2009 Season Begins With MLB Blackout Policy Still a Bone of Contention

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2009 Season Begins With MLB Blackout Policy Still a Bone of Contention

Written by Maury Brown

Thursday, 26 March 2009 14:02

Blackout Blues “We’re still working on it.”

That was is the word from MLB on its television blackout policy that affects not only MLB Extra Innings, but national broadcasts on ESPN, TBS, and now MLB Network’s Thursday Night Baseball. While MLB President and COO Bob DuPuy looked to have the owners address the policy in the off-season, it seems the economy pushed the issue out... again.

For the uninitiated, here’s how the blackout policy functions across the various platforms.

MLB Extra Innings and MLB.TV, the online package for watching out of market games:

Local Live Blackout: ALL LIVE MLB.TV games will be blacked out in each applicable Club's home television territory (except for certain home television territories for which MLB.com may offer in-market subscription services) or in Japan.
National Live Blackout (Regular Season): Due to Major League Baseball national exclusivities, each Saturday until 7:00 PM EST (beginning May 17, 2008 and continuing for remaining Saturdays during the regular season) and each Sunday night (for games that begin after 5:00 PM EST), all scheduled webcasts of games played within such time period will be blacked out.
National Live Blackout (Post Season): Due to Major League Baseball national exclusivities, during the MLB postseason, if you live within the following nations or territories, webcasts of all postseason games will be blacked out: United States, Canada, Guam, US Virgin Islands, South Korea and Japan.
NOTE: Due to broadcast restrictions, new MLB.TV and Condensed Game archives are limited to a playing time of five minutes in duration until 6 am ET on the day following that on which the applicable game commenced play.

As noted above, the country is blacked out due to agreements with FOX, ESPN and TBS. Here’s how that breaks down:

Every Saturday, from 1:10 PM ET or before 7:05 PM ET, all games are blacked out due to an exclusivity agreement with FOX, which typically broadcasts one game starting at 3:55 Eastern. That means in a six-hour window in which games are being played, you can watch two games at most--the FOX game and your local team if it's playing on TV in that window and isn't the game being carried on FOX. On Sundays, ESPN holds the rights to night games, so any games that start after 5 p.m. ET are blacked out. In practice, this only affects a handful of games, as almost all Sunday games are played in the daytime. TBS airs 26 Sunday afternoon games this year which are blacked out in local markets--TBS can air an alternate game in those areas, and as many as 13 of any single team. So those of you in Boston and New York may barely be aware of TBS' arrangement by the end of the season.

Adding a new wrinkle to the Blackout Blues this year is MLB Network’s Thursday Night Baseball. For MLB Network, games will be blacked out in each team’s home television territory. Viewers in areas subject to blackouts will be provided with an alternate game telecast or other programming.

As for those blackout areas, it is a tangled world out there. Select Read More to see an image for each of the “local” broadcast areas for each of the 30 clubs.

MLB's blackout map is a confusing case
of overlapping territories.

(CLICK TO SEE IN LARGER VIEW)

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Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

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Blackouts
written by Marc R, March 26, 2009

My question is why do they even blackout cla*sic games on the DirecTV channels? I can't watch any cla*sic games from NESN, SNY and even STO, even though I live in Ohio. I can see blacking out live games but a game from 2005?

A Conspiracy of Fools
written by Bill Garrison, March 26, 2009

Anytime anyone with a brain sits back and analyzes this issue, you see nothing but incompetence from all sides.

The owners are protecting their home markets and supposed advertizing revenues, even though in almost every market in the country, the RSNs do not provide games to the markets they are supposed to cover. The owners could fix this by relinquishing claims on markets they don't serve.

MLB.TV is part of the problem to sign contracts with teams that don't allow fans to watch games and then lie and say you can watch out of market games. I'm in Oklahoma City and want to watch the royals. The royals have NEVER had coverage in this market yet I'm still considered in market.

It would be incredibly easy for the Royals allow me to pay them to watch their games, yet they don't do this.

The last two years, I've been able to watch the royals on mlb.tv through means that everyone in the world except the minions at mlb.tv would deem legal.

