As some of you may know, I tend to cover most of the technological news that come out of the MLB offices, and some of you may remember our coverage of the failed DirecTV-Extra Innings exclusive deal.

Many saw the deal as a greedy money-grab since it would shut-out a good chunk of baseball fans that had paid a hefty price to subscribe to the Extra Innings package via their Cable and Dish services. Back then, the argument put forth by MLB Advance Media was in the form of MLB.TV, an online-relative to the Extra Innings package, which was supposed to serve as a substitute.

What MLB didn’t realize was that, though the service worked, at $89, it was an expensive indulgence that delivered sub par quality that still managed to shun fans that didn’t want to watch baseball on their laptops, or couldn’t due to the need for broadband internet access.

Enter 2008. With more people going online at faster speeds, TV on the web has exploded, and with a few years under its belt, MLB’s online experience is finally coming around to becoming the alternative Bud Selig and his new media henchmen wanted to ram down our throats last year. And they’ve got the numbers to prove it, 1.7 million live streams on Opening Day, to be exact.

The biggest difference this year is the software the system uses to stream the games. Microsoft’s Silverlight is a newcomer to the web, but it proves as a credible competitor to Adobe’s Flash system. The user interface behaves much like Apple’s newest incarnation of OS X or Windows Vista in the sense that there are fancy screens that shrink in size as you navigate from one panel to the next, without having to refresh the page or interrupt the broadcast. And it works well on both Macs and PCs.

The transition from broadcast to commercials is still choppy (the service blocks out ads by placing a generic graphic) and during one game, they forgot to flip the switch as the graphic was stuck for a good 15-20 minutes, or about one and a half innings.

Another significant difference is the fact that you can now watch FOX Saturday baseball games that are not scheduled for your area. As some of you know, FOX has the right to broadcast the “Game of the week” except that FOX sliced the broadcast by region, showing “games” of the week instead.

I’m not an expert on TV deals, but I’m guessing something in the language of the contract prevented MLB.TV from broadcasting any FOX Saturday games, forcing me to watch the Braves or Marlins (National League, and I live in Atlanta) when I wanted to watch White Sox - Cubs.

Now, however, it seems the language changed in favor of allowing out-of-market FOX “Game of the Week” games on MLB.TV (the language on the press release simply reads, “All 2,430 out-of-market games in the regular season will be available live on both MLB.TV and MLB.TV Premium.”) And what’s more, because of the source of the TV streams, we don’t get to listen to or watch the broadcast signal coming from the studios. Yes, that’s right, no Jeanne Zealsko!

–

Edit: As Nick points out in the comments, this is not entirely true. Saturday games will be available on mlb.tv up until May 17th, which is when FOX’s exclusivity clause kicks in, and thus, the games are blacked out.

From mlb.tv’s homepage: • National Live Blackout (Regular Season): Due to Major League Baseball national exclusivities, each Saturday until 7:00 PM EST (beginning May 17, 2008 and continuing for remaining Saturdays during the regular season) and each Sunday night (for games that begin after 5:00 PM EST), all scheduled webcasts of games played within such time period will be blacked out.  –

And what’s so premium about this already posh luxury? Well, like last year, there are two tiers of service, regular and premium. For $89.95 a year you get access to a 400k stream, which is typical good quality web video. But this year, if you pony up $119,95, you get a choice of 800k streams, or 1.2 Mb “NextDef,” “TV quality” streams (either way, you get access to MLB Game Day audio for all games).

Don’t get too excited, though, even though the stream is bigger, and the quality is greater, it isn’t really the same as watching the game on a TV.

Of course, all this could be moot if the cable industry gets away with killing net neutrality (and screwing us all over), but for now, it works, and it gets a nod from me.

After whining themselves into the DirecTV deal, Cable suddenly forgot what team it’s playing for.

The technology landscape has changed dramatically since last year’s ill-fated DirecTV-Extra Innings exclusive deal; more and more people have migrated to the web to watch TV shows and download movies, something that’s been traditionally and intrinsically tied to the Television and the cable or satellite set top box.

Ironically, the Extra Innings deal would’ve forced subscribers to switch to the MLB.TV service, where they’d be able to watch most games from their computers at home or work. But due to huge fan outcry and a brief intervention by Congress, MLB New Media Goons, aka, MLB’s Advance Media arm decided to let Cable into the deal.

This time around, however, it’s Cable that’s about to screw us all over. And this time, I doubt there’s anything Selig or his henchmen can do to stop it.

From the AP:

NEW YORK - Time Warner Cable will experiment with a new pricing structure for high-speed Internet access later this year, charging customers based on how much data they download, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

As you all remember, Time Warner is part of that group of affiliates that own and operate In Demand, the system that distributes the MLB Extra Innings package to cable subscribers.

And this new pricing structure that they’re testing for broadband access will undoubtedly add a premium to the luxurious price that those of us who watch TV programming online (IE, baseball games through MLB.TV) already pay.

And what’s the reasoning, you ask?

Now, let’s see — that pricing structure would be really bad news for any Web entity selling downloadable movies and TV shows. Customers of cable company broadband might think twice if the download would bust them through to the next tier of service, forcing them to pay more.

And, hmm, who is most threatened by Web entities selling movies and TV shows? Why — that would be cable companies! How coincidental! By making downloadable video more expensive, cable companies might convince customers to just watch cable TV or get a movie on cable’s pay-per-view. Amazing how that works, huh?

Sure, that this becomes the norm is only speculative, but the Net Neutrality issue has been brewing for a while, with Cable leading the charge that we ought to have a tiered system to pay for broadband.

And so, the fact that Networks are enticing people to watch TV online, and not to mention, the big push for online movie rentals, oh and of course, music downloads, will make broadband internet service providers (IE, Cable) only think of pulling schemes like Time Warner’s out of their digital rear ends.

Or cable, for that matter.

You will all remember that when said deal was announced, many of us cried foul. Some doubted our conviction, yet our resolve would not be undermined until we got results. And results we got. MLB was publicly scorned and vilified into including poor-ol’ cable into their deal.

All was well with the world, fans could again watch their MLB Extra Innings packages through Cable or DirecTV. Oh, uhm, well not all fans. Certainly not those with Dish satellite service in their living rooms.

Curious that nobody raised their arms in protest because the other satellite provider was not invited to the MLB Extra Innings party. Curious also that Echo Star, the parent company of said Sat Service Provider just announced that it had acquired Sling Media.

So the conspiracy nut in me has to wonder…

But if you’re just joining us, let’s recap:

Sling Media is a tiny little compnay (not really, but it makes for great Drama) that makes the Sling Player. This brick-shaped device allows you to connect it to your home internet connection and television service (be it Satellite or Cable or UHF). Once you hit the road, you’ll be able to connect remotely to your Sling Player to watch your home’s TV service using those series of tubes we call the Internets.

You will also remember that just this summer, the MLB New Media Goons, née MLB Advance Media hinted at suing (then backed off) Sling Media for putting a huge obstacle into their Geotracking scheme. What is GEO Tracking you ask? Well, you should know that you can watch baseball games through MLB.tv, a concoction brought to you by MLB owners and Bud Selig.

Though it resides on the Web, this service has a peculiar distinction from other Video streaming services. MLB managed to impose a TV-style restriction system on it, where you cannot watch your local team due to Blackout restrictions. This means you’re stuck, and they’re stuck with all the cash for the local TV deals.

How was this possible? Yes, Virginia, GEO Tracking would be the correct answer. They know where you are from the IP address your computer is using while online.

Naturally, that small device known as the Sling Player would flush that model down the toilet, eliminating any and all trace of GEO Tracking, because, as you remember, you’d technically be using the cable or sat signal from your home, allowing you to watch local market baseball gratis.

So back to the conspiracy nut in me. Now that Echo Star, aka Dish network, aka the other satellite service provider that was not, I repeat, WAS NOT, included in the MLB Extra Innings Deal, has acquired Sling Media, they own the Sling Player and anything and everything you do with it.

Again, the winner of the MLB Extra Innings deal is not MLB, is not DirecTV, is not Cable. It is Dish, who silently understood who really has the heft to pull some leverage.

That’d be Us. Or as Time put it, “you.”

A belated thank you to Forager for the WSJ info. Hit us up with an email and we’ll get you that umpbump.com sticker.

For all the fighting and grumbling I did before and during the first week of the season regarding that pesky Extra Innings deal, it strikes me as ironic that I’ve stopped watching games because my favorite team sucks (stupid White Sox). I guess I could watch Bonds every night on my mlb.tv, or I could get the extra innings deal now that I moved into my new apartment and enjoy the wonders of Comcast cable (nothing ever happened with Dish, ya know). But for what?

I’d rather read the box score. I mean, that’s what espn.com and those SportsCenter minutes are for. Besides, what I think fans were lobbying for in scowling at the DirecTV deal was choice, and that’s precisely what I’m exercising.

On a semi-related matter, the New York Times reported this week that our favorite MLB New Media Goons, aka, Baseball’s Advance Media division, signed a deal with StubHub, an online ticket broker (itself acquired by Ebay in January).

By BRAD STONE and MATT RICHTEL

Published: August 2, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 1 — Major League Baseball once frowned on scalping, the resale of tickets among fans and sidewalk entrepreneurs. On Thursday, professional baseball will announce plans to get into the business.

In a nod to the growing strength of Internet ticket exchanges, the league has entered into a revenue-sharing agreement with StubHub, an online market owned by eBay that acts as a middleman in the resale of tickets to entertainment events. Under the five-year deal, all 30 baseball team Web sites and MLB.com will direct fans who want to sell their tickets or buy tickets from other fans to Stubhub.com.

You may remember that Stubhub is owned by Ebay, meaning that whenever you go to the auction site to put up tickets for this weekend’s ballgame, there’s a good chance you’ll end up paying more “fees” on your sale.

But, as the Times reports, teams don’t like Stubhub because it really just is scalping, only it’s done in the comfort of your home or office and not in the street corner. But, as the Bites blog reminds us, it pays to have a daddy with fat pockets:

StubHub, by itself, was a troublemaker, challenging established teams, concert promoters and venues as well as its giant rival, TicketMaster. Ebay, now a grown up member of the corporate establishment, is less likely to do something radical and risky.

The issue for fans is a moot point. But the concept of the League mandating (or “making the option available” if you will) that teams make Stubhub the place for the resale of tickets makes for some interesting fodder.

But Mr. Carter said that the deal is likely to exacerbate the tension between some teams and the league over who has control of marketing and e-commerce in the digital age. He said that some team managements think they can do a better job of making money from their own efforts and entrepreneurship, rather than ceding it to the league.

“It’s part of a bigger issue as technology moves forward,” said Mr. Carter. “There’s a push and pull between teams and leagues.” Individual teams were not going to be officially informed of the deal until Thursday, league officials said.

Baseball’s New Media goons have created a State’s-rights scenario out of thin air. And if we take the Cleveland Cavalier’s recent suit and counter suit with Ticketmaster as precedent, this might lead to a showdown of Federal proportions. Not because the Feds would get involved, but because Baseball Franchises would want control over those newly legit “secondary market” dollars.

(Full disclosure: Umpbump.com advertises ticket resellers, and makes a tiny percentage from the sale of some those tickets).

Endgadget is reporting that MLB Advance Media, AKA MLB New Media Goons are not going to sue the hell out of Sling Media.

Major League Baseball may not be happy about Sling Media enabling fans to stream out of market baseball games over the internet, but it is apparently backing off of plans to sue the company into oblivion, RIAA-style. Bob Bowman, president of Major League Baseball Advanced Media said in an interview that winning could be done with “good technology and good content, not lawyers”.

The interview in question in which Mr. Bowman alias Captian New Media Goon said what he said is in the Wall Street Journal, meaning you won’t be able to read the article unless you’re a paid subscriber.

[For an umpbump.com sticker, which WSJ subscriber is going to share the good stuff from that column in our comments?]

Here’s a quick primer about the issue: Sling Media is a company that makes this little gizmo that allows you to hook it up to your TV (which in turn can be connected to your cable or sat service) and then broadcast said TV’s signal through a broadband Internet connection to wherever you are. Could be your office downtown, or your hotel room across the country. A loyal Pirates fan from Pittsburgh, who also happens to own a Sling Player can watch his Bucs from L.A. gratis. Unlike some of us who ponyed up the cash for MLB.TV, Baseball’s service that… aw hell you know what it does.

Naturally, Baseball didn’t like this, and was threatening to sue Sling.

Frankly, it doesn’t surprise me. We all saw what kind of backlash Baseball had to endure after they made a “dumb” decision. So now they’re backing off Sling in order to avoid alienating fans (aka costumers) who use their service to watch games from their home markets through the Internet.

That’s right. Back off.

It took a whopping 3 days into the season for cable to finally quit posturing and start shelling the cash.

The deal, which had already been inked by DirecTV, ends months of acrimony and gives baseball fans the opportunity to renew the package with their local operators rather than switch to the satellite provider. EchoStar Satellite LLC is the lone entity that still hasn’t come to an agreement.

Those cable operators that agree to carry the product would also be required to offer the new MLB Channel on its basic tier when it is launched in 2009.

“Our chief goal throughout the process was to ensure that fans would have access to as many baseball games and as much baseball coverage as possible,” Bob DuPuy, MLB’s president and chief operating officer, said in a release. “With this agreement, the MLB Channel will launch with an unprecedented platform. We are pleased with the launch of the MLB Channel to so many homes coupled with our agreement to extend the distribution of MLB Extra Innings with iN DEMAND.”

MLB and iN DEMAND had been put under increasing pressure from Congress to come to an agreement so that fans without satellite access would still able to view out-of-market games. When the DirecTV deal was announced on Feb. 8, MLB set a deadline of Opening Night this past Sunday for iN DEMAND and EchoStar to match the same terms.

But that deadline was extended Sunday as the parties continued to negotiate.

Bittersweet? Nah, I gotta say this is a victory for all; fans who can’t get DirecTV will be able to watch out-market-games through cable, and MLB’s New Media Goons get their fat wads of cash.

If they can make Echostar AKA Dish Network pony-up the same terms, something that seems inevitable at this point, then they’ll score the Baseball Broadcasting Triple-Play.

I’m glad we all could come to an agreement; even if it exposed how utterly sleazy, greedy, and out-right dumb you Baseball Execs can be.

But hey, all’s well that ends well. Today, I renewed my MLB.TV; and whenever you guys get Dish on board for Extra Innings, we might pony-up the cash then as well.

See? Wasn’t so hard, no was it?

Oh and, by the way, you Bob DuPuy, are a lying snake.

You’re now saying that your “chief goal throughout the process was to ensure that fans would have access to as many baseball games and as much baseball coverage as possible” but not too long ago, you said something along the lines of:

“We cannot put the interests of what we believe are a relatively small minority of fans over what we believe are the best interests of the entire fan base as a whole,” Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, said in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission.

So which is it Bob? All fans? Some fans? No fans?

A few days after we learned that the MLB Extra Innings package will fall exclusively on DirecTV’s lap this year [why haven’t we heard anything on DISH?], now comes the news that MLB’s New Media Goons have indeed found ways to supplement the sources of revenue they eliminated on that infamous deal.

From Apple Insider:

Apple Inc. said friday it plans to embrace the 2007 Major League Baseball season by offering highlights for the 2007 season on its ubiquitous iTunes Store, giving fans the ability to catch all the action of their favorite teams anywhere, anytime.

MLB video programming on iTunes will include a daily 25 minute “MLB.com Daily Rewind” highlight show and two weekly “Games of the Week,” featuring full versions of the best games from the National and American Leagues.

Customers will be able to download individual episodes of “MLB.com Daily Rewind” and each “Game of the Week” for $1.99, or purchase a Multi-Pass for a month of Daily Rewind shows for $7.99 or a Season Pass for every “Game of the Week” at just $19.99.

“We’re thrilled to be teaming with iTunes to give baseball fans access to MLB highlights via the world’s most popular online TV store,” said Kenny Gersh, senior vice president, business development of MLB Advanced Media. “We’re excited that baseball fans now have the opportunity to enjoy America’s favorite pastime in a unique way by taking MLB with them on their computers and iPods wherever they go.”

So the season preview was supposed to be free. I’m sure it was; too bad I was too late to the party, and, even though it’s clearly visible on the front page of the iTunes store (first image to the right), it really wasn’t available (second image below).

Whatever the case, I have to think this new entrepreneurial initiative on behalf of baseball has its merits. I dunno if anyone noticed, but last year, Baseball was offering per-game downloads at $3.95 a pop, but now they’ll offer a “Game of the Week” on iTunes for almost $2 dollars less.

But placed in the context of the recent developments, going as far back as last year, when MLB New Media decided to pull podcasts from the iTunes store, it’s a puzzling move.

One thing’s clear; these New Media Goons sure know how to make money.

I’m sure Steve Jobs and Apple had a stronger sense of self than iNDemand and its cable parents. Regardless, the content being offered in iTunes does not, and will not, supplant the experience of watching live baseball in your living room.

This is text-book capitalism, explore new sources of revenue for your already-sold product, maximizing profit to the fullest.

I just don’t see where benefit to the fan…er… consumer, really is.

UPDATE [Sun. 04/01 - 10:20 a.m.] : I had a chance to read Joe Nocera’s Talking Business column in yesterday’s New York Times. Here’s the link, but unfortunately, it’s a TimesSelect column, so you’d have to pay for it (or have an email address with an .edu extension to get it free).

Nocera basically recaps the MLB / DirecTV deal nicely, giving it good light in business terms, but, much like everyone else who opined on this deal, he concludes that it’s a “dumb” move on behalf of Baseball. Yes, he said dumb. I’ll share some passages with you, fellow readers, after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

With opening day a mere six days away, teams have begun to assemble their rosters; some have announced their starters, others have had to make last-second moves to keep their core intact, but over all, 2007 is upon us.

Traditionally, I would’ve spent a good amount of Spring Training glued to my monitor at work, watching MLB.TV as my team prepared for the regular season. Watching all of the pre-season action was one of the few features of the Online service I actually considered an incentive. I understood I had to pay the price if I wanted to enjoy in-demand games at my fingertips, and though steep, I would willingly pay the $80 dollars it used to cost to subscribe to the service.

But that was the premise set four years ago when MLB.TV began. More than a service it was a luxury; I knew some people that had bought the monthly plan, and though they had enjoyed the service, they canceled it for the price.

My brother and I, both baseball nuts, put together enough money to get both the Extra Innings service for our house, and the MLB.TV service that allowed us to watch any game that, on a rare occasion, was not broadcast on cable’s version of the Extra Innings package (any one remember the “Tier 1″ channel?).

Together we spent more than $200 a season on paying for what I’m sure Selig and his New Media Goons consider premium product. The Major Leagues are, after all, the cream of the crop, and as such, you should pay top dollar to watch it, be it by the dugout, or in your living room.

Or should it?

I feel like, as anything in this country, it should have it’s price, but it should be accessible to me if I wanted to. I mean, that’s one of the inherent freedoms we get, isn’t it? Freedom of commercial choice? Freedom to buy whatever the hell we want?

But now, it has gotten to a point where a U.S. Senator has to step up and say, “I don’t like this on behalf of my constituents.” That is ludicrous. He should be paying attention to more pressing matters; he shouldn’t have to call a hearing on the deal. But I applaud him for it, and I am glad he’s doing it.

That hearing takes place tomorrow, and surprisingly, a day before it happens, MLB.com runs an AP story in which Kerry cites some drastic numbers:

“When you’ve got 75 million people who currently have the option of doing something and you reduce it to 15 million, you’ve got to ask are the terms of this deal fair and does it work for the fan and for the sport itself?” he said during a conference call Monday.

Regardless of whether the deal goes through or not; the fact that Kerry (and it could’ve been Sen. Jim Bunning for that matter) is defending us before a bunch of greedy businessmen who continue to degrade the nature of the National Pastime, is uplifting.

I did not renew my MLB.TV (and they totally ignored my email asking why they had automatically renewed it when nothing stipulated they could do so) and if the Direc TV deal is matched by Cable and/or Dish, I may not buy the MLB Extra Innings package. Or maybe I will.

But that’s the point; it should be my choice, not Selig’s.

The shit has hit the fan. What the hell was all the chest-thumping for, cable?? All it would’ve taken for you to have this stupid deal in the first place was to agree to carry the baseball channel, but not only did you have to make all of us get a collective ulcer for the past two months, you now match Direc TV’s terms in the infamous Extra Innings deal, just like that?

NEW YORK — Baseball’s “Extra Innings” package of out-of-market games might wind up staying on cable television.
IN Demand said Wednesday it will offer to match the terms of DirecTV’s $700 million, seven-year deal with Major League Baseball on behalf its owners, who are affiliates of the companies that own Time Warner, Comcast and Cox cable systems.

As part of the offer, iN Demand also said it would carry The Baseball Channel when it launches in 2009 to at least the same number of subscribers who will get the channel on DirecTV.

“As the current home for ‘Extra Innings’ for more than 200,000 cable subscribers, we have extended ourselves to do our best to be able to continue to provide this package to baseball fans and our customers,” iN Demand president Robert Jacobson said. “This offer meets all the conditions set forth by MLB last week. “

Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, said he would have to find out details of iN Demand’s offer before commenting.

One thing I haven’t heard is whether Dish network will match the terms. I’m guessing since it’s a satellite service provider, it wouldn’t have a problem in offering space for the baseball channel.

But I have a feeling somewhere in this great nation, MLB’s New Media Goons are wringing their hands and grinning with greed; what a gruesome, bitter-sweet result.

Thanks again, forager.

Update [11:29 p.m.]: With all the day’s actions now nearing a close, the truth has been revealed. iN Demand was bluffing, and MLB’s New Media Goons called them out on it.

From an updated version of the AP story I linked to above:

“As the current home for Extra Innings for more than 200,000 cable subscribers, we have extended ourselves to do our best to be able to continue to provide this package to baseball fans and our customers,” iN Demand president Robert Jacobson said. “This offer meets all the conditions set forth by MLB last week.”

Not so fast, said DuPuy.

IN Demand offered to distribute The Baseball Channel to the 15 million homes projected to receive it on DirecTV — 80 percent of the company’s subscribers. Baseball wants it to be available to a larger figure — 80 percent of the digital households of iN Demand’s owners and affiliates, DuPuy said in his letter to the FCC.

“The communication sent to our office today by iN Demand is not responsive to that offer,” he said. “In spite of their public comments, the response falls short of nearly all of the material conditions (among them requirements for carriage of The Baseball Channel and their share of the rights fees for Extra Innings) set forth in the Major League Baseball offer made to them on March 9.”

DuPuy said the March 31 deadline to match remains.

What’s still startling is Baseball’s insistence that this exclusive deal is somehow for the good of the “entire fan base as whole.” DuPuy sent a letter to the FCC trying to play nice, saying that they believe the interests of a “relatively small minority” of fans were getting in the way.

I’m sorry but when you’re a anti-trust-exempted monopoly, the rule should be that you are obligated to cater to 100 percent of the fan base. And let’s not forget he’s using the term “relative small minority” very loosely. Are 500,000 iN Demand subscribers a “relatively small minority”?

With a Senate hearing set for March 27, Sen. John Kerry is our last hope.

The news today was that the MLB / DirecTV deal was finalized.

Refusing to even give it a glimpse, I braced for a season of late-night box-score reading.

Naturally, I gave in, and searched for a news report about the deal. Couldn’t find it on NYT, didn’t see it quickly enough on ESPN.COM. What the hell, let’s just get it straight from the horse’s mouth.

From an MLB.COM Press Release:

Major League Baseball and DIRECTV, the nation’s leading satellite provider, today announced a seven-year agreement that continues carriage rights to the MLB EXTRA INNINGS subscription package of out-of-market games and includes the launch of the MLB Channel as part of DIRECTV’s basic package. Included within the agreement, DIRECTV will be a minority partner in the MLB Channel, and will work with MLB to develop the network, which will launch in 2009.

Additionally, in keeping with MLB’s desire to provide as much MLB programming to as many baseball fans as possible, MLB and DIRECTV have agreed to include a provision that allows MLB EXTRA INNINGS to be offered to other incumbents - In Demand and DISH Network - at consistent rates and carriage requirements with a deal to be concluded before the baseball season begins. The provision also requires the incumbents to agree to carriage rights to the MLB Channel proportionally equivalent to DIRECTV’s commitment. Should the incumbents decide not to match DIRECTV’s commitment, the MLB EXTRA INNINGS package will be exclusive to DIRECTV. All out of market games continue to be available on MLB.com.

Is that right? Am I reading correctly? Does that say what I think it says?

Well, after carefully examining the press release, what I think I got out of it is that both DirecTV and MLB will include some kind of provision in their deal that invites In Demand and Dish to carry the Extra Innings package at the same rate DirecTV decides to set and if they agree to carry the new MLB channel.

This means there will be a new negotiation round that has to conclude before the season starts.

If In Demand and/or Dish do not match DirecTV’s “commitment” (think boatloads of cash), or do not agree to carry the channel, only then will the deal be exclusive.

Smart move, Selig, now you’ve turned the deal completely on its head. Not only do you open the whole thing up, but you then up the ante and put In Demand and Dish on the spot for not wanting to carry the MLB channel. So the pressure’s on them now.

Very smart.

Too bad most everyone realizes that you’re basically twisting the Cable companies’ arm; whilst giving all of us non-DTV people a big fat $700 million-sized finger.

From the AP:

The president of one of those providers, iN Demand’s Robert Jacobson, immediately said those terms were impossible for his company to agree to and called it a “de facto exclusive deal.”

UPDATE 03/09 11:42 a.m.: The fallout has begun.

- Baseball Bends on TV Deal; But Doubts Linger - [nytimes.com]
- MLB Pretends It Cares, A Little, Barely - [deadspin.com]
- The Real Deal on “Extra Innings” - [CNBC]