Bill It to Bud Selig
Major League Baseball has made the asinine decision to carry the MLB Extra Innings package exclusively on DirectTV this season. In previous seasons, I could purchase the package on cable and watch my Red Sox at home all season long. But since I live in a north-facing apartment in a walkup building in New York City, where a satellite dish is not only an impractical investment but literally impossible to install, I will have to go elsewhere to watch the games: a bar with DirectTV.
I know I’m not the only one in this situation. So, I suggest that we baseball fans all bill Bud Selig for the massive bar tabs that we will run up over the course of the 162-game season.
This entry was posted on Thursday, January 25th, 2007 at 10:14 am and is filed under Sports. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 25th, 2007 at 10:51 am
says:Good idea on your part… Not so much on Bud’s. The little extra cash MLB makes with their deal with DirecTV pales in comparison to the revenues they are going to lose by shutting out a lot of fans.
January 25th, 2007 at 11:03 am
says:Only 3 beers per game? Come on dude, that’s weak.
January 25th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
says:If you were a Yankees fan this wouldn’t be a problem…..
January 25th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
says:That bill seems low to me. My team finally wins the world series after 24 years and now I dont get to see their defending season. Baseball Fever, Catch It….
January 25th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
says:Yet further proof that Bud Selig is a waste of valuable Park Avenue office space. I was really looking forward to dumping DirecTV once my surprise 2-year contract expired, but now it looks like I’ll have to stay with them if I want to watch my Mets.
As for your inability to get DTV in your apartment - do you have access to your roof? Slip your super a fifty to look the other way while you put the dish up there.
January 25th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
says:Don’t forget the tip. And since Bud is buying, you might as well be generous.
January 25th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
says:If Selig’s picking up the tab then you should be downing a beer an inning. That’s a cool $5,850.
Then you could also bill him for a new liver, but you gotta buy the coolah. That’s how they get yah
January 25th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
says:I am also an exiled Sox fan living in NYC. This is terrible news. Proffessor Thoms has $3 Harpoons during Sox games. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Bud.
January 25th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
says:Actually, Steve, you you’re wrong about that. While this deal doesn’t look good in the eyes of the public, it makes sense from a business perspective for MLB. It would be nicer for the fans if they made the games available through other means than DirecTV. But they want to pimp their MLB.tv offerings, and they feel they can make more money that way.
January 25th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
says:By the way, full disclosure: I work for MLB.com but that doesn’t prevent me from having opinions that run counter to the folks here.
January 25th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
says:In case you haven’t done the math yet, the DirecTV was $700,000,000 over 7 years or $100,000,000 per year. The InDemand bid (from the company who last year distributed broadcast of Extra Innings to cable companies), which unlike the DirecTV bid did NOT include an exclusivity clause with regards to the rights was $70,000,000 per year. The difference between the two bids was therefore $30,000,000 or $1,000,000 per team - only slightly more than the cost of one Rudy Seanez one year contract (less if he meets his incentives but we Sox fans know that’s not happening).
January 25th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
says:if you are a red sox fan why are you wearing a mets hat?
January 25th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
says:Benjamin Kabak, how is it a good business deal if you prevent the majority of your fans from being able to watch their teams play? Long-term thinking would dictate that you give the game as wide exposure as possible, not just grab the quick, easy cash.
January 25th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
says:Ryan, I’m wearing it for two reasons:
1. I’m over 1986.
2. I would rather not get jumped on the streets of New York City.
January 25th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
says:Are you suggesting that if you watched the games at home you wouldn’t drink beer? That’s un-American.
January 25th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
says:So I sent MLB an email voicing my displeasure with the MLB deal. I rationally explained my problems with Direct TV - I live in a building that faces the wrong direction! I tried to explain the difference b/w the kind of fan who orders the Sunday Ticket and those that order Extra Innings package - since they obviously don’ t get it! I also expressed my interests in the efforts of Senator Specter removing the NFL antitrust exemption because of the exclusivity of the Direct TV deal. Informed them I would be contacting my local congressmen if deal is complete. Not that I expected my little letter to blow up a $700 million deal, but I thought I would at least get a nice email offering some condolences. Nope…. What I got was the contact number for Direct TV installation and a website link to local providers!!! Nothing else. The goddamn signature is the MLB and Direct TV logos together. I really would have preferred no response then this crap! Its January I shouldn’t have to be in a rage over baseball already!
