MLB has ****** this up for years. I can only watch Cards game on ESPN or FOX. No wonder no one cares about baseball anymore.
Article on MLB's antiquated blackout list
- Thread starter 4cy16
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MLB has ****** this up for years. I can only watch Cards game on ESPN or FOX. No wonder no one cares about baseball anymore.
Not true. Cedar Rapids only gets 1 regional sports network but blacks out 5 teams.
I'm saying if the RSN issue wasn't an issue, Cedar Rapids isn't gonna be blacked out to protect attendance at a Brewers game, etc.
MLB has always been behind the time regarding broadcasting the games. For years they hated WGN and TBS because they were showing the games on cable for free. What they refuse to understand is that broadcasting the games actually brings in more fans, not less.
We are 4 hours away from St. Louis, the closest MLB team to us, few people are just going to jump in the car after working all day and take in a game and then drive home that night. I could see it, if you lived in St. Louis and want to black those people out like the NFL do, but 4 hours away its crazy.
We have DirectTV and for years lived in the sweet zone, where I could watch the Cards, Cubs, Twins, Royals, White Sox and the Brewers, all by signing up for the sports pak at $10.00 a month. Couple of years ago they took the Twins and Brewers away from us, who know which one will be next, but I am sure in the next couple of years it will be St. Louis and that is it.
We are 4 hours away from St. Louis, the closest MLB team to us, few people are just going to jump in the car after working all day and take in a game and then drive home that night. I could see it, if you lived in St. Louis and want to black those people out like the NFL do, but 4 hours away its crazy.
We have DirectTV and for years lived in the sweet zone, where I could watch the Cards, Cubs, Twins, Royals, White Sox and the Brewers, all by signing up for the sports pak at $10.00 a month. Couple of years ago they took the Twins and Brewers away from us, who know which one will be next, but I am sure in the next couple of years it will be St. Louis and that is it.
If you mean like a streaming network like ESPN+ or something.
MLB has MLB.TV that I believe is supposed to stream all the games... EXCEPT it still has the stupid blackout rules.
I went to MLB.TV to see about the restrictions for local zip code and this is what it said:
Live regular season games involving the following Clubs are subject to MLB.TV blackouts in the specified zip code:
- Chicago Cubs
- Kansas City Royals
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Minnesota Twins
- Chicago White Sox
- Milwaukee Brewers
That really sucks!!! Probably one of the reasons MLB fandom is steadily dying. I know I have barely cared for a long time now. Hard to follow when you can rarely see a game.
They really need to get rid of their Black out BS.
I'll try to catch a few NBA games with ISU players in them but really just hit the NBA thread here on CF. I tune into the NBA for the playoffs that's when it gets good IMO. I casually follow MLB on the threads her but I think I watched a couple of world series games because I was niece and her husband and he is a baseball fan I like watching it but won't go out of my way to do it.
My family and I usually get to one or two Twins games a year just because we like the ballpark experience, but go to a lot more St Paul Saints games . With two young kids. It’s so much easier to get in and out. And at 12 bucks a ticket and beers under 10 dollars we don’t feel compelled to stay for the entire game if the little ones get tired.
Did that have anything to do with the Cubs sucking giant eggplants from day 1?
Just asking.
Ask google for directions to Target Field.
Edit: From what I can see on Bally website. Basically no streaming services carry Bally sports networks at this time. Only standard Cable and satellite for the most part.
They have started their own BallySports+ For $20 or $30 per Month, depending on your package. But currently only a few Baseball teams are on there. And I believe you have to Pick your area? And the Twins are NOT one of them.
Looked like a total rip off compared to what you get with ESPN+ considering.
They have a looooong way to go to get even remotely competitive with baseball and hockey etc coverage.
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We can watch all the Pacers games on DirecTV which actually surprised me because I didn't think we would be in their home area. Baseball always worked great and we could watch all the neighboring teams. I haven't watched any baseball for a few years and somebody earlier in the thread said you can't get the Twins and Brewers anymore so I guess things changed.
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
It’s funny you mention the Brewers, because as I understand it the Brewers’ RSN isn’t available anywhere in Iowa, yet the Brewers remain on MLB’s blackout list for the state.
It‘s just breathtakingly stupid, the blackout rules. And lazy … I mean, they could go zip code by zip code for individual teams, at least there’d be some logic involved then, but blacking out the Twins and Brewers in Council Bluffs while also blacking out the Royals and Cardinals in Decorah is just dumb.
Another reason "protecting" RSNs is stupid is that the visiting team always suffers for no reason. As a Braves fan, I'm pretty lucky as far as blackouts go, but when they do play one of the ******* seven blacked out teams, apparently I'm expected to purchase a package that allows me to watch the games for 3 days?
There a lot of people who say they don't go to ISU games because they can watch them on TV.
"Why would Marquee's leadership not have allowed themselves to stream directly to consumers for a subscription fee?"
This was the comment I was referring to. Does MLB allow the Cubs to take their **** network directly to customers? I don't know.
The family and I go to CR Kernels games each summer. Cheap summer entertainment and I like seeing guys like Buxton and Lewis before they were major leaguers.
Yes, there are just so many things like that and the idiotic massive areas that are “local” where people can’t even get that RSN.
It’s just so stupid and has destroyed MLB fandom. It’s shockingly stupid, and long term it has and will cost everyone millions. Only the **** for brains morons that run MLB will implement and maintain a system that decimates fan interest.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Along these lines, I picture how much MLB threw away with this rule from 2015-2017 when the Cubs were on fire, including the World Series season. At $100/subscription or whatever, there had to be at least a million Cub fans out there (like me) finding ways to watch games that would have thrown our money at them.
