MLB Looking To Fix Blackout Issue

[Ron Madden]

MLB Looking To Fix Blackout Issue

Local blackout restrictions for MLB games have left fans furious in recent years, but that could be changing very soon.

MLB announced that Billy Chambers, a long-time regional sports network executive, would be taking over as executive vice president/local media. Why is this important?

Sports Business Journal says that one of Chambers’ main duties is to figure out how the league can take control of those local blackouts.

Article Here:
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/mlb-f...ng-fans-report

[cumberlandreds]

I'll believe it when I see it. I still don't think MLB really cares at all about the fans. Just the money they spend on them is all they care about.

[Kingspoint]

This isn't the year that we care or not.

A blackout is probably a good thing.

[757690]

I'll believe it when I see it. I still don't think MLB really cares at all about the fans. Just the money they spend on them is all they care about.

I think that is why they are looking into it now. The current blackout rules are losing them money. They now make far more money from TV than they do from people attending the games. They want the biggest viewing audience possible, even it means less fans in the seats.

[OldFashionedRed]

This isn't the year that we care or not.

A blackout is probably a good thing.

I will always care. Even if I have to watch with one eye open because of how bad they might be, they're still MY team and truely the only reason I pay for the MLB tv package each season.

[Roy Tucker]

Maybe the blackouts they are talking about are fans chugging a 750 ml jug of bourbon to drown out the depression.

[Chip R]

I'll believe it when I see it. I still don't think MLB really cares at all about the fans. Just the money they spend on them is all they care about.

It's not that they don't care. It's just that it's going to be really, really difficult to get past the blackouts.
https://theathletic.com/2788096/2021...shared-article

[GAC]

Because we stream, and MLB's ridiculous blackout rule, Bally taking over the RSNs, I saw zero Red's games on TV last Summer. I'm not use to that, but I got use to it (lol). MLB does not give a damn about it's fans and takes them for granted.

Yeah, I miss watching baseball on TV, and especially the Reds; but I didn't create this environment.

[BluegrassRedleg]

Because we stream, and MLB's ridiculous blackout rule, Bally taking over the RSNs, I saw zero Red's games on TV last Summer. I'm not use to that, but I got use to it (lol). MLB does not give a damn about it's fans and takes them for granted.

Yeah, I miss watching baseball on TV, and especially the Reds; but I didn't create this environment.

Same here. Last year was the first year of my substantial life that I did not see the Reds play a game. It sucked here and there when I got that itch, but it wound up being way easier than I ever imagined it would be, and my mental health was infinitely improved not hanging on every pitch of a season. MLB doesn’t care. We shouldn’t either.

[Wayne Krivsky]

As a couple others have mentioned already I'm guessing this has less to do with MLB caring about the fans, and them more worrying about the money they are missing out on. More and more people are cutting ties with cable companies, which creates more of an opportunity for things like MLB.tv, however if you don't get the local games what's it matter? Baseball is heavily a regional sport with the exception of the most die hard fans.

I wonder if the MLBs solution wont be more based around gaining a VPN sponsor allowing for a soft "education" for the local fan on how to work around current restrictions. That nets MLB sponsorship money and extra MLB.TV subscription money without altering any existing contracts.

[Roy Tucker]

It's not that they don't care. It's just that it's going to be really, really difficult to get past the blackouts.
https://theathletic.com/2788096/2021...shared-article

That article gave me a headache. What a mess.

[medford]

I dropped Spectrum cable and have used HULU the last 6 months or so, which does not carry Bally Sports and if I understand correctly, I would be blacked out if I bought the MLB package, which means that I didn't watch any games down the stretch last season. Of course the way last year went, I may not have watched many anyways, but I would have watched some.

Move forward to this season, I'll likely drop Hulu once football and college basketball season ends as I won't worry much about NBA or MLB coverage ad pick it back up late next summer when football gets going again. If Bally's was on there, I might consider keeping it no matter how poor the Reds are going to be because I know I'd watch a handful of games early in the season and thru earl summer. So now my 2 young boys won't watch any baseball this spring aside from my older son's own games. Which means they will quickly get used to a world where baseball just isn't in their viewing life and I'm guessing there is a real good chance neither follow the sport a few seasons down the line as they grow up.

MLB is killing off future generations of fans across the country with the way their games are shown. Kill the blackout rule and maybe you get someone like me to pick up a season package and expose my boys to the sport.

[Caveat Emperor]

I'll believe it when I see it. I still don't think MLB really cares at all about the fans. Just the money they spend on them is all they care about.

Regional blackouts are to maximize the value of TV deals. The RSNs overpay for MLB baseball because they can then, in turn, extort cable and satellite providers for higher per-subscriber cost AND an agreement to put the channel on basic cable (as opposed to in a premium "sports tier" that most people won't subscribe to).

It's a dying a business model, and the less-headline worthy portion of Drunk Uncle Phil's rant last week about baseball's competitive problems addressed this.

I suspect that MLB will follow the MLS model when their next major TV deal comes up -- taking all the rights in-house and selling *everything* as a package to somebody like ESPN, Apple, Amazon, etc. When that happens, it'll be the end of home/away announce deals and you'll subscribe to just one service to watch all baseball games, regardless of locality.

[cumberlandreds]

Regional blackouts are to maximize the value of TV deals. The RSNs overpay for MLB baseball because they can then, in turn, extort cable and satellite providers for higher per-subscriber cost AND an agreement to put the channel on basic cable (as opposed to in a premium "sports tier" that most people won't subscribe to).

It's a dying a business model, and the less-headline worthy portion of Drunk Uncle Phil's rant last week about baseball's competitive problems addressed this.

I suspect that MLB will follow the MLS model when their next major TV deal comes up -- taking all the rights in-house and selling *everything* as a package to somebody like ESPN, Apple, Amazon, etc. When that happens, it'll be the end of home/away announce deals and you'll subscribe to just one service to watch all baseball games, regardless of locality.

That's the way it should be done. Everyone under the same package. But when actually do it I'll believe it. MLB is still being dragged into the 21st century kicking and screaming.

[HammerTime]

Same here. Last year was the first year of my substantial life that I did not see the Reds play a game. It sucked here and there when I got that itch, but it wound up being way easier than I ever imagined it would be, and my mental health was infinitely improved not hanging on every pitch of a season. MLB doesn’t care. We shouldn’t either.

Same here, I think I ended up watching a few that happened to be on Apple TV. I honestly didn't miss it at all and the MLB/Reds is so short sighted in all of this they don't even understand they are missing out on an entire generation of kids now in this area.

The majority of their parents (Like myself) are cord cutters and would have to jump through endless hoops to get Reds games without a cable/satellite package. These kids are all growing up to be Bengals fans and the Reds aren't even remotely on their radar because there is never any exposure to them other than maybe a game or two a year in person.