Major League Baseball App to Sell for $4.99

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

Macworld reports (http://www.macworld.com/article/134036/2008/06/mlb_at_bat.html) that the MLB At Bat application that was demoed at WWDC last week will be sold on the App Store for $4.99.

The application allows baseball fans to get live scores and watch video highlights while the game is still going on.“Our goal is to be on any device a baseball fan carries,” MLB Advanced Media VP of Corporate Communications Matthew Gould told me in an interview Wednesday.The $4.99 pricing, however, is only guaranteed to get you MLB content for the rest of this season. The app may be season specific according to comments by Macworld, though it appears these details have not yet been established.


Article Link (http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2008/06/18/major-league-baseball-app-to-sell-for-4-99/)

[grapes911]

$4.99 a season doesn't sound too bad. I'm guessing next year it will be like $9.99 because this season is half way over. $9.99 sounds like too much.

[Buschmaster]

I could've sworn they said it would be free.

I can get a million free scoring apps, or just go to mlb.com for free.

I'll pass on this one...

[notnek]

worth it.

[grapes911]

I could've sworn they said it would be free.

I can get a million free scoring apps, or just go to mlb.com for free.

I'll pass on this one...

But do those other apps have video highlights before the game is even over? I think that's really what you are paying for.

[pedroistheman]

hell yes, 3G could handle those video streams right? I watch the Office streamed from the NBC website on edge regularly so I would expect the same (especially from a native app)

[monke]

But do those other apps have video highlights before the game is even over? I think that's really what you are paying for.

That's really the difference maker here. Are nearly instant video highlights worth it? I think so, but for most people they would rather just see the score. In this case, I think MLB should release a "Scoreboard" only app for those you don't want to pay $4.99.

$4.99 a season doesn't sound too bad. I'm guessing next year it will be like $9.99 because this season is half way over. $9.99 sounds like too much.

In the article, Macworld compares the $4.99 price tag with MLB’s Team Alerts product which costs $3.99 per month.

I really think this $4.99 price and the rest of the season will be a trial run for MLB. I can't see them issuing a price per month system simply because you would be forced to download a new version of the app every month.

Any price upwards of $9.99 is far too much considering games cost roughly that much.

[Teh Don Ditty]

This is such bullshiz!!!! It's free on MLB.com's website FFS!!!!

[Slayerboym88]

I just hope the NFL follows suit! I can't wait to watch my Ravens kick ass (or more likely get their asses kicked :()

[twoodcc]

$4.99 isn't terrible, but i still don't think i'll go for this one

[abijnk]

Guess this just depends on your level of emotional involvement in MLB... Sign me up! Go Red Sox! :D :o

[Teh Don Ditty]

$4.99 isn't terrible, but i still don't think i'll go for this one

Agreed. As much as highlights are cool all I really want is real time scoring. Gameday mobile essentially.

[Buschmaster]

Agreed. As much as highlights are cool all I really want is real time scoring. Gameday mobile essentially.

If it were exactly like ESPN's gamecast that'd be perfect. ;)

[Teh Don Ditty]

If it were exactly like ESPN's gamecast that'd be perfect. ;)

To be honest, the new MLB.com gameday is pretty filthy.

[bobbleheadbob]

For me $4.99 for a season of almost real-time highlights sounds reasonable and I'd probably do it for that. If it gets much higher, I'd have to think about it some more.

If the price increase came next season, it would depend on how much the app blew me away. If it turns out to be a killer app and I'm using it everywhere, then they'd have me hooked b/c of the lower $4.99 buy in.

[radiogod69]

I will sign up for this if $4.99 will be a one time price or maybe even if it will be $9.99 but I will not pay $4.99/$9.99 per year for a mobile phone app!

[esquire360]

should be free with their pay packages, and gameday audio streamer would be killer

[pavyaz19]

Man, if the NHL did this, my head would explode. How awesome would that be!

[Teh Don Ditty]

Man, if the NHL did this, my head would explode. How awesome would that be!

I would cry. I'd loves me some NHL app. Alas, they do have real time scoring for free.

[Decrepit]

Man, if the NHL did this, my head would explode. How awesome would that be!

