OnlyBucs

So, in light of my rant on the rules changes, which any casual reader of this board knows where I stand on those, allow me to rant on why MLB makes it so difficult to watch a game.



There are 2,430 regular season MLB games per year. I have no desire to watch all of them. As I said in that other thread, I haven't watched a single one in over three years. But, I'm open to the possibility of giving MLB another chance. So, why do they make it SO difficult to watch whichever game you want?



MLB games are on the following:

1. Apple TV+

2. Peacock

3. ESPN

4. Fox

5. FS1

6. TBS

7. Local RSNs

8. MLB Network



Of #7, theoretically, here in Iowa, six of those RSNs are available, but no one carries them all, except DirecTV. If I subscribe to MLB.TV, games featuring the Brewers, Cubs, Cardinals, White Sox, Twins, and Royals are blacked out.



So...to get every game, I'd need to subscribe to DirecTV and make sure that my package gets: ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, TBS, MLB Network, Bally Sports Midwest, Midwest+, North, North+, Wisconsin, Kansas City, Marquee Sports, and Comcast Sports.



Then, I'd need to subscribe to Peacock, Apple TV+, and MLB.TV.



Who can afford all that? Why does MLB make it so hard to watch their product, that now fits conveniently in a 2.5 hour time slot?

The black-out rule clearly is an issue that MLB should address.



I have DirecTV. One of the main reasons is so I can subscribe to the MLB Baseball package (which I have done for the past 23 years). I am minimally affected by the black-out rule because the Red Sox are the only other team in the area. I recognize that such is not the case for many baseball fans such as you.



I was really frustrated last year when games that should have been available in my DirecTV package were shifted to YouTube TV, Apple, and such. I now recognize that DirecTV may soon permanently lose out and that baseball (like football) will shift most of its games to streaming options. This could be particularly bad news for me because at present, the only internet option available to me is through my cell phone, and data limits on the phone will make it too difficult/expensive to commit 3 hours or so a day of streaming time/data to baseball.



Of course I could give up the Pirates and become a Red Sox fan, but that is not going to happen.

5C70787F7453647262110 wrote: The black-out rule clearly is an issue that MLB should address.



I have DirecTV.  One of the main reasons is so I can subscribe to the MLB Baseball package (which I have done for the past 23 years).  I am minimally affected by the black-out rule because the Red Sox are the only other team in the area.  I recognize that such is not the case for many baseball fans such as you.



I was really frustrated last year when games that should have been available in my DirecTV package were shifted to YouTube TV, Apple, and such.  I now recognize that DirecTV may soon permanently lose out and that baseball (like football) will shift most of its games to streaming options.  This could be particularly bad news for me because at present, the only internet option available to me is through my cell phone, and data limits on the phone will make it too difficult/expensive to commit 3 hours or so a day of  streaming time/data to baseball.    



Of course I could give up the Pirates and become a Red Sox fan, but that is not going to happen.    
I hope they make a decision soon. If they go to streaming, I'm cutting the cord. I cut the cord a few years ago, but the cost of internet plus a few streaming services were costing me pretty much the same. I couldn't watch the Pirates though because of the MLB.tv blackout.



Something I learned a couple years ago when we went to Ocean City, MD. Not only did MLB tv continue to blackout the Pirates, they blacked me out of the Nationals and Orioles too. If they know I'm in that area to black those two teams out, they should have lifted the Pirates blackout then.



But....I don't pay for it, it's part of my season ticket package. Which now remains to be seen what MLB tv is going to turn into.



At least we already know ATT sportsnet is done. I hate the channel, I hated it as Root and Foxs Sports Net Pittsburgh, and FSN Pittsburgh. Their game broadcast glitches too much. Might as well be watching that crappy Apple TV, that was horrid production. You Tube was fine with the picture, it was the announcing that was ridiculous, they clearly were trying to appeal to a 20-30 crowd.

