An End to MLB.TV Blackouts

by HigherPie on Mar 26, 2008 2:02 PM PDT Comment 21 comments

Unfortunately, I'm not here to give you (what would be) great news about MLB finally ending it's blackout policy for games streamed on MLB.TV. But maybe we can do a something to get the ball rolling in the right direction.

I've created an online petition directed at Commissioner Bud Selig (whose office is responsible for such things) asking him to reconsider, re-work, revoke, and/or otherwise abolish the tyranny that is MLB.TV blackouts.

Below is the text of the petition. Please suggest improvements on the petition's text, send the link to the petition to friends and family, and post a link on your blogs and favorite forums. Oh, and sign it!

Sign the petition: End MLB.TV Blackouts

The text:

End MLB.TV Blackouts

Target: Major League Baseball, Office of the Commissioner

Dear Commissioner Selig:

We, the undersigned baseball fans, request that you consider an immediate end to Major League Baseball's blackout policy with regard to games broadcast on MLB.TV.

There are endless reasons why current blackout restrictions are bad for fans, and bad for the game of baseball.

First and foremost, many of us are unable to enjoy watching the teams we love, even after paying $89.99 to $119.95 for use of the service, simply because we live in or are using the internet in the wrong zip code. If a fan is in Minnesota, he can't watch Twins games. If another is in Phoenix, she can't watch Diamondbacks games. How does this make any sense?

Some of us don't have cable television. Some of us want to watch games where there is no television, like in a workplace breakroom, or a school cafeteria, or a neighborhood cafe. Some of us are unfortunate enough to be in a zip code where blackout rules apply to multiple teams, sometimes as many as six. This is patently ridiculous. Why is it so difficult to get Major League Baseball to accept our money in return for showing us the games we want to see?

Disallowing paying customers the ability to watch their favorite teams wherever they are or whenever they can does harm to baseball, both in retaining current fans and attracting new ones. The current blackout policy is arcane, and serves absolutely no one's interests: not the game's, not the teams', not the broadcasters' of the games, not MLB.TV's, and certainly not the fans'.

Please consider abolishing the blackout policy as soon as possible and begin taking steps immediately that will make that outcome possible. Let us watch the game we love.

We thank you for your consideration of this matter.

We've got a long wait before the next real ballgame. How about some AN activism?

3 recs | Comment 21 comments

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Comments

Many have tried this...none have succeeded

Sending this to the MLB executive offices guarantees that it will disappear into the e-wastebin.

I think a better use of the energy would be for fans to pressure the ownerships of the 30 clubs rather than the commissioner's office. The blackout policy would be changed by a vote of the clubs, not by edict of the commissioner. So I would suggest re-writing the petition to make it specific to the concerns of Oakland Athletics fans and directing the petition to Mike Crowley. And perhaps make use of the SBN blogs to start similar movements in other cities.

by Soaker on Mar 26, 2008 2:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

That's a great idea.

I'm signing this petition as is, anyway, but would also sign team-specific ones.

"There is an HR in Hanrahan." ~ mikeA

by Poppy on Mar 26, 2008 2:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I shall overcome.

Look, I don't harbor any illusions that this will actually work or anything. I wanted to vent (because I woke up at 3 am the last 2 days and couldn't watch either game), and this petition gives others a place to vent too, or at least to say, "this is vent worthy".

Best case: maybe it gets posted on a few blogs, a bunch of people sign it, maybe Jeff Passan writes another story (see below), it gets talked about here and there, and perhaps a little progress gets made.

Worst case: I certainly feel a little better.

Regarding the "target the owners" approach: cool! I like the idea. As I said below, the commish's office is actually in charge of this, and does have the authority to change it (or at least mandate the change to the individual clubs). If this picks up any steam at all, I'll happily join forces with a few other people and put together 30 more petitions directed at the owners, and get the word out on the rest of the SB sites.

