YouTube TV dropping Fox Sports regional networks

[TNRED]

if you are wanting to watch other out of market games on the regional package you will not be able to. You can get those station, but games will be blacked out. You will just be able to watch whatever teams are considered local. You will just get to watch poker on several stations. I don't know if this answered your question.

Thanks for trying to answer my question. FS Ohio is out of my local area as far as the network is concerned but I can get it by paying extra to get that package, otherwise I would just get FS TN. Now as far as MLB is concerned, i am in the black out area for Reds games. I was jiust wondering if I got that extra package that had FS OH, it would black out Reds games because of my zip code?

[mgbrown66]

Try mlb.tv and a VPN. They both offer 1 week (or monthly) trials so it's minimal investment. Those work for me on my Apple TV's.

[Reds360]

I started the season using ExpressVPN with MLB sub. Worked for the first few home games but the blackout started with the Arizona games. I tried my PC, phone and android tv. Even loaded the ExpressVPN firmware on my Router with no luck. None of the ExpressVPN servers worked.
Not sure why but would appear MLB is targeting ExpressVPN.

I was able to watch using NordVPN but that was using the trial; not really an option for me, I’m not going to pay for another VPN service.

NortonVPN also worked but it buffered a lot. Not watchable.

Hopefully, Express can find a way around the blackouts. Either way I cancelled my MLB sub. I am not going to pay money just to spend hours every day trying to find a way to watch a baseball game.

[KeefeCato]

For those who use the Foxsportsgo app. Whatever issues they had they have worked it out.

[Moonlite Graham]

I started the season using ExpressVPN with MLB sub. Worked for the first few home games but the blackout started with the Arizona games. I tried my PC, phone and android tv. Even loaded the ExpressVPN firmware on my Router with no luck. None of the ExpressVPN servers worked.
Not sure why but would appear MLB is targeting ExpressVPN.

I was able to watch using NordVPN but that was using the trial; not really an option for me, I’m not going to pay for another VPN service.

NortonVPN also worked but it buffered a lot. Not watchable.

Hopefully, Express can find a way around the blackouts. Either way I cancelled my MLB sub. I am not going to pay money just to spend hours every day trying to find a way to watch a baseball game.

Express VPN working today.....go figure.

[GAC]

I have not. Some posters above seem to indicate that they have had issues with the vpn being detected and blocked so I dont know. The big thing I liked about watching on Direct was thati could dvr the games and watch whenever and also be able to fast forward thru the commercials.

They had issues, but I don't think it was from vpn detection by MLB. Possible, because there are a few ways in which one's location can be know ... some apps won't operate without giving access to your phone's GPS. But one can easily get around that too with some cheap software (lol). Your ISP can potentially see you're probably using a VPN because they provide your service and know all the connections. But that's all they can do. Using a VPN is not illegal.

Not all VPNs are created equally. IMO, avoid free VPNs. Solid, secure VPN technology requires a lot of investment and resources. How do they make money if users don’t pay for the service? They're selling your data (lol). Make sure to choose a VPN with transparent privacy and no-logs policies.

The bottomline is this .... Yeah, I'm sure if someone wants to know your location bad enough they can find a way to do it. Question is - is it worth the time, effort, and cost to do so with what's seen as the "casual VPN user"? At present, no it's not. Because a good VPN can hide their own activity. They do so by allowing you to connect to the internet through obfuscated servers. These servers use special algorithms to hide the fact that a user is using a VPN, and make it appear like a regular internet browsing activity.

Here are a couple informative articles from SurfShark. I do not have them. I use NordVPN. BUt the information they provide on VPNs is accurate.

https://surfshark.com/blog/what-does-a-vpn-hide
https://surfshark.com/features/obfuscated-servers

Maybe do what I'm doing? I subscribed to MLB.TV and pay monthly. That way I can cancel anytime. I've had NordVPN for over a year. I got it just to provide me with better security/protection for my home network, not just to get by MLB (lol). If it doesn't work, get me past the blackout restriction, then cancel MLB.TV. But it's been working great for me so far. A good VPN will ony cost you in the range of $2-$4/month. And alot offer great deals/saving if you purchase 2-3 year deals. My Nord is costing me less then $2/month when I bought it upfront. And there is a trial period where one can cancel.

I do not use the MLB app on Roku and FS to watch games. In fact I can't, because MLB cannot find the public IP on those devices needed for locating you. They operate and show only the private IP of your router, and I'm assuming MLB can't go off of that, so they default ban you. But as soon as I got on my computer or laptop with NordVPN installed, used an HDMI to connect to my TV, went to MLB.com, signed in, and went to the game, it's been working great!

Also. You may not have the DVR option, but you can watch yesterday's game, and I think previos games, on MLB.TV because they tape them.

[GAC]

Not sure why but would appear MLB is targeting ExpressVPN.

IMO, I don't think that is what's happening. Why would MLB just target one and not all the others if they had the capabilities? Yet you were able to connect using Nord

The possible reason why you were getting blacked out was not detection by MLB, but maybe because you were on a server(s) that was "blacklisted". It's a list of IPs (servers) that are suspicious, and they block it automatically. Have you tried changing, moving your IP around within the VPN to see if that helps?