The NHL has its head too far up its butt. They're going to figure out a way to do Foxtrax again or whatever it was. I just don't trust the upper leadership.

I would not be surprised to see the CBC or TSN do it, but that would probably strand non-Canadians. (like me)

[stevehp]

too expensive for most I think...I don't think it's a killer app, even as a hardcore baseball fan.

[jpruitt]

I just hope the NFL follows suit! I can't wait to watch my Ravens kick ass (or more likely get their asses kicked :()

I agree with you. The NFL could come up with some great apps. I could see a combination of instant replays, scores and fantasy football.

[chr1s60]

$5 for half of a season is a good deal and $10 is a good price for a full season. It would be nice if they offered something where you could get highlights and everything for only your team or a select few at a cheaper price like .99 each. For what you get, those prices seem just right.

[kjs862]

$4.99 doesn't seem that bad to me. I think I'll take one!

[levitynyc]

Great idea and a great price. Verizon charges like 12 bucks a month for mlb highlights vCast ********.

I hate the people bitching about 5 bucks.....nothing in life is free.

[JBaker122586]

I wish it were free for those of us MLB.tv subscribers who are already giving them $120 a year.

[matthewcmorgan]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but will this MLB App for work on 1 Gen iPhones or only on the new 3G ones?

[Buschmaster]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but will this MLB App for work on 1 Gen iPhones or only on the new 3G ones?
Both.

It was mentioned at WWDC that it will even give you a formatted video if you're on EDGE vs. wifi.

And it's not a dumb question, anyone could have been wondering! :)

[theRick119]

this app sounded pretty cool to me when I was thinking it would be free.

as a casual (and that might be too strong a word) baseball fan I thought this would be an entertaining app that would help me keep up with the Brewers a little better being 1000 miles away.

but with a price tag attached it won't happen. i think giving this app away for free would be an audience builder for MLB. Charging for it will assure them that they will only be further milking their existing audience.

The NFL on the other hand already has me and can milk me as much as they want. I'm already paying for sunday ticket and praying for a slingbox app to bring it to my iPhone, but a direct nfl / sunday ticket app would be the best of all worlds

[macduke]

Baseball? Who watches baseball? Give me NFL.app!! I'll pay $20! Or maybe an ESPN app which could have everything.

[JBaker122586]

Baseball? Who watches baseball? Give me NFL.app!! I'll pay $20! Or maybe an ESPN app which could have everything.

You don't need an NFL app.
You just don't move from the TV on Sundays in the fall.

[kcroy]

Love it! Sign me up for $5 a season. :D

[levitynyc]

this app sounded pretty cool to me when I was thinking it would be free.

as a casual (and that might be too strong a word) baseball fan I thought this would be an entertaining app that would help me keep up with the Brewers a little better being 1000 miles away.

but with a price tag attached it won't happen. i think giving this app away for free would be an audience builder for MLB. Charging for it will assure them that they will only be further milking their existing audience.

The NFL on the other hand already has me and can milk me as much as they want. I'm already paying for sunday ticket and praying for a slingbox app to bring it to my iPhone, but a direct nfl / sunday ticket app would be the best of all worlds


OH COME ON!!!!
Its 5 freaking dollars.....Give me a break. Open up your wallet....I hate this internet contingent that thing everything should be free.

[Eminemdrdre00]

Im pretty sure they said it'd be free during their presentation...

[theRick119]

OH COME ON!!!!
Its 5 freaking dollars.....Give me a break. Open up your wallet....I hate this internet contingent that thing everything should be free.

yes open my wallet, that is such an intelligent comment to make to a guy who will be dishing out $600 plus tax for a pair of phones plus accessories plus apple care etc and 130+ per month in contracts in a couple weeks.

you obviously glossed over the casual fan part.

why would i pay $5.00 for a baseball app if i am a casual baseball fan at best? i'm not a big enough fan to blow any money on anything baseball and that is my point. if they want to build their fan base then give it away for free and attempt to win me over and then they can cash in on me when i travel to games, buy their licensed apparel and subscribe to their mlb tv package.

opening my wallet isn't a problem, opening it for baseball is the problem.

[mickhyperion]

Nope, no mention of pricing or being free during the keynote. The MLB.com rep only said they would be on the App Store on the day of launch. Their appearance during the keynote is from 42:37 to 44:33.

