Not you personally complaining, just the general population grousing about it. And I would like to think your friends would know you well enough to invite you to a brewery where they were showing the game.
Yeah, the technology is certainly there, MLB just philosophically disagrees with that kind of product distribution model.
The MLB streaming product is worth every penny. What is bullshit, besides the obviously ridiculous blackout rules, is the fact that ESPN, AppleTV and whoever else are allowed to have precedence over a specifically paid for product. This makes ‘cutting the cord’ irrelevant.
Because I’m rarely in a situation where I’m not able to see an Astros game, I’ve found MLB to be ahead of the curve when it comes to actually getting the games out there on a streaming platform. I’ve been watching baseball for over 10 years over the internet. I’ve found it harder to get NFL games online until the past 2-3 years and they are still subject to blackout restrictions.
Why they big 4 sports haven’t figured out a strong PPV model is beyond me.
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Because they’re making money hand over fist as is. Why bother catering to a small group of people you’ll only make a little more money off of when the current bullshit system works great for your wallet?
So far this year I have had success watching the Astros by subscribing to MLBtv and using a VPN address out of Manchester England. I can do that for $30 a month as opposed to the $80 a month for FUBOtv, which I used last year and only subscribed to it so I could watch the Astros. For ESPN TBS TNT CBS Sports FOX Sports etc… I use this https://ustvgo.tv/ with a VPN to access all the content.
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Across the Atlantic sea?
The PPV model doesn’t work in MLB because no one would pay to see the Marlins or the Pirates, if you didn’t force them to. As long as the Yankee, Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs are unwilling to share revenue with the Marlins, Pirates, and Royals, PPV simply will not work.
Correct, not Manchester Missouri or the one by the sea.
- I disagree that the rules are ridiculous within the system MLB has set up, and
- ESPN and AppleTV are also paid products.
I philosophically disagree with MLB’s system, but it works for them, and I understand why they do it.
But continuing to enforce the MLB.TV blackout areas while simultaneously telling RSNs they can’t stream within those areas makes no sense. It gains no money for any party and reduces viewership.
I’m not sure of the reasoning behind stopping the local RSNs from steaming (which was a relatively new thing in the last few seasons anyway), other than they were afraid that everyone was sharing the same password, and this at least requires one to have a physical connection to the network. Which from a revenue standpoint isn’t a whole lot different than inviting all your buddies over to watch the game in your living room.
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I disagree that you disagree.
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My point is ESPN and AppleTV aren’t just MLB specific providers. MLBTV is, and is why I choose to use their service. In my opinion, when sign up for a specific streaming service, you should have access to all of the products available (forgetting about the blackouts), whether other broadcasters have the broadcasting rights as well or not. I don’t have ESPN or AppleTV, and don’t want them either, but they prevented me from watching the two greatest teams in the history of baseball play last night.
I don’t own an Aston Martin or KITT, but they prevented me from driving two of the coolest cars in history.
I’m sure your opinion is noted. And you do have access to all the products available. Your complaint is that you also want products that are not available via that service. Which again, is like complaining that you don’t want to subscribe to ESPN, so you should be able to watch their programming on OTA channels. Which makes zero sense.
Buy MLB TV and you’ll be able to stream every MLB Game (* except those you can’t which will change depending on where you happen to physically be).
I’ve got MLB TV only because it was free from T Mobile. But I wouldn’t pay for it bc of those restrictions noted above.
If I move to an area where I could stream Astros games, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
I suspect that there’s some small minded accounting going on rather than big picture thinking. In other words the MLB way.
This is great until you want to watch it on your smart TV.
I have two old laptops I’ve dedicated for this, I connect them to two of my TVs via HDMI. No problem.
Of course you can do that. I have a desktop PC permanently connected to my TV as well. Still not as convenient as just launching an app from the TV’s home screen.
MLB is very clear about what you can stream and can’t. If that’s a deal killer for someone, so be it. But I don’t get why people feel entitled to everything, including that which is not offered. Well, I mean I get it. People want tastes great AND less filling.
I’ve subscribed to MLB.TV for a number of years now, specifically so I can watch internationally. Now that I’m not traveling as much, I will likely go back to just the regular version of radio feed and Gameday.
As for the accounting…I’m pretty sure MLB has not developed their financial operating model on a whim, without any discussion or analysis. It’s just that us as individual Astros fans want something different than the owners of MLB want collectively.
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