Looks like another year with millions being prevented from paying to watch a product that MLB supposedly wants to promote.

Are they insane?
written by Another OKC Royals fan, March 27, 2009

I can no longer express my outrage. Each year I write letters to the Royals and MLB begging them to let me pay to watch the Royals play on MLB.tv in Oklahoma City. This is the final straw. I'm going to start boycotting both the Royals and MLB until this insane policy changes. Apparently, Selig would rather promote the sport in South Africa than in Oklahoma or Iowa.

Looks like MLB has lifted some blackouts on the MLB Network
written by Alan, March 27, 2009

If spring training games on the MLB Network are any indication of how MLB will be applying the blackout rules this season on Extra Innings, it seems there should be more games available this season. Games that would have been blacked out last year on Extra Innings, were "white out" both today and last week. The Los Angeles Angels at Cleveland Indians was shown on the MLB Network today and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Kansas City Royals was shown on March 20. The opposing team's broadcast was carried by the MLB Network. Last year in Las Vegas these two teams were blacked out on Extra Innings, both home and away games. I hope this same rule applies to Giants, A's, and D'Backs games since these teams were blacked out throughout the whole season last year on Extra Innings and what's more they were not shown on cable or local tv in Las Vegas.

I feel for you out there
written by Jaime Junco Jr, March 27, 2009

They should just drop the TV blackout business. This isn't football, where they play 10 games a season. Baseball needs all sorts of media to expose their product to as many people as possible, not restrict access to it.

But then, I'm just a plebe.

Do they realy understand the media business?
written by John Surget, March 27, 2009

Everything in the media business is moving towards viewers that that can watch what they want - when they want. MLB is doing just the opposite.

Cable companies are deploying technologies like Video on Demand and DVR's that give customers more control over the programs they're able to watch while MLB is trying to limit their audience even further. It mind boggling.

Poor Iowans
written by C Mow, March 27, 2009

Looks like about 5 different teams are blocked in Iowa.

...
written by DonC, March 28, 2009

The blackout rules by MLB are ridiculous. I live here on the west side of Phoenix in the same zip code as Peoria Stadium where the San Diego Padres have their spring training yet their games are blacked out by MLB.TV (including their road games on the east coast) on this side of the city. What makes this even more ridiculous is San Diego's games are available in zip codes 2 miles east of me in Phoenix and the east side of the city. Can it get anymore absurd than that blacking out 1/2 of a city and not the other 1/2?? I'm over 400 miles from San Diego so how am I a threat to their TV ratings?? Their games are available on Extra Innings so why aren't thery available on MLB.TV??

The other absurdity is the blacking out of the early games on Saturdays, those that start 3 hours before the national Fox telecasts. 99% of those games have ended by the time the Fox games start so why the blackout?? The people at MLB have had their collective heads in the sand for years. It's time they woke up but sadly, it appears they never will. Because of the continuing stupid blackout rules, I didn't renew my subscription to MLB.TV. I'm sure they won't miss my $109.00 but I'm equally sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

...
written by James D, March 30, 2009

This is why baseball deserves to fail. They are so full of themselves. Blackout rules are a mess. The national games are a joke why would anyone watch. They want their local teams. And why do the Yankees get 200 plus million for their local broadcast rights and they don't share it with other teams? This isn't the NFL, there is no huge network contract. It's like the whole league is giving up the largest market. It would be like the New York Jets and Giants getting the New York portion of the network contract while Kansas City only gets the 30th market.
People barely want to watch baseball on TV in the first place why make it tougher to see their games. MLB deserves to be a dying sport in the US.

Poor Iowans 2
written by Austin, March 30, 2009

actually, 6 teams are black out in Iowa
Cubs
White Sox
Twins
Brewers
Royals
Cardinals

...
written by Rico, March 31, 2009

When will MLB change these rules once and for all. When the rules were written, they served it's purpose.
All these years later, the game has advanced in so many ways, yet the "blackout rule" has remained untouched.
It's a shame and a slap in the face to the fans, the viewers and subscribers on the internet.