[Sbrocket]

As a developer, I really hope this "what? 5 whole dollars??" sentiment isn't representative of a large part of the potential AppStore userbase.

I'm sorry guys, but people don't whip up these apps in an afternoon. I hope too many of you didn't latch onto the ridiculous "we polled 20 people so 70% of the AppStore will be free apps" story from AppleInsider during WWDC. This isn't Installer.app. I mean, we have to pay just to get AppStore access in the first place and I can't see all that many people wanting to spend time on quality applications only to release them for free and take a net loss. That doesn't make any sense.

For sure you will see a good deal of free applications, but I would lose the notion that apps worth their salt aren't going to be for purchase. Code doesn't write itself.

[sunfast]

If something like this existed for cricket I'd be all over it :)

[crazzyeddie]

As a developer, I really hope this "what? 5 whole dollars??" sentiment isn't representative of a large part of the potential AppStore userbase.

...

Yeah I think alot of the people in this thread were just expecting free. The worst comment is this one:

I will sign up for this if $4.99 will be a one time price or maybe even if it will be $9.99 but I will not pay $4.99/$9.99 per year for a mobile phone app!

Really? $5 is one Starbucks coffee per year. In 365 days you can't skip a cup of coffee or one trip to the fast food joint to pay for something thats available to you 24/7/365? Not to mention $5 per year makes them more likely to update the app and keep it working smoothly.

Edit: I just don't think I made it clear enough how cheap that really is: Its less than $0.42 per month.

[GotMac?]

If an independent developer wanted to create this MLB scoreboard only app, would it be that hard to do it with XML feeds from MLB? I would think you could and thus have a similar app without the highlights. I wonder if this would piss off MLB :cool:

[Teh Don Ditty]

Do you honestly think the developers are going to see any of that money? MLB is just milking their fanbase for their money plain and simple.

And yes, I do realize that developing an app takes time and energy and of course money. I ain't that stupid.

As I said before, I can get gameday and video highlights for free on their website.

[grapes911]

As a developer, I really hope this "what? 5 whole dollars??" sentiment isn't representative of a large part of the potential AppStore userbase.

For me, $5 is not too much for an app. It's the "is only guaranteed to get you MLB content for the rest of this season" that bothers me. $5 for half a season equates to $10 a season. I really don't think I'd pay $10 a year for this. I'll buy it this year and we'll see. Maybe it becomes something I can't live without. Who knows?

[bytethese]

*pulls out his iPhone*
"An A-bomb, by A-Rod!"
*rewind*
"An A-bomb, by A-Rod!"
*rewind*
"An A-bomb, by A-Rod!"

Man, I would love to watch that at my seats. Go Yankees! :)

[ltcol266845]

This is likely to be a per-season charge. That is consistent with what mlb does already. If it included radio streaming, I would snap it up instantly.

As it stands, I am content with the play-by-play from the mlb mobile site. I care not for video highlights at this point.

[carrjar]

$4.99 is great for any baseball fan. Heck, that's half the price of a cold beer and peanuts...or the amount of gas you spend finding a closer parking space at your local big box store. Sure, the MLB web app is nice for an occasional glance, but video highlights...awesome. There are so many games in an MLB season, it will certainly pay for itself. Go Tribe.

[theRick119]

I can't see all that many people wanting to spend time on quality applications only to release them for free and take a net loss. That doesn't make any sense.

a key difference here is that mlb is not some small time developer. they are a massive corporation generating billions of dollars in revenue per year.

they can afford to release a product for free in an effort to build a future audience.

also lets not kid ourselves about having to charge simply because it costs money to develop. mlb.com costs a lot of money to develop and maintain along with espn.com, nfl.com etc etc etc and i don't have to pay to access any of them.

i see this app as little more than a website extension.

Offer the app free with 20 second ad pieces in front of the video highlights and charge $5 for an ad free version. problem solved IMO.

This is just my opinion in regards to this specific app and what it would take for me personally to care.

I'd gladly pay up to $60 for the right app if I found enough benefit from it. I do it with consoles and my computers all the time. But pay for baseball highlights? No thanks

[TheOrioles33]

Its worth it as long as there are no subsrciption fees. What makes it worth it is the ability to watch video highlights while the game is still going on and not after.

