MLB to fans: You're irrelevant

[ghettochild]

MLB to fans: You're irrelevant

By Tim Keown
Page 2

There aren't many worse ways for a business to treat its customers than to restrict access to its product. This seems like basic economics, and basic marketing, and basic public relations, but it's not basic when it comes to Major League Baseball. When it comes to the custodians of that kind of product, the customer is not always right.

In fact, the customer -- the customer lining up with money in his hand, mind you -- is irrelevant.

And when it comes to MLB's apparently inevitable decision to sign an exclusive deal with DirecTV to carry its Extra Innings package -- and thereby deny access to the product to 70 million current and potential customers -- calling the paying customer "irrelevant" is the nicest possible phrasing.

For $700 million over seven years, MLB is willing to give DirecTV exclusivity. This will take the games off a basic cable package and force fans who want to continue watching nearly every game every night to purchase DirecTV. It's an incredibly horrendous business decision.

I confess to taking this personally. I bought the package for the first time last year from my friendly local cable operator and immediately lost interest in the rest of my life. That's only a minor exaggeration; having the ability to surf through to find the best game every night, not tied to the fortunes of the local teams -- I mean, what else is there? Sitting there on a warm summer night, watching the last out of a game in San Diego and then quickly switching to Los Angeles to catch the final six or seven outs of the Dodgers game -- I'm not sure I can go on without it.

(Oh, and it had the added bonus, boss, of allowing me to do practical research on players I needed to profile for The Magazine.)

But that's over. Tough luck for me and a lot of others, including a lot of elderly people who love baseball, can't get to games and might not have the benefit of a south-facing roof.

As many others, most eloquently King Kaufman on Salon.com and Sen. John Kerry, have pointed out, what does MLB care? The bean-arrangers in the business office don't give a damn that I sit there with my four baseball-mad sons and talk about everyone from Tampa Bay to Seattle. They don't give a damn about the old guy in the retirement home who makes his way through the day with a ballgame as his companion.

For 700 million scoots over seven years, why would they care about such minutiae?

They don't care because they employ a simple law, the one that says if you got 'em by the gray hairs, you'll have 'em forever. What am I going to do, hate baseball? Stop watching the games I do get to protest those I don't?

That won't happen, and they know that.

So there.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...e=keown/070213


i had this package last year and i was able to watch every reds game on TV they showed. it was awesome...being in texas, my old corse of catching reds games was through gameday on mlb.com...not very exciting if you ask me.

i have dish, and my parents won't probably switch just to give me my reds fix (even though they could possibly get the NFL games). i think this is bullshit for any fan that is isolated across country.

[A'sDiehard]

I have Directv and I bought it because of the NFL package and I also purchase the MLB package every year even tho my local team is televised although not nearly as much as the Giants.

I'll never go back to cable.

Ghetto should we maybe move this to another thread? Or do you want to smack MLB (which is fine by me as long as you take a pot shot or two at Selig ).

To use a way overused term: it is what is.

[DravenX]

The world is getting worse and worse by each passing year. Sometimes I wish I was an alien.

[bravesjb]

Sometimes I think that I am one.(kidding)

[Pronk48]

That sucks.

My family won't go to sattelite because we live in northeast f'n Ohio and when we did have it,we couldn't watch tv when it snowed or rained because it knocked out the picture.

[Retro16]

Not everyone has DirecTV.

[redsrbetter]

I'll say it. Selig needs to go. He is undoubtedly to worst commissioner in all of sports. This dude has no clue how to run a business. Ridiculous! I don't even have DirecTV and am fine with the MLB.TV package (I like the new premium package they are offering). But it would be nice to have this stuff on cable.

What other format was Extra Innings on? Was it on Dish Network? I know they didn't have anything for regualr digital cable last year. I was waiting for that day. Living in Wyoming would never allow a satellite dish to work. Far too windy and too much snow.

[Rufio181]

I'll say it. Selig needs to go. He is undoubtedly to worst commissioner in all of sports. This dude has no clue how to run a business. Ridiculous! I don't even have DirecTV and am fine with the MLB.TV package (I like the new premium package they are offering). But it would be nice to have this stuff on cable.

What other format was Extra Innings on? Was it on Dish Network? I know they didn't have anything for regualr digital cable last year. I was waiting for that day. Living in Wyoming would never allow a satellite dish to work. Far too windy and too much snow.

Not only that but also the steroid investigation. It looks like its going nowhere.

[Rockiesfan_H]

I'll say it. Selig needs to go. He is undoubtedly to worst commissioner in all of sports. This dude has no clue how to run a business. Ridiculous! I don't even have DirecTV and am fine with the MLB.TV package (I like the new premium package they are offering). But it would be nice to have this stuff on cable.

