losing anything? In fact they would still be on cable/satellite, AND have more viewers by watching them online. And I'm not so sure they get more from cable than advertising, in fact I doubt it. Not only is there actual breaks for advertising but maybe more importantly there are in-game advertisements, such as "The first pitch is brought to you by..." Also you make it sound like it would be hundreds of thousands of people, it only would affect the ones in the actual DMA the ones they really want to reach. It could require an authenticated sign in just as most online channels do now, or give a discount if you have cable. It's antiquated to think you can't be online and on satellite.
I'll even go a step further, if Baseball wants to capture more of the younger viewers having the RSN broadcast on MLB is one way to do it. Despite your characterization about the worth of MLB now, it is actually very well received, is subscribed to by alot of households. Last I saw it has 1.5 million or more streams a day during the season. It is such a hit that HBO did not use their own in house service people, and used the the ones who did the MLB TV site to make the new HBO site.

I have to agree with Tampa on this one. Not allowing MLB.tv in the home market is asinine. Pay tv is pay tv clear and simple. If the revenue between the 2 delivery methods is different, just adjust the price. See how simple that was?