Monday, January 22, 2007

DirecTV: The De Facto Official Television Provider For Transplanted Baseball Fans

If you are an out-of-market fan of a baseball team, whether you're a transplant like me or just grew up rooting for a non-home team, you've had a few options for the past few years. MLB had a package called Extra Innings that gave you eight or so games a night around the country. Most cable networks offered this package for about $40 a month, as did DirecTV and Dish Network.

But DirecTV is about to announce that they will be the exclusive provider of Extra Innings for the next seven years. They are paying Major league Baseball $700 million for the rights, and includes the development of a 24-hour baseball channel that will kick off in 2009.

Thanks to MetsBlog and Hot Foot for the tip.

Who this really screws over are people who live in condos or apartments whose leases prohibit the installation of satellite dishes.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike...I live in SW Colorado and watched the Mets games last year on MLB.tv and will never pay MLB for that service again...quality was junk...Do you know how much the Extra Innings package cost last year on DirecTV? How much this year?
Thanks dude....Blog is great! keep up the good work! I read this and Matt C.'s...no need for anything else...

Mike V said...

Thanks ilan!

MLB.tv I think is good if you have a brand new computer and top-end broadband. It works pretty well on my laptop which is a couple years old but is horrible on my 5 year old desktop. The video always cuts out... mlb.com radio however is fantastic. I hope they renew the package because it's only 15 bucks a year and gives you every game from every team the whole season.

I think Extra Innings was about $150 for the year in 2006. As soon as they announce the pricing I'll post it.

Thanks for your support, and Lets Go Mets!