Here's a story about the deal with DirecTV possibly not going through due to fan backlash:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/26/comm...ion=2007022706
Some highlights:
Root, root, root - and pay - for the road team

Baseball could get more money if it drops plan to let DirecTV have exclusive deal to sell out-of-market games to hard-core fans.

A weekly column by Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer
February 27 2007: 6:37 AM EST

Major League Baseball is close to selling the rights to its "Extra Innings" package of out-of-market games for $100 million a year -- or more. That's more than triple the $30 million or so a year that sources said baseball got in its last Extra Innings deal.

The controversy comes because DirecTV is trying to get an exclusive contract to carry the MLB package, as it already has with the NFL. That has raised criticism and threats of legislative action by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., along with a statement by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin that he is also concerned with the expected change.
Both men, as well as an estimated 180,000 baseball fans who subscribed to Extra Innings last year on cable and 50,000 fans who did so with the competing satellite service from EchoStar Communications (Charts) (parent company of DISH Network), might get their wish without a change in legislation.
One source familiar with negotiations said he now believes that the Extra Innings package will remain available to all three services.
"I'd be surprised if the DirecTV deal goes through," he said.



The key isn't likely to revolve around more money, but an agreement by the cable operators to provide broader carriage for a Baseball Network which MLB intends to start operating in 2009.
DirecTV had been willing to let all 15 million of its subscribers have the new Baseball Network right from the start, as well as helping with some of the start-up costs, according to multiple sources. It isn't willing to be as helpful to MLB's upstart network if it doesn't gain the advantage of an exclusive deal on Extra Innings, though.
But after initially rebuffing the MLB demands for carriage of the Baseball Network, the cable operators are now coming around, according to the industry source.
"There will be a commitment to carry the Baseball Network (on cable)," said the industry official. "Where it will be placed, that still needs to be sorted out."
Another source with the league said he was not aware of any shift away from plans to go with an exclusive deal for DirecTV. But talks have lingered for months without an official announcement even as baseball's opening day draws near.
A non-exclusive deal would not only reduce the risk of any interference from Washington. It will also allow baseball to not anger more than 200,000 of its most loyal customers who would have to shift television services to keep following their teams.

So, raise some hell with MLB to make sure it isn't exclusive to Direct.

What other format was Extra Innings on? Was it on Dish Network? I know they didn't have anything for regualr digital cable last year. I was waiting for that day. Living in Wyoming would never allow a satellite dish to work. Far too windy and too much snow.

Yes, it was on Dish and some cable.

I live in Wyoming (real close to you), have Dish, and don't have a problem with it since my dish in on the S.E. corner of my house and blocked from the N-NW winds we get. Don't let the cable ads scare you off from Satellite. Even if it were out in the wind, you can lock the dish down pretty well to keep it in place. Haven't you seen all the dishes for Direct and Dish Network around town?

Heck, the main DISH Network Uplink Center is in Cheyenne.

You'll be fine.

[redsrbetter]

Haha, and if I recall correctly you work there, right? Maybe I will have to transfer to a satelitte service. It would be nice. My wife likely wont go for it though. I have to go get a DVR in a few days. She is commited. But I will find something special about DirecTV to get her sold on it. I hope.

Thanks for the info Rockies.

[A'sDiehard]

She is commited. But I will find something special about DirecTV to get her sold on it. I hope.

My wife wasn't crazy about it either knowing that I bought it for NFL Sunday Ticket but now she loves it. I don't know if you have kids but there's a lot of kids programming as well.

Good luck.

[Rockiesfan_H]

Haha, and if I recall correctly you work there, right? Maybe I will have to transfer to a satelitte service. It would be nice. My wife likely wont go for it though. I have to go get a DVR in a few days. She is commited. But I will find something special about DirecTV to get her sold on it. I hope.

Thanks for the info Rockies.

Sorry for not getting back with you. Drama on other boards is what i'll blame.

Yes, I do.

Well, Direct and Dish have DVRs, so there you go. The important thing is to try to shield your dish from the wind if you can. Mine is on the S.E. corner of my house, so it doesn't get a lot of our winds.

Good luck with whatever you decide to go with.

[ghettochild]

Per MLB Alerts:

Major league baseball announced iN DEMAND has entered into a seven-year agreement to carry MLB Extra Innings, effective immediately.

[A'sDiehard]

Per MLB Alerts:

Major league baseball announced iN DEMAND has entered into a seven-year agreement to carry MLB Extra Innings, effective immediately.

So are you going to order it? It's pretty cool especially if you play on fantasy teams.

[ghettochild]

i have dish. still waiting for them to get in it. i can't imagine dish not doing it because they'd be losing a lot of customers to both cable and direct tv.


its really sad though because i'm basically paying 160+ just to watch reds games.