[ejrizo]

Great idea and a great price. Verizon charges like 12 bucks a month for mlb highlights vCast ********.

I hate the people bitching about 5 bucks.....nothing in life is free.


yes it is... MLB.com espn.com etc. etc.

this had potential but **** $5 - $10 a year... nah... they are supposed to be trying to lure people more into baseball ... not have less people checking up on it... the money is in the tickets, beer, parking, clothing, hats etc. get them hooked and its all yours... i have been a sucker for years... going to games and spending hundreds.

[Claytoniss]

This was probably the most exciting thing on the Keynote. I don't have cable so I don't get to see any of my MLB games. Highlights right after they happen. This will most likely make my girlfriend angry.

I am definitely ready to upgrade my great little L7.

[levitynyc]

A "casual" or "quasi" or "potential" baseball fans dont give a **** about this program and wont use it. Charging 5 bucks for it shows that its a quality serious program and not some piece of shovelware. Hardcore and real baseball fans will buy and enjoy this program for 5 MEASLY dollars.

[levitynyc]

yes it is... MLB.com espn.com etc. etc.

this had potential but **** $5 - $10 a year... nah... they are supposed to be trying to lure people more into baseball ... not have less people checking up on it... the money is in the tickets, beer, parking, clothing, hats etc. get them hooked and its all yours... i have been a sucker for years... going to games and spending hundreds.

Actually, the real money is in the TV and website advertisement revenue.....not tickets and beer. Real big money is made from MLB.tv and MLB Extra Innings and ....GASP.... iPhone programs.

MLB is not going to give away MLB.tv or MLB Extra Innings just to lure people into enjoying the sport.

[theRick119]

A "casual" or "quasi" or "potential" baseball fans dont give a **** about this program and wont use it. Charging 5 bucks for it shows that its a quality serious program and not some piece of shovelware. Hardcore and real baseball fans will buy and enjoy this program for 5 MEASLY dollars.

shows the narrow mindedness of of the hardcore fan and you contradicted yourself in your next post.

The money is in the advertising and advertising is based on audience. Want to build baseball and increase advertising revenue? increase the audience.

Make the app free, get it installed on 8 to 10 million iPhones and stream ads to it while simultaneously building your audience.

Or cater to the baseball purist who will follow you over a ledge even if your product is shovelware and don't grow.

Unfortunately the second has been baseball's way and is a big reason why football has surpassed it as America's true sport in the last 20 years.

[skier0178]

I think the point people are missing is that this is all available for free on mlb.com gameday (yes even the in-game highlights). To take something freely available, repackage it and charge for it seems a little off....

[Teh Don Ditty]

I think the point people are missing is that this is all available for free on mlb.com gameday (yes even the in-game highlights). To take something freely available, repackage it and charge for it seems a little off....

I've said that multiple times already. lol.

[riversky]

Cracks me up to see people who think $4.99 is expensive. People it is a 5 dollar bill! Wow some people are cheap!

And to those who think because it is free somewhere it should be free everywhere, well I have one thing to say, bottled water! People will pay for something in another package even if it is "free" somewhere else.

[skier0178]

Cracks me up to see people who think $4.99 is expensive. People it is a 5 dollar bill! Wow some people are cheap!

And to those who think because it is free somewhere it should be free everywhere, well I have one thing to say, bottled water! People will pay for something in another package even if it is "free" somewhere else.

"will" does not directly translate to "should". I'm not arguing that $5 is a lot, it's not in the big scheme of things. The point is that I don't think something should be repackaged and sold at a cost when the same features in a different package are available for free on the same device!

I've said that multiple times already. lol.

then we're on the same page :)

[themanfromvlad]

Let's get real here: This MLB App will most likely not include the Montreal Expos, making it completely useless.

[dual64bit]

Yeah $4.99 sounds good, but like previous posters mentioned, I hope it stays $4.99 for next season. Sounds exciting, just have to figure out excuses to tell the wife when she questions what I'm looking at on my phone during dinner :p

[quinney]

Let's get real here: This MLB App will most likely not include the Montreal Expos, making it completely useless.

most likely, since they moved to washington dc in 2005

[havenhamilton]

just have to figure out excuses to tell the wife when she questions what I'm looking at on my phone during dinner :p

after reading the board for years i'm shocked to find out how many people are married to shrews. it seems like every post theres someone whose trying to figure out how to convince their wife or gf to let them use/buy it. why do you people marry these people?

[macfan881]

hey im not surprise people are whining on 5 bucks being expensive people whined on how they had to pay 2 frickin bucks for the 8021n enabler for the imac

[TemeculaMac]

hey im not surprise people are whining on 5 bucks being expensive people whined on how they had to pay 2 frickin bucks for the 8021n enabler for the imac

My father has been fairly wealthy his entire adult life. When I was younger, it used to bug me that he would complain about a buck or two here and there. He wouldn't even buy soda when we went out to dinner, since water was always cheaper.

Now that I have my own family, I can see why he was like that. There are millions of ways to get "nickled and dimed". Although $5 isn't much, it adds up very quickly.

Just because someone complains about $5, doesn't mean they can't afford it. I suspect many on this board that claim people are too cheap, are young single people still living at home.

[boomchip]

$4.99 is a great price for half of a season. I am going to pay for it when I get the 3G for sure... and IF the full season price is $9.99, I will pay for that too. I will just get that instead of paying $15 for the whole season of AUDIO only from mlb.com that I do for this year. Either way, this app is the best thing that's happened since sliced bread :) Of course, I love baseball, so I'd probably end up paying $20 for this app!

[smak]

I think the point people are missing is that this is all available for free on mlb.com gameday (yes even the in-game highlights). To take something freely available, repackage it and charge for it seems a little off....

It's all available on mlb.com gameday with highlights on your iphone?

[Harley05]

If you own and Iphone 3G and can't afford $5 bucks... that's like buying a H2 Hummer and bitching about gas prices. If you can't afford it, don't buy it, but crying about it just makes you look stupid.

To the developers reading these forums, I think most of the people complaining on these (and other) forums are such a small minority of the user base they don't mean anything to overall success of the product as a whole. They just like to complain about everything.

[gceo]

For the video content, $4.99 isn't bad.

For scores and re-caps, it's pretty lame because MLB has a great WAP site for all that stuff... and it's free ninety free.

[macduke]

You don't need an NFL app.
You just don't move from the TV on Sundays in the fall.

I wish I could do that. But that's usually when I'm stuck in the darkroom, the art annex, or working downtown in the studio at my university. Then there's also work. Its just too busy on the weekends during the semester for me to try to keep up with everything. That's why it would be nice to get some videos and such on the go, like when I'm waiting for the film to dry or the prints to develop. Safari on the iPhone helps, but additional stuff would be nice. :D

[Zadillo]

Baseball? Who watches baseball? Give me NFL.app!! I'll pay $20! Or maybe an ESPN app which could have everything.

ESPN actually had a pretty cool app, which was originally available when ESPN was doing their mobile phone service; after that shut down ESPN got the rights to it and now offers it as ESPN MVP (which I think you get included if you pay the $15/month for Verizon's vCast service).

It would be cool if ESPN made a similar iPhone app, although I wonder if the exclusivity with Verizon would prevent them from doing something similar to ESPN MVP.

-Zadillo

[Zadillo]

I think the point people are missing is that this is all available for free on mlb.com gameday (yes even the in-game highlights). To take something freely available, repackage it and charge for it seems a little off....

MLB runs ads on mlb.com though. I am guessing this app won't be ad supported.

As for the general point, there are plenty of mobile phone apps that do basically what you describe (take something freely available on the web at large and charge for it), usually because the app is something customized....... again, take ESPN MVP; nothing it offers isn't available on the main ESPN.com site, but you can only get it as part of a $15/month Verizon VCast subscription.

It's obviously up to each developer/company to decide whether they want to give their iPhone app away for free, or charge some amount for it to justify doing it.

I think in this case, the point is that it is an app and service optimized for the iPhone, and does require some additional developer support and infrastructure beyond what they already offer - especially with the stuff like the video highlights optimized for the iPhone. If someone doesn't want the specific functionality or find it worth $5, then of course there are other options...... and I wouldn't be surprised if we do see some free sports score apps/etc. (just as we have already see iphone-optimized websites like sportstab that do a lot of this).

-Zadillo

[ManUtd08]

Baseball?Football?...I would rather have the English Premiership and Champions League

[jzuena]

That's really the difference maker here. Are nearly instant video highlights worth it? I think so, but for most people they would rather just see the score. In this case, I think MLB should release a "Scoreboard" only app for those you don't want to pay $4.99.



In the article, Macworld compares the $4.99 price tag with MLB’s Team Alerts product which costs $3.99 per month.

I really think this $4.99 price and the rest of the season will be a trial run for MLB. I can't see them issuing a price per month system simply because you would be forced to download a new version of the app every month.

Any price upwards of $9.99 is far too much considering games cost roughly that much.

Obviously you haven't been to Fenway Park recently. Even upper bleachers (meaning crammed in under the centerfield scoreboard) are $12. Standing room is $20 and everything else goes up from that.

[Zadillo]

Obviously you haven't been to Fenway Park recently. Even upper bleachers (meaning crammed in under the centerfield scoreboard) are $12. Standing room is $20 and everything else goes up from that.

My sarcasm detector seems to be busted right now, but just in case that wasn't sarcasm above, I think he meant $9.99 was the going rate for most iPhone games, not tickets to actual baseball games.

If you were just joking, I apologize...:)

-Zadillo

[Dorfdad]

how about giving it free this year since the seasons almost half way done? Get people in the door fix the issues and charge next year!

Seems like a good deal..

[Chupa Chupa]

how about giving it free this year since the seasons almost half way done? Get people in the door fix the issues and charge next year!

Seems like a good deal..


Yeah, but why give it away when people already have their $ out of their wallet. I know I'm not going to sweat the $5, and judging from posts on this board I don't think I'm alone. $5 is pretty reasonable for near "as it happens" video updates if it works as advertised.

[rockosmodurnlif]

No time to watch the telecast or listen to it on the radio but there's time to watch it on the iPhone? Oh wait, this isn't even the game, this is highlights. Highlights. Highlights you can watch on Sportscenter with the 15 times they replay that show or ESPNews or your local news or for free on the web. Thanks MLB but no thanks, I'll take my free postgame emails. I don't need to make the rich players and owners any richer by making me $5 poorer. I love baseball but this isn't even a game. It's highlights. Highlights.

[jptelthorst]

If it were exactly like ESPN's gamecast that'd be perfect. ;)

Ditto, gamecast is great.

The thing about it being $5 vs. checking it free on mlb.com, etc, is that mlb.com and the other sites have ads all over them.

There is much less space to put ads on an iphone app where screen space is limited. Someone mentioned ads before and after highlights, which isn't a bad idea, except maybe the fact that network bandwidth is precious for these devices--a lot of the users are still going to be on the edge network.

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

I could've sworn they said it would be free.

I can get a million free scoring apps, or just go to mlb.com for free.

I'll pass on this one...

But do those other apps have video highlights before the game is even over? I think that's really what you are paying for.

I agree that the video is probably what you are paying for but I also agree that the play-by-play that is free on a bunch of sites is what most are looking for. I think that it would be totally worth it if you didn't have to pay each season. Was there anything definite on whether or not you will have to pay each year?

[happydude]

I could've sworn they said it would be free.

I can get a million free scoring apps, or just go to mlb.com for free.

I'll pass on this one...

exactly what i was thinking.

[docal97]

If you love baseball, $5 is a no brainer. Even $10 for the entire year is cheap. It will be one of the first apps that I will be downloading. I just hope that it works as advertised.

I realize the phone and the contract are a bit pricey, but cmon, to complain about $5? That's just ridiculous. How many large companies are going to spend the time to develop an program, provide constant updates to it during games including video, all for free?

I think that we will find that when the store opens, there will be free programs, but there will be alot of apps to be bought by the larger developers.

[DiamondMac]

Not a no-brainer for me and I am a huge baseball fan and I even spent some time working for a MLB team

I will just go to Yahoo/ESPN or other sites for free updates

[japanime]

It's not that it will cost $4.99 that bothers me. It's that I would be putting $4.99 into Bud $elig's already filthy-deep pockets.

I'd rather pirate the thing and then donate $4.99 to some charity. Maybe a steroids-awarenes program or something like that.

[candyman]

I have no issues with the price. I think the $4.99 is very fair. I would love just to have the option of live audio from the any game I choose. So, no matter where I'm at I can easily tune in with my ear buds and listen to the game of my choice, be it my home team or other. No need for video highlights for me just yet...

[JeffDM]

If an independent developer wanted to create this MLB scoreboard only app, would it be that hard to do it with XML feeds from MLB? I would think you could and thus have a similar app without the highlights. I wonder if this would piss off MLB :cool:

It could piss them off. I don't know if it would be against their terms of service. But since they control the feed, all they need to do is modify the feed in such a way to break your app and not theirs.

yes it is... MLB.com espn.com etc. etc.

But aren't those sites ad supported?

[JeffDM]

To be honest, the new MLB.com gameday is pretty filthy.

"Filthy"? Is that the new "bad" or "sick"?

[JeffDM]

oops.

[Teh Don Ditty]

"Filthy"? Is that the new "bad" or "sick"?

Depends, am I being a trendsetter?

:p

I haven't heard it being used outside myself and my 2 friends.

[Luv4iPhone]

For those who play fantasy baseball this is cheap!! I hope the NFL offers something similar when football season rolls around. I know lots of guys who would pay $20 for an NFL app like this without blinking...

[JBmac]

I don't have the patience to sit in front of the TV, and watch a whole game anymore, like I did when I was younger. It will ge good for day games, when at work, and awesome for the playoffs, I have the patience to watch a whole playoff game on TV, but at work during the day, the app will come in handy. It just might get me back into Baseball again!

[TalkAboutApple]

To get anything from MLB for $4.99 is a miracle. Isn't that less a small soft drink these days?

Let's hope that these apps stay more in the free/$5 range rather than the $30/50 range. Right now no one know where all of this is headed.

[semi5]

This will be my first purchase from the app store.

[verks]

$5 is fine to me. This will be the first app I download.

I also hope for an NFL app, but with Sprints deal with the NFL and ESPN's with verizon we might be hoping for Fox Sports to have an app.

[MSD401]

I agree this will be my first app..

Here is what I was thinking about the price.. if approximately 1/2 the season (all star game this week) costs $5 I think $10 will be a fair price for the rest of the season.

[Mr Maui]

$4.99 shouldn't be a bad price (even $9.99 for full year) ... IF ... and ONLY IF ... you don't have to deal with google-like ads and the like with your app. I hope some of these web-based iPhone apps don't turn the iPhone into a mobile ad space. If paying for a service or application, you shouldn't have to pay for advertising on it too. JMO

[Mr Maui]

To get anything from MLB for $4.99 is a miracle. Isn't that less a small soft drink these days?

Let's hope that these apps stay more in the free/$5 range rather than the $30/50 range. Right now no one know where all of this is headed.

Not exactly sure where you buy your "small soft drinks" (since you can get an entire meal off the $1 menu at most chains), but I think we understand the point of your post. :)

[TalkAboutApple]

Not exactly sure where you buy your "small soft drinks" (since you can get an entire meal off the $1 menu at most chains), but I think we understand the point of your post. :)

Sorry, I meant prices at a MLB ballpark. It's criminal what venue owners charge for concessions in sporting events, amusement parks, etc. Nothing like a captive consumer audience...oh wait, this is starting to sound like AT&T with Apple...

[Nickelz92]

I'll pass on this one...

Agreed. Come on now MLB, all of this information and content is already on your website for FREE. Now, why would we pay money for you to simply re-direct it to our iPods in a "cute" little layout. Clearly not worth it, especially when dev's will be making plenty of these.

[Nickelz92]

Let's hope that these apps stay more in the free/$5 range rather than the $30/50 range. Right now no one know where all of this is headed.

I'm hoping the same thing; If Apple didn't learn their lesson from the overpriced JSU (which it appeared they did, with the much-better 2.0 going for 50% the price), then this App Store will be a failure. If the App store is overpriced and their a limited free apps, I will greatly consider a jailbreak.