In a super-long rant, our podcaster talks about major league baseball’s biggest problem. On any given day, about half the fans can’t see the game they want to see. There’s a lot of pieces to this puzzle, but the bottom line is, if you want to see the games you CAN, shop for the best satellite TV service at Solid Signal!
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I totally agree with you. Las Vegas is claimed by what, six teams? Ridiculous.
What the cable/satellite/streaming providers need to do is offer a sports only package that would allow a person to get their local RSN/teams along with all the national sports networks and locals, and maybe a news channel. I’m a huge sports fan and I could do without all the other filler channels that are out there.
But as we all know it comes down to one thing – money.
Trust me that I’m frustrated with just about all of the blackouts but I also understand where the leagues are coming from (in a slightly outdated way of thinking). Let’s go on the assumption that you don’t have cable but you purchased the MLB.TV package. With all of MLB’s contracts they can’t allow you to watch the game with your streaming subscription because you are effectively bypassing your local RSN (and cableco/satellite provider). If you subscribe to your RSN through cable/sat, the likelihood you can watch using their app (while in market) is high. (Example: I’m in NYC and can watch SNY through the NBC Sports app and Yankees on YES through Fox Sports for games on those channels only. Games on WPIX/Ch. 11 I’m out of luck unless I use Locast or my old Slingbox.)
I get that LA is in a bad situation thanks to Charter/Spectrum asking outrageous rates for this channel. That’s their fault (Dodgers and Spectrum) that the games aren’t more widely available. MLB should have stepped in and worked on this issue and found something fair for everyone involved. (How about market coverage for channel is less than 50% available and people can watch online? Maybe Spectrum can offer this channel as an online service for $9.95/mo.?) In general, this is a problem with ALL SPORTS and why we are all paying a ridiculous amount for cable. A bad cycle of insane TV contracts and skyrocketing player salaries that the teams spend thanks to the TV money.
Every team seems to hit a contract dispute with their RSN and the local cablecos or sat. That’s why there’s a separate line item on your bill for RSN FEE. LA is the extreme case but hardly a reason to do away with blackouts.
My true annoyance is how you can buy the league package yet get blacked out even when you can prove you’re a cable subscriber. Integrate the authentication so I can use the MLB/NHL app in market with my credentials. SSO shouldn’t be that tough in 2019.