Thanks, guys.
written by Poor Iowan., April 03, 2009

I'm a Pirates fan living in Iowa, yep, one of about 10. It's just a mess here. On DirecTV, I buy the MLB Extra Innings package so I can actually watch most of the Pirates games. But they don't want to make it too easy. Back when I had Dish Network, I would get all the Cubs, Brewers, Cards, Royals, White Sox and Twins game on TV, came with the package I got with them. Sadly, starting in 2007 they no longer had EI available. Now DirecTV is different. I get the Cubs and White Sox games with my basic package. But if I want to watch the Cardinals, Brewers, Twins and Royals, I'd have to pay for something called "Sports Pack" for $13 a month. So they're saying that if I want to watch the Pirates when they play those four teams, I would have to pay $13 a month above and beyond the $170 for Extra Innings. Live in the wrong part of the country and they'll try to charge you even more. I wish DirecTV could explain why fans of NL teams in New Hampshire, Michigan, Maine, Vermont, Ma*sachusetts and Rhode Island can just subscribe to the basic MLB EI package and get all the games for the $170 per season while guys here in Iowa have to pay $13 a month in order to see Cards, Brewers, Twins and Royals games even if you buy EI.

The easy solution would be for me to up and move across the river to Wisconsin and live with my girlfriend, which might happen this season anyways. But I think the baseball fans in Iowa deserve better. I can imagine the ones in Vegas do too.

Another blacked out and PO'd Iowan
written by JimCrikket, April 04, 2009

I've been harping on this for ages. As a Twins fan, I not only don't get the Twins on the rare occasion they're on "regional" ESPN games (because invariably, there's a Chicago team also playing a "regional" game that night), but I don't get to watch on mlb.tv because Iowa is considered "home market" for six teams. I've tried contacting MLB, the Twins and just about anyone else I can think of. But if Bob DuPuy can't talk sense in to Selig and the other mental midgets running baseball, I doubt the rest of us can either.

It's insane as a business model... "let's see how we can managed to avoid letting more people see our product, shall we?"

Insane is the word
written by Jim in Oklahoma City, April 06, 2009

I'm a lifelong NYY fan now living in Oklahoma City. I bought the MLB package in once, in 2006(?). Practically every day of the season left me aggravated. Why in the world should games played in NY be blacked out in Oklahoma. Why in the world should every game be blacked out on Saturdays etc etc etc. I finally concluded that I could only see about 1/3 of the games that I was paying for and wanted to see. The daily humiliation/frustration of being denied games I was actually paying to see was worse than missing the games. I've been boycotting the MLB package ever since. Each season I watch carefully to see if the rules have changed and each season that pa*ses baseball loses revenue from me. Idiots.

attn Jim in OK city
written by Chato, April 07, 2009

the Saturday blackout is all about Fox. as fans I think we have come to the realization that this particular blackout during parts of the season won't change anytime soon.

i'm puzzled why Yankees games would be blacked out in Ok City during the season??? there must be a good reason for this or a reason that makes zero sense.

-1

I don't get it
written by drb48, April 07, 2009

I live in Reno, NV. Monday night's game between the Angels and Oakland IN ANAHEIM was blacked out here. So was the Dodger's game vs the Padres in SD. And the neither the Dodgers nor the Padres can be said to be part of the "market" for northern Nevada. What's the point of blacking out games that aren't local to the inhabitants? How does this help MLB? It's complete folly as far as I can see. Can anyone explain this?

I don't get it either
written by Jim in Memphis, April 09, 2009

We are blocked from watching the Cards, Braves and Reds. Cincinnati is over 600 miles from here, why in the world can't I watch Reds games? Makes no sense to me at all.

dr
written by ted, April 11, 2009

blackouts are bull-f**king-s**t smilies/angry.gif

...
written by sick of this, April 16, 2009

is mlb.tv also affected by the fox black out rule for saturday morning games that start at 1:10?

"local" blackout for Jays includes entire country of Canada
written by A Jays Fan, April 18, 2009

nuff said. This stinks.

...
written by ukvol, April 18, 2009

I live in Jacksonville, FL. I have mlb.tv and am blacked out of the Rays (3-hour drive) and Marlins (5-hour drive). Comcast only shows a limited number of their games here. In the first week, only 1/6 Marlins games were on TV here. My favorite team is actually the Mets, and I was blacked out of the Mets-Marlins series on mlb.tv, even though 0 of the games were shown by my cable company. They need to work something out so that your TV listings are linked to mlb.com so that the package you purchase does not black you out of games you can't get on TV.

Blackouts are nuts!
written by Jays Fan, April 18, 2009

I live in the East Coast of Canada and EVERY Toronto Blue Jay game (regardless of where it is played) is blacked out. I live 1000 miles away from the Rogers Center! I would love to have an MLB.tv subscription, but it would be totally useless to me as every game I want to watch is blacked out. Total insanity.

SO PISSED
written by rapso, April 18, 2009

This is such BULLSH!T!!! UNBELIEVEABLE that I PAY for a g*d damn service like mlb.tv and then I see that I can't even watch any Saturday Cubs games. Instead, I have to watch some shi*ty game on Fox (Indians vs. Yanks, woohoo... NOT). Can we just tell fox to go fu*k themselves and get this fixed?

Time to FIX the FOX!
written by I want my Cubbies!, April 18, 2009

I agree completely--this seems, sadly, beyond MLB's control. (Funny how that happens when you make a deal with the Devil...) How do we change things to get FOX to realize that this arrangement cannot be profitable to them? I'll gladly quit watching American Idol and drinking Coke or whatever else it takes to end my support for them until they get things fixed!

MLB IDIOTS
written by BRAVES FAN, April 20, 2009

I'm supossedly located in the Braves Blackout Region about 350 miles from Atlanta. The region is huge. I don't watch any other teams til playoffs. I'm becoming less and less interested as fewer and fewer Braves games are being televised. Since my team is rarely televised and I don't watch unless they are, there is no, thats 0%, chance I will have any opportunity of becoming interested in any other team. I probably won't be interested in the playoffs this year or any other til things change. I wonder if the marketing guys at MLB even care or are they too busy stuffing their bank accounts. That won't last forever but don't worry. Our over paid Politicians will bail them out like the rest of the over paid bad decision makers in business today.

GREAT MARKETING MLB IDIOTS; YOU ARE KILLING THE GAME!!!

Greedy, greedy MLB
written by Norm Barnett, April 27, 2009

I fell for the misleading advertising too. I bought the Premium MLB-TV account only to find out that all Blue Jay games are blacked out in Canada. Don't these guys want people to see their product? I can tell you one thing. I'm not going to any live games because of this.

Red Sox Fan
written by Lou Merloni, April 27, 2009

Yankees games are blacked out in OK because they were playing any one of these teams:
Cubs
White Sox
Twins
Brewers
Royals
Cardinals

-1

Red Sox Fan
written by Lou Merloni, April 27, 2009

I feel for you guys also. My situation is not that bad. I live in Western New York. The Yankees, Mets, Indians and Pirates lay claim to this area. When I want to watch the Red Sox play the Yankees or Mets I get YES or SNY. However, when they play the Indians I am blacked out. 1 blacked out game is too much considering what we pay for Extra Innings. I can see them play the Blue Jays however who are only 1 1/2 hours away.

Fixed It Myself
written by Heligator, April 27, 2009

I'm in the same boat as millions of others, living in an MLB blackout zone with no local broacast. So I got a slingbox and installed it at a friend's house who does receive a local broadcast. MLB hates sling and is even considering a lawsuit. Haha good luck trying to make people pay twice for their game. I'm just glad I researched and implemented a solution to this huge problem so I can watch my game.

Red Sox in DC
written by DC Mike, April 28, 2009

I'm moving to DC and am thinking about getting EI...but only if I can watch the Red Sox. I think that only games against Baltimore and the Nationals would be blacked out - and presumably I could get those on local channels. Anyone know for sure? Thanks.

No Yankees in Louisiana
written by Patrick in La., May 02, 2009

I live in Louisiana and I just bought MLB EI this week so I can watch all the Yankees and Red Sox games( I like them both, so sue me). So I turn the tv on at 12 central to see the Yankee/Rays game, and guess what. I'm blacked out of all games before 6PM central. I wish they had told me this when I ordered EI. Is there someone I can write about this?

no mlb games in san diego
written by yermo in san diego, May 02, 2009

I recently subscribed to att thinking I would get mlb games. The titles are there, but no games. Every game has been blacked out. all over the country. It's very frustrating! I agree that this is killing the game.

So I'm Not The Only One....
written by Just a Guy, May 03, 2009

Well, it has been good to see others have had the same dumb issue I have had for quite a while now with MLB blackouts. It is completely crazy. I have sent emails to MLB several times requesting some sort of information or understanding of this as it made no sense, but I never got an answer of anykind - glad I'm not the only one.

I live in IL (just outside of Chicago) but I am a Brewers fan (home city), but I can't get any Brewers games because I'M IN A BREWERS MEDIA OUTLET!!! What! I have lived here near 10 years and have yet to see a Brewers game on TV when they weren't playing the CUBS or WHITESOX, nor do the Chicago stations/newspapers cover the Brewers outside side of reporting the score. JUST PLAIN CRAZY - I gladly pay the MLB.TV subscription price if I could watch live what a game which is clearly out of my market. I understand the in market coverage angle but how is Chicago considered a Milwaukee Brewers Market outside of a couple transplants like me.

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blacked out from all games
written by Redbirdbrain, May 07, 2009

How about this one... I'm in Indianapolis... I saw that AT&T U-Verse offered several of the Fox Sports (city) channels, including St. Louis, so I eagerly signed up for it. Only to find that ALL games are blacked out (even Toronto at LA!). My mom, 40 miles west of me, gets this channel and is able to see all of the Cardinals broadcasts, including today's... Anyone care to tell me why I am apparently blacked out of ALL games?

What the Heck?
written by Seattle Fan in Houston, May 10, 2009

Here I am a Mariner fan in Houston and in subscribing to U-Verse sports packaging you would think I could see the game this afternoon...noooooooooooooooo...IT'S BLACKED OUT...yet the Astros/Padres game is on...I don't understand...the last I knew I can not pick up an over the air signal 2,500 miles away. Anybody have an answer, PLEASE?

You mean they can black out the game if you get the team's cable channel, too?
written by GarrettCRW, May 12, 2009

I'm a Red Sox fan living in Las Vegas. Due to my work schedule and the insanity with A's, Giants, and D-Backs blackouts (who are NEVER broadcast in Vegas), I don't subscribe to Extra Innings, just XM. But now, with the Sox playing the Angels, and set to air on Fox Sports West (which airs here, with Fox Sports Prime Ticket and local TV broadcasts of the Padres, on basic cable), the game has been blacked out, with a crawl laying the blame on the cable company. Adding to the pain, the Red Sox games on the last road trip (and, historically, even games in Boston) weren't blacked out.

Am I missing something?

Manger
written by Jack Mastbrook, May 16, 2009

This whole mess is due to lack of critical thinking skills. I watched the Dodger on MLB last night, but they are blacked out today. Whaaat!!!###***???? They would lose nothing by bradcasting in LA area. Couldn't they just give us a delayed broadcast? As they say in Texas; "Not too swoof".

Tulsa
written by tony, May 27, 2009

I am in the tulsa area and a Mets fan. I have directv and mlb extra innings package. First of all, games in St louis and Houston should not be blacked out, they are 6 hours and 9 hours away from here. When the mets play the cardinals i am forced to watch it with the cards feed and the mets feed is blacked out. But, my question is why? Is it because of advertising??

frustrated
written by JoeK, May 28, 2009

i hope they change this soon. I live in Delaware and I am a phillies fan. Delaware lays claim to orioles, nationals, and the phillies. My cable provider doesn't offer the phillies and i cant get them anywhere else b/c it would be blacked out-- doesnt make much sense-- i love baseball and wouldnt mind paying extra to watch the phils but i can't even do that. I only see them a few times a year when they play the nationals. freakin sucks!!!!!

what happens on mlb extra innings doesn't get shown in vegas
written by Papi, May 29, 2009

Everyone else in the country has it good compared to Vegas, where the A's, Giants, D-Backs, Padres, Angels and Dodgers are blacked out, even though the closest team is four hours away. They show some Angels, Dodgers and Padres games, but I'm a Red Sox fan and haven't seen an A's-Sox game in about 20 years. Unbelievable.

SirPistAlot
written by Rob(bed), June 01, 2009

Travel all over the country.

Pay big bucks to DTV for MLBEI to watch when I am home (OHIO!) where a good portion of SEA Mariner's seem to be B'dOut when I manage to be home. Tonight is the last straw...

...Found Buffalo Wild Wings in Burlington, NORTH CAROLINA!!!!! All channels showing 6/1/09 Baltimore's visit to Seattle where Ichiro is knocking on destiny's door to break his old hit streak record.....BLACKED! FREAKING! OUT! WTF? WTF? WTF? WTF?

This is not the first time this season! Barely 25% into the season and already seeming to rival the number of blackouts from last year! BUT! HEY! I GET TO WATCH THE PHILLIES IN SAN DIEGO!??!!??!! YIPPITY! FREAKING! DOODAAAH!!!

Philly and Baltimore are from the same markets playing in AWAY GAMES VISITING other markets! I get to watch a SAN DIEGO game in NC but NOT a Seattle Home game?

AND OF FREAKING COURSE!!! The Yankees are YET AGAIN!?! On a Nationally Televised ESPN Game?!? For every Yankee Game Broadcast this season, there has been one Seattle Game blocked.

This is out of control. The only way to stop this is for everyone to contact the advertisers of the broadcast games and inform them that until the restrictions are restructured, we refuse to support those products and vendors advertisements.

I have started PERSONALLY by canceling my DTV account, demanding a full refund for AT A MINIMUM the remaining pro rata of MLBEI 2009. I will not be attending ANY FUTURE GAMES in any season until this policy is changed. I will be selling my FULL PACKAGE of TICKETS for the ALL STAR BREAK FESTIVITIES IN SAINT LOUIS, because I WILL NO LONGER BE ATTENDING!!!!

ARE YOU GETTING THIS SELIG???? YOU ARE A LOSER! A THUG! AND INCOMPETENT BABOON. YOU HAVE SOLD A SHAM TO DIRECTV AND THEIR SUBSCRIBERS AND YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!

IF YOU DO NOT ACT HASTILY, I WILL FIND THE UGLIEST! SMELLIEST! MOST, BILE-ESQUE HUMANS THAT I CAN FIND FROM UNDER THE NASTIEST BRIDGES, PARK THEM IN MY SEASON TICKET FIELD LEVEL BOX SEATS TO DRIVE OFF NEIGHBORING TICKET HOLDERS AND MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE THE MLB PRODUCTION CREW TO KEEP THE GROTESQUE IMAGES OF THESE PEOPLE OUT OF THE FRAMES OF EVERY PITCH TOSSED IN THOSE GAMES. THAT WILL CERTAINLY DRIVE OFF YOUR ADVERTISING DOLLARS!

BET ME! I MAY JUST HOLD ON TO MY TICKETS FOR ST LOUIS AND PUT SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ON COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS TO THE MIDSUMMER CLa*sIC INSTEAD?

THERE IS MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM!

FIX IT! NUMBNUTS! YOUR SACRED OWNERS HAVE LOST TOUCH AND SHOULD BE STRIPPED OF THEIR PLUNDER BY THE VERY PEOPLE THAT HAVE MADE THAT PROFIT FOR THEM AND FUNDED THEIR NEW FACILITIES THROUGH BONDS AND TAX MEASURES! NOW, YOU SOB'S GOT US HARD WORKING RECREATOR'S PAYING FOR CRAP WE AREN'T EVEN GETTING!!!!!

REAL NICE! BUCKLE UP SUNSHINE! THE RIDE IS ABOUT TO GET VERY BUMPY!!

R.S.

I've given up trying.
written by ZTN, June 04, 2009

I moved 20 minutes away from previous home back in 2006. Either way, I'm still in the Phillies home market territory. Yet, my previous cable provider carried CSN Philly and my current one does not. It's crazy.

Basically, I live in the Phillies home market and I can't watch them because my Cable Provider doesn't carry their channel. This means I can't even PAY to watch them on MLB.TV or MLB Extra Innings. It's crazy.

why is SF/OAK blacked out? Jun 13 7:05pm PDT start
written by GiantsFan, June 13, 2009

This should be on MLB Extra Innings. it is not. The game starts after Saturday Fox National broadcast is over (4:00pm PDT). A good 3 hours after. Why is it blacked out?

What a screwy system.

sold out games
written by dennis mccall, June 25, 2009

Do they show sold out games on MLB?

MLB BLACKOUTS!!
written by D.H. Sarasota, FL., July 18, 2009

I am so sick of MLB blacking out Sat. games in the afternoon, and nice to know I'm not alone. And not only that but I am a Direct TV subscriber and would like to know why replays of those games get blacked out too!! Considering replays are usually after 7pm!! I think MLB needs to take in account of the blacked out games, and start cutting their price for Extra Innings!!! I may be with some of the other "Pissed-Off", subscribers and not renew next year!!!

Can't watch Sox games
written by Jake, Indianapolis, IN, July 22, 2009

WOW! MLB, you really suck... i just recently got back into baseball and I can't even watch the White Sox games!!! I guess I will let my MLB pa*sion fade in the wind.... again...

Sucks
written by Hugs, July 23, 2009

I live in Des Moines, IA. I had an MLB Extra Innings preview on DirectTV last week. It was completely worthless; I couldn't watch half the damn games. Iowa is a Cubs market no doubt.

MLB Sucks
written by Bruce South Florida, August 12, 2009

Major League Baseball sucks big Bal_s. I have ATT U Verse and live in South Florida. Almost all of the games, Red Sox, Yankees, Cards, Diamondbacks etc. etc. are blacked out in my area. I am paying for the most expensive package and the channels come in after the game and before the game but they are all blacked out during the game. Bite Me!!

Blackout rules are stupid
written by Crazy, August 12, 2009

I live 250 miles away from Philly. The Phillies are playing tonight....at the Cubs, 800 miles away from me...and I am blacked out. I can deal with the salary issues, I can deal with the steroids, but I can't deal with blackouts. When does football season start?

Get rid of Regional Rights
written by Will Griffiths, August 17, 2009

The US Seems to be the only country with regional Sporting rights, evidently this seems to be a bad idea, since it is denying the fans what they want. It is insane, all they are trying to do is get more money by selling the games to more than one broadcaster, er. hello? Sell them to more international broadcasters!! Blackouts are as idiotic as the limitations of individual DMAs and SyndEx rules, the USA is one country and one American should not be restricted from what another American is watching just because of broadcast rights!

...
written by Dodger blue, September 10, 2009

I live 700 miles from Phoenix yet all Dbacks games are blacked out here in Northern Utah. MLB is an utter joke!

disgruntled fan
written by jayyankeefan, September 26, 2009

yes, here we are saturday 9/26/09 and rather then Yankees/Red Sox, I egt the suckie midgets (aka giants) and even suckier cubs. i am sure this is great for MLB. yawn.

Guess I will just watch football
written by Tiger fan in Indy, October 03, 2009

Thanks MLB - the only race left in baseball is Tigers/Twins. But I can't even watch the Tigers because they are playing the White Sox (Indy is their home territory but they're never on TV). The game last night on ESPN was blacked out. Same thing tonight with MLB-TV. Its hard to comprehend why a game of interest to ALL BASEBALL FANS would be blacked out anywhere. Guess I'll just have to watch football.

They won't fix it.
written by IAbaseballfan, October 15, 2009

Once again, Major League Baseball will probably spend this off-season trying to avoid the blackout problems like it's a creepy stalking ex-girlfriend. They're probably hoping that if they ignore the blackout complaints long enough, they'll go away. The millionaires club known as MLB Owners probably have no clue that $170 is a lot of money to some people and that the majority of us, if we pay for something, we expect to get it and not to be shortchanged. I just wonder how insane these guys are "Hey, blackouts will stop people from viewing games, it'll make us rich!"

screw em
written by oldleftpitcher, March 01, 2010

It's time the fans of baseball flood MLB offices with letters and emails to tell em to go eff themselves. I am a transplated NYer and bleed Pinstripes. Unfortunately I live in Las Vegas and don't get to see all the Yankee games. The Sat.problem is a freakin joke. There must be some way to get to these fools or circumvent the way they feed us the games. Is there a program that allows users to get TV stations on their PC's?

The ultimate blackout joke
written by Trueblueman, April 15, 2010

Hawaii is 2,500 miles from the nearest point on the mainland, San Francisco. It takes a 5 hour plane ride to get from Hawaii to San Francisco so I can't imagine anyone hoping on a plane to go see a Giants or Athletics game yet Hawaii is blackedout from their home games. INCREDIBLE!

Blackout BS
written by Mad Twins Fan, April 16, 2010

I'm a Twins fan who lives in Wisconsin. According to the map above, I should be able to get Twins games when they're on MLB Network, ESPN or TBS. Except, I can't. And they're blacked out on MLB.tv too. The blackouts are a joke & need to be corrected ASAP.

STOP SUPPORTING MLB
written by The hell with baseball, July 18, 2010

LISTEN EVERYONE IT IS REAL SIMPLE. THEY (BUD SELIG AND THE MLB OWNERS) WILL NOT STOP THIS CRAP UNTIL WE SHOW THEM WE WILL STICK TOGETHER. WE HAVE TO NOT SUPPORT THEM ANYMORE. IT'S BAD ENOUGH SOME OF US CAN'T EVEN GO TO GAMES ANYMORE BECAUSE OF THE COST, NOW WE CAN'T EVEN GET THEM TO RUN THEIR PAY PER VIEW CORRECTLY (MLB EXTRA INNINGS). EVERYONE JUST REFUSE TO PURCHASE MLB EXTRA INNINGS ANYMORE AND SHOW THEM WERE NOT FOOLING AROUND ANYMORE TILL THEY STRAIGHTEN THIS CRAP OUT. NO MORE BLACKOUTS PERIOD. WHETHER IT IS A HOME BROADCAST OR AWAY BROADCAST. I AM A CARDINALS FAN, BUT WHEN THEY PLAY THE DODGERS IN LA I WANT TO LISTEN TO VIN SCULLY. BUT I CAN'T. I LIKE THE CARDS ANNOUNCERS, BUT AS A TRUE BASEBALL FAN I WANT TO LISTEN TO BOTH TEAMS ANNOUNCERS TO MAKE UP MY OWN MIND. THEY WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN. OK EVERYONE SO LETS MAKE THEM STOP THIS CRAP ONCE AND FOR ALL AND DO NOT SPEND ANYMORE MONEY ON THIS GAME OR PUT UP WITH SELIG AND THE OWNERS CRAP ANYMORE. DO NOT PURCHASE MLB EXTRA INNINGS ON TV OR INTERNET OR GO TO ANYMORE GAMES PERIOD.

Stupid MLB Sat. Blackout can't righ a contract
written by evas, May 04, 2011

May21 is a joke if it wasn't so sad, most of the games are subjected to Blackout.
They say MLB is for the fans and it is evident as to how Bud rites a contract with Fox.
Saturday the one day we get to relax and watch different games Bud shoves Fox down our TV. The best way to get around it, is to use the schedule and only have Fox's game on and every other early of later.

Outside viewing
written by Martin, June 08, 2011

So here's the thing... I already get the channel but I like sitting outside with my pc and watch the games on my patio... Isn't this MY choice to do? And since I'm willing to pay for it, why are they imposing a blackout in my region? I live in BC BTW... Give me a break!