Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
January 19, 2007
Time to Get DirecTV

The deal is done, MLB Extra-Innings will be shown exclusively on DirecTV.

Major League Baseball is close to announcing a deal that will place its Extra Innings package of out-of-market games exclusively on DirecTV, which will also become the only carrier of a long-planned 24-hour baseball channel.

Extra Innings has been available to 75 million cable households and the two satellite services, DirecTV and the Dish Network. But the new agreement will take it off cable and Dish because DirecTV has agreed to pay $700 million over seven years, according to three executives briefed on the details of the contract but not authorized to speak about them publicly.

I brought DirecTV into the house in 2001 because at that time it was the only carrier for MLB Extra Innings. So this is no big deal for me, except that I assume they'll raise the subscription fee (no competition does that). I do hope, however, that they greatly expand the games available in high definition.

And, to the benefit of baseball, that's another 3.3 million in the pocket of each team for the next seven seasons. That's enough to sign a very old fifth starter.


Posted by David Pinto at 10:51 PM | Broadcasts | TrackBack (0)
Comments

What was the cost last season? I can't remember.

$249 seems to come to mind. About the cost for a day out to Fenway, if you buy tickets off the street.

Posted by: Josh at January 19, 2007 11:18 PM

That much? I thought that I paid about $150 in Puerto Rico. Am I off by $100? I'd like to know the price; I'd like to buy it again.

Posted by: Kent at January 20, 2007 12:28 AM

That much? I thought that I paid about $150 in Puerto Rico. Am I off by $100? I'd like to know the price; I'd like to buy it again.

Posted by: Kent at January 20, 2007 12:28 AM

And those of us in apartments or who enjoy having trees? I guess we can go straight to hell.

Posted by: Sam at January 20, 2007 01:55 AM

I pay $140 per season, as a returning subscriber. I think it's $160 if you're new.

We have lots of trees here in Longmeadow. In fact, it's known for it's trees, and no one I know has a problem with satellite reception. As for apartments, I would think someone creative could work a deal to put a dish on the roof and share the signal. It would probably be a lot cheaper than a cable company. An oval dish, wire properly, can feed a large number of television sets.

Posted by: David Pinto at January 20, 2007 09:15 AM

I pay $140 per season, as a returning subscriber. I think it's $160 if you're new.

I hope an MLB or DirecTv exec doesn't read my post at the top. ;-)

Posted by: Josh at January 20, 2007 10:26 AM

As a city dweller in a north-facing apartment, this makes me very, very angry. I can't get DirecTV, and I'd been subscribing to MLB Extra Innings through Comcast the last few seasons. Now, as a couple of displaced fans, my wife and I won't be able to watch our respective teams' games. I'm incredibly upset about this arrangement. I hope that MLB loses its antitrust exemption over bargains like this, and I'll be writing my congresswoman about that. I'll also refuse to pay my money to go to any live games this year.

Posted by: JeffW at January 20, 2007 02:12 PM

Well, I'm out. (It was something like $140 last year.)

I have cable, not satellite and I'm not going to go through the expense of getting a dish just for baseball (probably any cost savings from going to satellite would be eaten up via an increase in my cable modem bill.

This utterly stinks.

Posted by: rbj at January 20, 2007 02:39 PM

How much more $ was exclusivity worth? Cable was willing to bid $70m a year, Satellite $100m a year. I find it hard to believe that MLB couldn't get $50m from each for the right to have Extra Innings and not screw over the fans in the process.

Posted by: Jayson Billington at January 20, 2007 03:14 PM

Retarded move by MLB.....when they're trying to get more fans they shut off access to paying customers.

Maybe they can fix the ridiculous TV markets now.....such as the entire state of Florida is blacked out of Rays and Marlins games. Pensacola is a cool 10 hour drive from Miami but if you're an Extra Innings Subscriber you don't get the Marlins.

Posted by: JC at January 20, 2007 11:26 PM

Another feather in Bud Selig's hat (aka Sports Executive of the Year). If you attribute the success of MLB.com and their multimedia services to the increasing number of people with broadband (the bulk of whom get their broadband from cable) I don't see how you can expect to jerk those same customers around by telling them to switch to DirecTV

Posted by: BFox at January 21, 2007 01:44 AM

Bob Raissman of the NY Daily News gives MLB his "Dweeb of the Week" Award:

Dweeb of the Week

Major League Baseball

For continuing to negotiate a deal that will pull its "Extra Innings" package off cable and make it exclusive property of DirecTV. While MLB's intent is to extract more dough from a satellite provider, any move off cable will shaft loyal fans who subscribed to "Extra Innings." Also, it is likely "Extra Innings" on cable reached a broader fan base than it will on DirecTV. This is just another example of MLB saying it is working in the best interest of fans before turning around and selling them out.

Posted by: bmfc1 at January 21, 2007 11:02 AM

JC, doesn't Pensacola have a local channel like Fox Sports that broadcasts the games? In Texas, the Houston & Texas games are blacked out because they're aired on Fox Sports Southwest. I don't really mind because I get the package to watch the Tigers anyway.

Posted by: Paul at January 21, 2007 12:14 PM

Jerks.

Posted by: robustyoungsoul at January 21, 2007 11:17 PM

No big deal for me. I get the mlb.com package, which offers more games at half the cost. Not many people bought the Extra Innings package, anyway, because it cost twice as much as mlb.com. That MultiChannel story I linked earlier said that only 300K customers bought Extra Innings, as opposed to 1.3 million on mlb.com. I can believe it.

Bottom line, I can still watch just about any baseball game I want to watch.

Posted by: Casey Abell at January 22, 2007 08:11 AM

It is not easy for a lot of apartment dwellers to get DirecTV. This move is very inconsistent with the interests of the game. I am writing my congresspeople about this, as should you all. Bud Selig's arrogance is appalling. But hey, at least he has handled the steroid issue well.

Posted by: Matt Mark at January 22, 2007 09:22 AM

Going along with what Casey Abell posted. I subscribed to MLB.com last year and it was great and it was half the cost of Extra Innings. The only negative is not being able to watch the games on a nice television.

As long as they aren't getting rid of the MLB.com package it shouldn't be too much of a big deal. Of course I'm assuming most people, nowadays, do have high-speed internet access.

Posted by: Baumer at January 22, 2007 12:15 PM

DirecTV will give you free installation and free equipment. Their current deals also include a free DVR or HD upgrade for the receiver as well.

Almost all states have passed laws that have come into effect over the past few years to prohibit Apartment Complexes and Condo Groups from disallowing satellite dishes in areas considered under a tenant's primary control. This means if you have a deck or patio, you can put up a dish. There will be some restrictions (like you can't alter the building or drill into the deck to secure it) but there is now a large market of braces and brackets that attach to railings to counteract these prohibitions.

For the vast majority of the country, the only thing left prohibiting them from getting satellite is whether or not they get line of sight.

Posted by: Icebox at January 26, 2007 01:26 PM
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