MLB only needs 700 million reasons to tell you to drop dead
Here we go again. The NY Times reports that Major League Baseball is going to agree to an exclusive deal with DirecTV for the distribution of the Extra Innings package.
That’s right, exclusive.
As if we didn’t feel exclusive enough getting ripped off every year for the right to watch baseball.
But now we, if we so desired, would have to switch our cable or satellite provider to DirecTV in order to get MLB Extra Innings.
I don’t know what’s worse. Paying boatloads of money, or not giving a rat’s ass anymore and just not watching the game.
I also don’t know what’s the whole purpose of these exclusive deals. Sure, you’ll say, it’s the money. Of course, they’re going to get $700 million over seven years as opposed to the $70 million that InDemand – the company that used to distribute Extra Innings – offered to renew its contract.
But who’s actually going to pay for that package? The “millions” of subscribers that are going to switch over to DirecTV?
The NYT reports Extra Innings as having 750,000 subscribers.
Let’s do the math, 750,000 x $129 = 96,750,000. That’s $96 million a year, about $670 mill for seven years. Sketchy math, I know, since I don’t take into consideration the potential DROP in subscribers.
So does DirecTV absorb the cost in hopes of landing many more subscribers? I mean, MLB Extra Innings was available through DTV before this deal, why would it increase the subscriber-base by restricting the distribution channels?
I don’t know, maybe I can get some of those executives that spoke on the DL to the Times to tell me.
What I do know is that there’s a good chance the pricing breakdown for the package could go up for DirecTV subscribers who want the package (a pricey one at that).
Otherwise I’m going to whine and complain, and like our good friend “forager” who tipped this story, cry in my beer.
Oh and not only will I NOT buy the MLB Extra Innings package as I have done for the past three years, because obviously I don’t have DirecTV, but I doubt I’ll buy the MLB.TV service.
I dunno. I certainly wasn’t expecting to be thinking about this in January; I thought I was just going to punch in my credit card in March.
January 21st, 2007 at 8:18 pm
[...] This is the first in a series of posts that will call out all 30 teams for their wily offseason moves and tragic offseason blunders. [...]
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January 22nd, 2007 at 1:11 am
[...] This is the one in a series of posts that will call out all 30 teams for their wily offseason moves and tragic offseason blunders. [...]
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January 22nd, 2007 at 1:22 am
[...] This is part of a series of posts in which we call out all 30 teams for their wily offseason moves and tragic offseason blunders. [...]
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January 22nd, 2007 at 1:23 am
[...] This is one in a series of posts that will call out all 30 teams for their wily offseason moves and tragic offseason blunders. [...]
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January 22nd, 2007 at 2:42 am
[...] This is part of a series of posts in which we call out all 30 teams for their wily offseason moves and tragic offseason blunders. [...]
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January 22nd, 2007 at 3:21 am
[...] This is one in a series of posts that will call out all 30 teams for their wily offseason moves and tragic offseason blunders. [...]
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January 23rd, 2007 at 11:29 am
[...] This is part of a series of posts in which we call out all 30 teams for their wily offseason moves and tragic offseason blunders. [...]
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January 26th, 2007 at 2:45 am
Your headline has been picked up by NY Times’ Richard Sandomir in his follow up story on the Extra Innings mess. Your blog’s name is of course named along with your headline. I just sent you an email about it, and posted on my own blog about it. Since there’s zero chance you’d ever see my blog, I thought I’d let you know.
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January 26th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Tell them all where to go. Buy a Slingbox.
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January 27th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
I hope you will all shake your tiny fists with me as I go into week two of my MLB boycott over this issue.
it would be nice if we all banded together to stop this. It’s just a fantasy i guess, since MLB doesn’t give no shit. There seems to be too many who are jsut resigned to the deal, probably an effect of fans being screwed for so long (ticket prices, cable and dish deals, etc.)
As for ideas of how to follow the Mets and still boycott MLB, I have none, but it won’t stop me.
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January 28th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
This will be a very sad day IF this deal goes through. If baseball really wants to build its’ fan base this move seems counterintuitive as it prohibits 1/2 million of its’ MOST devoted fans (and their children…do I hear next generation) from having access to the sport they have been willing to seek out and pay extra for. As I recall, the advertising campaign USED to be based on families who were far from their “home teams” being able to share the joy no matter how far from home. I guess MLB doesn’t care about that group of fans anymore. Too bad, so sad !!!
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July 26th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
[...] is part of a series of posts in which we call out all 30 teams for their wily offseason moves and tragic offseason [...]
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June 12th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
[...] It’s a shame; I’d built up way too many high expectations for this thing based solely on the technological promise, but failed to recognize that these are the very same New Media Goons that tried to stab their fans in the back with that DirecTV exclusive deal. [...]
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