725453464F4354424A210 wrote:



At least we already know ATT sportsnet is done. I hate the channel, I hated it as Root and Foxs Sports Net Pittsburgh, and FSN Pittsburgh. Their game broadcast glitches too much. Might as well be watching that crappy Apple TV, that was horrid production. You Tube was fine with the picture, it was the announcing that was ridiculous, they clearly were trying to appeal to a 20-30 crowd.
Per a PPG interview with Travis Williams:



It’s not a ballpark issue but certainly something atop fans’ radar: With the regional sports network model experiencing a wealth of issues across MLB, the NHL and the NBA, Williams said he expects zero interruption for Pirates fans when it comes to watching games either in the cable bundle or out-of-town streaming.



The bigger issue rests with behind-closed-doors discussions on how to figure out short- and long-term solutions to the ongoing mess.



“There will not be any interruption of Pirates broadcasts. I’m comfortable saying that,” Williams said. “We’re still working out what that looks like with AT&T SportsNet and [Warner Bros.] Discovery in the short term, then obviously Major League Baseball in the long term.



“We’re actively involved in those discussions, but we’ve been actively involved for the better part of a year or 18 months, knowing that this day eventually was going to come because the industry is on its head.”



Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of AT&T SportsNet, reportedly came up short on a recent TV rights payment to the Pirates and plans to get out of the RSN game by the end of the month.



No matter what happens, at least for now, Williams promised fans would not experience any sort of disruption.



“They’ll continue to experience the same broadcast in the same way that they have in years past,” Williams said. “We all know the cable industry is changing. Cable bundle packages are changing. What does that look like in two, three, five or 10 years? Those are things that are still being discussed. Those will evolve over time.”

Thank you Bobster, that does take a load off for now. I have no choice to use cable for internet because of speed requirements that Verizon or t mobile can provide. But Comcast only has the speed I need at their top two tiers. It's basically highway robbery for those who would only want internet and no cable. That's where I tried to go for a couple years and it didn't fit my needs.

Amazon Prime has the Bucs vs. O`s on tonite at 5 central. Going to give it a watch/listen for the first time this ST.



Maybe some decent lineups, for the big primetime match up of two young powerhouses.

7B5051545451566B4C594C515756380 wrote: Amazon Prime has the Bucs vs. O`s on tonite at 5 central. Going to give it a watch/listen for the first time this ST.



Maybe some decent lineups, for the big primetime match up of two young powerhouses.
They have Santana mic'd at 1B in the 3rd inning and he was joking with his Orioles friend Nomar Mazara, who was at 1B after a walk. Santana said to Mazara, "Shut the f**k up." Lol, the dangers of putting mics on players. Brown and Capps in the booth remained silent to avoid calling attention to it.

First game I've seen this spring. The pitch clock seemed fine because the game was flowing at a good pace. In fact, it seemed like a normal pace absent the long batter or pitcher step outs.



But then....Santana stood in the box with 2 strikes waiting for the pitcher to get ready to pitch. The pitcher still had 6 seconds to pitch and wasn't yet ready when the ump called Santana out. The rule is that the batter has to have his eyes on the pitcher even if the pitcher isn't ready to pitch. So Santana was given an automatic 3rd strike because of the direction in which his eyes were pointed. This ranks right up there on the Stupid-O-Meter with the ghost runner rule. Imagine a World Series ending on an assigned 3rd strike in the 9th inning because the batter's eyes weren't pointed at a pitcher who wasn't ready to pitch. Good grief.

Worked late and then messed with garden for a bit. Forgot about the game. Looks like I missed a good one, box score shows zero extra base hits by Pirates !



Pirates have to get off, to a hot start and catch some teams looking. This is a must !!!!!

517C71606776612122130 wrote: First game I've seen this spring. The pitch clock seemed fine because the game was flowing at a good pace. In fact, it seemed like a normal pace absent the long batter or pitcher step outs.



But then....Santana stood in the box with 2 strikes waiting for the pitcher to get ready to pitch. The pitcher still had 6 seconds to pitch and wasn't yet ready when the ump called Santana out. The rule is that the batter has to have his eyes on the pitcher even if the pitcher isn't ready to pitch. So Santana was given an automatic 3rd strike because of the direction in which his eyes were pointed. This ranks right up there on the Stupid-O-Meter with the ghost runner rule. Imagine a World Series ending on an assigned 3rd strike in the 9th inning because the batter's eyes weren't pointed at a pitcher who wasn't ready to pitch. Good grief.


This is what happens when the people in charge look for a problem where a solution already exists.