"If you could fart into a kind of microprocessing funnel, and the funnel poured the fart into a computer, which converted the fart into words, this is what it would look like." - Ken Tremendous, FJM

by HigherPie on Mar 26, 2008 4:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Alright, I'm walking away from the computer for a while.

Actually, I'm going to go give baseball more money: buying 4/6 A's vs. Indians tickets for my entire fantasy league. I'm BARTing to the Coliseum instead of buying online to avoid the $4.50 per ticket "convenience fee"... but that's another petition.

Thanks for looking!

"If you could fart into a kind of microprocessing funnel, and the funnel poured the fart into a computer, which converted the fart into words, this is what it would look like." - Ken Tremendous, FJM

by HigherPie on Mar 26, 2008 2:29 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm by no means an expert in this area...

but I'm not sure if it's even MLB who institutes the "blackouts". I think it has more to do with the local broadcasters and involves them buying the rights to transmit the game. What's truly peculiar is that I don't think you'll find anyone who will claim responsibility for the blackouts. MLB will insist it's the broadcaster's rules, not theirs, and the local channel will insist it's not their doing and will point the finger at either MLB or other media outlets such as ESPN, FOX, etc. Of course they will (ESPN, FOX) deny any culpability and will blame someone else. I think you're right....it's an arcane system that made sense in 1978, but has long since outlived its original purpose. Take EI for example, it's not in MLB's interests to black fans out in Oakland if the game is not being televised locally....otherwise, why would an Oakland fan buy the package? They know this and will even acknowledge it. So why do they allow it to continue? Todays technology would seem to be able to prevent you from watching the NESN broadcast if FOX or KICU is carrying the game. If MLB had any sense, it would exclude the MLB package from any blackout restrictions....but then, ESPN would balk at buying the rights to specific games because the local fans would have another option to watch the game. But then again, MLB could just not carry specific games that are being broadcast nationally as part of the deal.

Good luck, but the rules governing this crap are byzantine and appear to be surviving on inertia alone.

"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer

by alox on Mar 26, 2008 3:27 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

All of what you say is mostly accurate.

Except: yes, the commish's office is in charge. Selig simply refuses to address the issue. Hence, my desire to show him that his lack of action actually does irritate a lot of people and probably prevents many from purchasing MLB.TV.

Jeff Passan wrote a couple of great pieces for Yahoo a couple years ago regarding this mess:

A Black(out) eye for baseball and Left in the Dark

"If you could fart into a kind of microprocessing funnel, and the funnel poured the fart into a computer, which converted the fart into words, this is what it would look like." - Ken Tremendous, FJM

by HigherPie on Mar 26, 2008 4:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've heard Selig mention in interviews that

he doesn't understand the blackout rules and that he is opposed to the idea of people being denied access to the product. I have no idea if he's talking out of both sides of his mouth, but I do know that the local broadcasters have a lot of input into what gets blacked out too. It is retarded in the extreme to prevent customers from being given access to your product.....and the manner in which MLB grubs after every dime that's not nailed down causes me to believe that there is some truth to their story.

Go with the fake zip code to your satellite company. It works.

"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer

by alox on Mar 26, 2008 11:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm also reminded

that CBS and the NCAA have seen the light on a similar issue. Last week, being a Saint Mary's season ticket holder, I wanted to watch the Saint Mary's-Miami tournament game in its entirety. However, the only Northern California station that was designated to have continuous coverage for that game was the Sacramento CBS station (Ch. 13). Being in Oakland, the only CBS station I receive is Ch. 5 in San Francisco, which had the Saint Mary's game as its primary game but cut away early in the second half when Miami pulled out to a 10-point lead.

I was not left in the dark, though. I simply came over to my computer and got on NCAA.com and watched the live streaming video of the Saint Mary's game on demand. I was disappointed that I couldn't watch on my HDTV but there was a reasonable alternative, so I didn't feel any need to complain via phone, letter or petition.

You'd think that MLB could look at that as an example of how to please its customer base. The A's, specifically, could use that as a model for making their product available in areas like the Sacramento metropolitan area, where television and radio coverage have been inconsistent at best.

by Soaker on Mar 26, 2008 4:34 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

+3

One for each paragraph.