January 25th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
says:Direct-TV sucks period. So does Time Warner by the Way. Why cant Google run a cable service. lol
January 25th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
says:Perhaps a new task should be underway for all the displaced baseball fans here in NYC unable to get the pkg—does anyone know of (or know how to) find out what bars will play what teams?
For example, I know that ‘BarNone’ is a Viking bar on Sundays during football season, so then by default would they be the likely choice for screening Twins games in the summer?
January 25th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
says:Benjamin Kabak, how is it a good business deal if you prevent the majority of your fans from being able to watch their teams play?
The majority of team’s fans live within local markets where the games will still be on the air. The people screwed as though like Chris: Fans of one team living in another market. So yeah, they’re screwed, and it sucks, and it’s not a great PR move.
But at the same time, I think they want people to sign up for MLB.tv which has more games available than the MLB Extra Innings package does. But the screen size and picture quality aren’t nearly as good.
Not saying I agree with it. Just saying I understand where it’s coming from.
January 25th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
says:Yeah, a very shortsighted deal by MLB. Even though my team is here, I loved the package just so I could watch baseball all over, anywhere. Now For a few extra dollars that will be misspent by some bungling GM, more I’m going to have to rely on *gasp* ESPN. Damn.
By the way, I think you should bill 6 domestic beers per outing and the obligatory wings or french fries you will probably have to chase it with. Good job picking up the sales tax, though.
January 26th, 2007 at 1:09 am
says:PLS HELP!!!!
KKKK
January 26th, 2007 at 1:56 am
says:Yeah - it’s ridiculous!
January 26th, 2007 at 9:40 am
says:The deal sucks, but as I’ve done for the past few years with 3 good buddies; 1 signs up for direct tv with the 4 rm package,tell the installer you want to wire thru your attic yourself and to just hook up 1 box but activate all the others. He’ll be happy to not have to do alot of work. Go to your local flea/swap meet. You can usually find dish’s for sale for around $5-10 bucks. You and your buddies spend a Sat getting everyone hooked up, bill is split 4 ways.
It’s not difficult to do, just takes a little work. I even have a dish on my place in Mexico, just take the box with us when we go down there and the reception is fine.
Remember, it’s sat. so they don’t know where the signal is going, just that the box is suppose to recieve it. Good Luck.
January 29th, 2007 at 10:50 am
says:Well, it looks like you’ll either be camped out in Professor Thom’s or The Hairy Monk, during Red Sox Season:
F— Bud.
January 30th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
says:Hey, everyone: shut up!
This deal totally makes sense for Major League Baseball! How dare you complain that it fucks you over personally!
No one gets to complain about Sound Business Decisions. We’re in America! If people want to watch their favorite team, they can pony up the dough … and move. Quietly. It’s how markets work! Huzzah for Baseball! Huzzah for America!
Now everyone pipe down and go sign up for the dish like the good little addicts you are. And stay away from those pinkos at Professor Thom’s. Three-dollar UFOs (and Bell’s on tap) can only be the work of Bolsheviks.
January 30th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
says:I see that Bud Selig has joined us in the discussion, in the form of Pennybags:
Besides, I love Professor Thom’s & $3 Harpoons during Red Sox Games
February 1st, 2007 at 2:37 pm
says:Hell, doesn’t anyone remember even the local teams blocked us out for a year. Thanks Cablevision. The first year the YES network launched, the wonderful Dolans tried to make some $$ off of the Yankee specific network, resulting in cablevision subscribers unable to see Yankee games during the entire season.
Two years later, they did the same thing with the Mets. That definitely sucked. Good luck.
February 5th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
says:[…] rock the Bulls upward. [3 Man Lift] • More frustration on the MLB/DirecTV deal, the jerks. [East Village Idiot] • A reminder of the great Cal Ripken/Kevin Costner rumor. [Yardbarker] • Fun with Sid […]
March 8th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
says:[…] met by InDemand, then we’ll all get screwed anyway. But now, I’ll have to change the billing address for my beers to the CEOs of the major cable […]
March 12th, 2007 at 7:06 am
says:Let’s see what do I want to watch
Do I want to watch my team and baseball on my computer screen with MLB.com or did I want to watch MLB EI on my big screen in my house? And never mind we have a bundled package of TV, phone and internet service. Yea I want to give that up, pay everything separate and have everyone including Direct TV charge me out the ass.
Oh yea that’s that’s the same
Thanks once again Selig - you dirt bag - for screwing the common fan yet again
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