Here’s a rant:
I hate the TV restrictions and blackout policies for major league baseball.
I bought MLB.tv to get all the games. On July 23, 2020 at 3:00pm pst (an hour until opening pitch of the Yankees Nationals game), I realized they won’t be showing the game despite their slogan being something to the effect of “where you can get all the games”, due to the National ESPN blackout.
A quick Google search states that ESPN+ will show the game. Great! I had planned on getting that to watch the FA Cup Final because my beloved Arsenal FC are in it. So I go to purchase ESPN+. But they have a problem with their billing and there is an outage on some of their servers across the United States. So, it’s 3:45pm before I can get it to work on my phone (not my PC or TV app unfortunately thanks to that outage). But I realize they only stream it via the ESPN Plus APP IF you subscribe to cable through a traditional package, which because we live rural now, we don’t do, because the cable availability in my neck of the woods is horrible. I’m a legit cable cutter.
At 3:59 and a half, I was able to finish signing up for a month of YouTube TV, with live channels. And I log in to watch the first pitch of the game as Scherzer flashes his multi-colored eyes and that gorgeous gold and red National’s World Series Champions hat. That’s a beautiful hat. Even if you don’t like the national’s, it’s probably worth considering that purchase. Super clean and vivid.
What’s my rant? That the internet is never quite accurate. And it seems like mlb.tv isn’t either. And why are we still battling blackout restrictions in a 2020 where Major League baseball can do more to add new fans than in any other season in history. THERE ARE NO OTHER SPORTS GOING ON. People are captive at home, and we had to wait until nighttime to watch the coolest game in the last several years? Get it together MLB, you can do so much to reinvigorate the fanbase, and those who have never been into baseball… so do it!