[Roy Tucker]

They had issues, but I don't think it was from vpn detection by MLB. Possible, because there are a few ways in which one's location can be know ... some apps won't operate without giving access to your phone's GPS. But one can easily get around that too with some cheap software (lol). Your ISP can potentially see you're probably using a VPN because they provide your service and know all the connections. But that's all they can do. Using a VPN is not illegal.

Not all VPNs are created equally. IMO, avoid free VPNs. Solid, secure VPN technology requires a lot of investment and resources. How do they make money if users don’t pay for the service? They're selling your data (lol). Make sure to choose a VPN with transparent privacy and no-logs policies.

The bottomline is this .... Yeah, I'm sure if someone wants to know your location bad enough they can find a way to do it. Question is - is it worth the time, effort, and cost to do so with what's seen as the "casual VPN user"? At present, no it's not. Because a good VPN can hide their own activity. They do so by allowing you to connect to the internet through obfuscated servers. These servers use special algorithms to hide the fact that a user is using a VPN, and make it appear like a regular internet browsing activity.

Here are a couple informative articles from SurfShark. I do not have them. I use NordVPN. BUt the information they provide on VPNs is accurate.

https://surfshark.com/blog/what-does-a-vpn-hide
https://surfshark.com/features/obfuscated-servers

Maybe do what I'm doing? I subscribed to MLB.TV and pay monthly. That way I can cancel anytime. I've had NordVPN for over a year. I got it just to provide me with better security/protection for my home network, not just to get by MLB (lol). If it doesn't work, get me past the blackout restriction, then cancel MLB.TV. But it's been working great for me so far. A good VPN will ony cost you in the range of $2-$4/month. And alot offer great deals/saving if you purchase 2-3 year deals. My Nord is costing me less then $2/month when I bought it upfront. And there is a trial period where one can cancel.

I do not use the MLB app on Roku and FS to watch games. In fact I can't, because MLB cannot find the public IP on those devices needed for locating you. They operate and show only the private IP of your router, and I'm assuming MLB can't go off of that, so they default ban you. But as soon as I got on my computer or laptop with NordVPN installed, used an HDMI to connect to my TV, went to MLB.com, signed in, and went to the game, it's been working great!

Also. You may not have the DVR option, but you can watch yesterday's game, and I think previos games, on MLB.TV because they tape them.

+1 point for using the word “obfuscate”.

-1 for saying you “tape” games.

[Bob Sheed]

+1 point for using the word “obfuscate”.

-1 for saying you “tape” games.

That's +2 in my world.

[Ron Madden]

It would be nice if baseball showed it cared about the fans who can't currently watch games

The Atlantic League is going to help Major League Baseball by moving the mound back a foot. Class AAA teams are adopting enlarged bases to encourage steals. Major league teams now plant a runner on second in extra innings.

There’s nothing MLB commissioner Rob Manfred won’t try in his attempts to save his sport.

Well, there’s one thing.

The tinkerer in chief and the owners he represents don’t seem very willing to get serious about helping the growing percentage of people who want to watch baseball on TV, but can’t.

Can you imagine how fast Manfred would move to make a change if he learned there was one rule change that would grow some team’s audience by at least 10 percent?

He would make it happen in an instant. He would declare baseball saved.

Yet Manfred and the owners he works for remain mostly MIA when it comes to pushing for a solution to baseball’s growing TV crisis.

The combination of regional sports networks clashing with cable, satellite and streaming providers and MLB’s myopic, archaic blackout rules is keeping fans from watching their favorite teams. For many, it’s come down to the choice of traditional cable or no baseball — and that’s if traditional cable is even an option. These are not people whose attention spans have shriveled to the point they need to be pulled into the game with gimmicks. These are Americans who are eager to spend their hard-earned money to watch America’s pastime, and they are being ignored.

Read more here https://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...59071777c.html

[Chip R]

It would be nice if baseball showed it cared about the fans who can't currently watch games

Read more here https://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...59071777c.html

I read that column last night. That was a great column. I think he really nailed it when he was talking about his dad when he said he'd just find something else to watch. Even if they do come up with some app for in market fans who stream to watch games, they may have just moved on by then. I know it sounds like anathema to some people but it's possible that local fans may abandon their home town team for an out of market team they can watch all the time. Especially the younger fans. Then we get into a situation again like in the last part of the 20th century/early part of the 21st where the superstations made Cubs and Braves fans out of teams who already had a team in their city/state/region. And it might be easier to abandon your local team if your team's ownership doesn't care about putting a competitive product on the field.

[TNRED]

Thanks to the advice I have gotten here, I took the plunge and went rogue. I subscribed to mlbtv for a month to get started. I signed up for Surfshark VPN and then called the moving van and "moved" to Seattle. Like a miracle, suddenly Alex Blandino appeared on my laptop! My router isnt compatible with a vpn so I have ordered another one which will be here Monday so I will be watching it on the big screen! Now if I could just record the broadcast.....

[GAC]

Now if I could just record the broadcast.....

MLB.TV does that for you. You can go in the next day or whenever and watch previous game.

[redhawkfish]

I went back to Spectrum Saturday. I couldn't stand not being able to just turn the game on to watch without jumping through hoops.

[TNRED]

MLB.TV does that for you. You can go in the next day or whenever and watch previous game.

That is an option but I was accustomed to recording it to my dvr on Directtv and in the Summer coming in maybe at 9 or 10 and watching it then. Of course I fast forwarded thru the commercial and 10 minute reviews.