"If you could fart into a kind of microprocessing funnel, and the funnel poured the fart into a computer, which converted the fart into words, this is what it would look like." - Ken Tremendous, FJM

by HigherPie on Mar 26, 2008 4:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow, you WANTED to watch the entire St. Mary's game?

You really must be a die-hard... not only was it out of hand in the second half, that was easily the most boring, worst played game of the tournament to date. (Not counting some of the obvious blowouts like the 1 v 16 matchups.)

I agree that having the other matchups available on demand is tres bien, however. I just wanted to comment on how boring that game was...

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Mar 26, 2008 6:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agree that it was a poorly-played game

but when you have invested an entire season watching a team (especially as a season ticket holder who actually attended most of the home games, and at a school like Saint Mary's where an NCAA appearance is a special event, not taken for granted), you don't just walk away when they're down by 10 with 12 minutes to play in a tournament game; you see it through to the bitter end.

by Soaker on Mar 26, 2008 6:41 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I'm kind of just reliving last year's Stanford loss to Louisville

in which CBS refused to switch off the game even once it reached garbage time-- but I'll admit that that game (what was it, 26 points at halftime?) was an entirely different level of blowout.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Mar 26, 2008 9:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I admire that you want to try, Pie.

I hope it works. I always feel sorry for the people who live in Sacramento...they miss so many games...because they can't tune into MLB.com .

by IM4Oakgal on Mar 26, 2008 6:16 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

One thing you can do to overcome

is to sign on to MLB.com normally. and then go into your tools on your web browser(I know this works with firefox) select, options, then advanced and click on the tab that says network, and click on the settings button under connection. Click the option that says manual proxy settings, and insert a new I.P address there. That way the computer thinks that you are signing on from another country or part of the U.S and it does not black out the local games. I used this for the first half of last season, and it worked flawless every time. You can find the new I.P address, but searching for Public Proxy list with google. Stick that to the man!!!! It may take a few different I.P's sometimes, but I always got it to work. You just have to mess with it a bit....

"I Will Not Relent, I Am Driven"... Clutch
Bring Back The Bash!!!

by Shippee33 on Mar 26, 2008 8:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I tried that too, after someone suggested it here a couple years ago.

Had to spend 20 minutes each time trying to find an IP that worked, and then the speed of the connection was often terrible when it did.

I shouldn't have to be shady/break the law/stick it to the man to watch an A's game.

"If you could fart into a kind of microprocessing funnel, and the funnel poured the fart into a computer, which converted the fart into words, this is what it would look like." - Ken Tremendous, FJM

by HigherPie on Mar 26, 2008 8:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree that you shouldnt have to

But sometimes you have to improvise. I don't think that it is against the law per say, just against the rules. Either way, sometimes it feels good to go against the grain....

"I Will Not Relent, I Am Driven"... Clutch
Bring Back The Bash!!!

by Shippee33 on Mar 26, 2008 8:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I tried that a few times last season. Pain in the ass.

Two years ago, it was possible to get the A's on mlb.tv if you signed in about 10-20 minutes before game time. There would be nothing but a blank, blue screen in the media player window, but as soon as the game broadcast started, you'd have it. Unfortunately, someone at mlb must have figured it out, because last year it didn't work any more.

"There is an HR in Hanrahan." ~ mikeA

by Poppy on Mar 27, 2008 10:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the recs and sigs, guys.

"If you could fart into a kind of microprocessing funnel, and the funnel poured the fart into a computer, which converted the fart into words, this is what it would look like." - Ken Tremendous, FJM

by HigherPie on Mar 27, 2008 9:26 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Signed.

It's especially ridiculous that Sacramento is blacked out, since we get 28 less games than the Bay area does (a total of 99 out of 162), and have pathetic radio coverage.

So it goes.

by jeepers on Mar 27, 2008 1:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs