Tell Me Your Blackout Hell Stories for Baseball Prospectus Article
17th July 2006
It seems to be happening where ever there is a confluence of teams in a certain region…
If it’s in areas of Pennsylvania, it may be blackouts of the Phillies, Pirates, Orioles, or Nationals. In Las Vegas it’s the Padres, Diamondbacks, A’s, Giants, Angels, and Dodgers. In many cases, pre- and post-game shows are being blacked out for some in the Boston area. And, don’t forget there’s a national blackout when the Game of the Week is shown. Those are just a start.
Be it MLB Extra Innings, or MLB.TV, more and more, MLB is taking your money and not refunding it if you’re stuck in some type of blackout hell.
If you’re in this type of situation, I want to hear your story for my article next Monday for Baseball Prospectus. If you would like to possibly be part of this article, go to my bio page and email me. Remember… tell me what town or city you live in and what teams you are blacked out from seeing
July 21st, 2006 at 9:45 pm
I subscribe to MLB Extra innings and Directv Premiere package which allows me to view many sports networks. My concern is with NESN. For 2 years I have been able to view all it’s programs including all the Red Sox shows. Right after the All Star Break all these shows were blacked out. Today, 7/21 I received an e-mail from NESN which said the pre/post game shows would no longer be blacked out but others such as Red Sox Rewind- Red Sox Report- Classic games etc.would. Makes no sense since FSNE has Boston Sports Tonight and shows many clips-post game interviews and even the Friendly Scoop with Coco Crisp on Wed. I live in L.A. and tonite the pregame was blacked out so I watched it on FSNW the Mariners station. I can’t be considered part of their region- I’m 1200 miles away! From the fan forums this was nationwide again! Red Sox Nation understands that NESN could show all the programming if they paid additional fees. I already pay hundreds of dollars a year for these viewing rights and I feel cheated. In this day and age fans from every team are scattered all over the world. The Mariners broadcast team have repeatedly said how there are thousands of Sox fans in the Stadium tonight. I also do not understand why I can’t watch a repeat of the game. If I rent a dvd I can watch it as many times as I like until it’s due back in the store. So why can’t MLB give us a time limit pehaps cutting off rebroadcasts say 4-5 hours before the next game. Red Sox games start a 4p.m. PST and most fans are still at work. I have TIVO but usually there is not enough space to record or I forget about it when I’m rushing out the door to get to work. And why can’t I listen to my teams broadcasters? Listening to the Mariners team tonight is not going to compell me to become a Mariners fan. MLB will never change my allegiance. Most fans spend lots of money supporting their team through ticket sales, books, DVDs, gear and of course paying for the right to watch 1 game a day. I, like many others am so frustrated with the excuses we hear from NESN-DIRECTV-MLB.I am miserable and feel like I being punished for supporting a team I have loved since I was a little girl. Thanks for allowing me to vent and your concern.