question about mlb.tv

[OldRightHander]

I've been looking into mlb.tv and it is my understanding that your home team is blacked out. What I'm wondering is how they pick the teams to black out. Is it based on your home address, or your current location? I've been wondering if I can watch the Reds on my laptop when I'm out on the road. If they base it on your billing address, I wonder if I could use my father's address in Wisconsin, or do they go with the billing address of your credit card? I thought we covered all this before, but I can't remember.

[Reds Fanatic]

The blackout area goes by your home zip code but I am not sure how this is affected if you use someone else's card. If you are curious what teams are blacked for a certain zip code go to this page enter the zip and that will tell you which teams are blacked out for that zip code.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions...m.jsp?c_id=mlb

[Jpup]

I've been looking into mlb.tv and it is my understanding that your home team is blacked out. What I'm wondering is how they pick the teams to black out. Is it based on your home address, or your current location? I've been wondering if I can watch the Reds on my laptop when I'm out on the road. If they base it on your billing address, I wonder if I could use my father's address in Wisconsin, or do they go with the billing address of your credit card? I thought we covered all this before, but I can't remember.

you could do it, but you would be violating their terms of service. They base it on your zip code.

[Wheelhouse]

The blackout is based n the zip code of the billing address on the credit card and they are pretty firm on that...

[nate]

Two years ago, I moved from California to Tennessee during the middle of the season and I had mlb.tv. It was billed to my home address in California (paid for the whole season up front) and when I got to Tennessee, basically all of my games were blacked out. I think it does blackout by IP address.

[Coffeybro]

You could always try some of the anonymous proxy web servers out there to give you a different IP if need be. If you do a google search you will be able to find alot of them. Here is just one. http://proxify.com/ The only thing left would be to use a credit card from a different zip code or setup a paypal account if they allow that to be used.

[Unassisted]

I can confirm what posters above have said. I've been able to watch Reds games with MLB.TV while visiting in the Columbus area, but the Astros games that are blacked out at home for me are also blacked out in Columbus.

Other posters have said that MLB.TV will also sometimes apply blackouts using geolocation if their system can determine whether a different blackout should be applied based on your computer's IP address. I've never had a different blackout area applied when I've connected remotely.

You might consider settling for Gameday Audio, which has no blackouts. You wouldn't get to see the game, but at least you and your laptop would get to keep up on the latest pearls of wisdom from Marty.

[jojo]

They black out on the basis of zip code (billing address) but the actual mechanism involves your IP address. For instance, last year I could watch Reds games with no issues when traveling out of the restricted area (if you do have an issue on the road you can call mlb and get the issue taken care of pretty easily).

Personally, I think mlb blackout restrictions should be a matter of congressional over site (rather than hauling McNamee and Co. to capitol hill).

Oh, also, Fox essentially gets dibs on anything played Saturdays before 6-7pm so essentially all afternoon games are blacked out no matter where your IP is originating.

[OldRightHander]

My paypal account has a Mastercard attached to it, so I wonder if that would work as far as payment goes. Also, if they're going by IP address, wouldn't my wireless connection reflect whatever part of the country I happen to be in? I'm just trying to figure out how I can watch the Reds while I'm on the road. We have cable at home, but I spend 4-5 days a week on the road.

[fearofpopvol1]

You could always try some of the anonymous proxy web servers out there to give you a different IP if need be. If you do a google search you will be able to find alot of them. Here is just one. http://proxify.com/ The only thing left would be to use a credit card from a different zip code or setup a paypal account if they allow that to be used.

I would recommend trying this...especially if they offer that free trial period again this year.

[jojo]

Your IP address, should reflect your hotel address when getting the internet on the road. I had no problems getting Reds games in Totonto, Atlanta, or San Diego last year for instance. I don't think you'll have any problems so long as when on the road, you're outside of "Reds" territory.

[OldRightHander]

Your IP address, should reflect your hotel address when getting the internet on the road. I had no problems getting Reds games in Totonto, Atlanta, or San Diego last year for instance. I don't think you'll have any problems so long as when on the road, you're outside of "Reds" territory.

In my case, if it reflects a hotel address, I'll be worried. Maybe it might show the location of the truck stop or whatever rest area I'm shut down in.

[jojo]

In my case, if it reflects a hotel address, I'll be worried. Maybe it might show the location of the truck stop or whatever rest area I'm shut down in.

If you're outside the black out area and are still getting blacked out, you can call mlb and they'll fix the problem for you after a few simple questions.

[Reds Nd2]

I'm heading to El Salvador for a couple of weeks in April. Has anyone had any experiance with MLB. tv while visiting outside of the country?

[jojo]

I'm heading to El Salvador for a couple of weeks in April. Has anyone had any experiance with MLB. tv while visiting outside of the country?

I've watched the Reds from Toronto.