MLB At Bat Goes Live for 2012 With Improved Pricing Scheme

[doboy]

Well right, understood -- I'm simply adding that not every market shows all home games on cable only. I realize this doesn't help you any.

I see.

They don't broadcast over terrestrial HD? I suppose only some of the games are going to be on the local affiliates. I know a lot of larger clubs have their own network so they can get all the revenues from advertising– like YES (Yankees) and NESN (Boston.)

I'm an out of market Boston fan, so life is great with this app for me.

Only handful of games were shown over terrestrial TV last year.

 

[iphone1105]

One thing is different this year which will make me stay away from the MLB.TV package (although I will probably purchase the app for audio).

AT&T is now throttling unlimited data- this is big and, I believe it will end up stifling technological innovation (like MLB.TV). Have you ever streamed an entire game over 3g? I did this last year before the throttling began. A three hour game will use up almost 2GB of data by itself. The new model of data limitation that is being imposed by AT&T (and, I suppose Verizon and T-Mobile to be fair) will put an end innovations like this. Having the ability to put my phone on my desk at the office and work while keeping an eye on the game was awesome. It was worth the purchase because I could follow MLB from wherever I was. But what's the point of paying $125 if you're like me and wish to primarily watch on the go during the day, via 3g? Most of us don't work near a WIFI hotspot and very few are lucky enough to work for an employer that will allow video steaming over the corporate network. I would suspect that most baseball geeks like myself have day jobs and are chained to a desk from 9-5. I think that the carriers are closing a market to MLB and other video-streaming providers. A good number of people will choose not to purchase streaming content from providers, due, simply, to the fact that we cannot exceed our caps (despite the fact that we are paying for unlimited data, which, to me, is downright despicable).

Now one question remains: is it worth it to switch to Sprint, with true unlimited data, so that we can continue to enjoy the content that we pay for?

You must have the patience of a saint to watch an entire 3-4 hour babseball game, on your phone, over 3G.

 

[zioxide]

This app is completely useless as long as local markets are blacked out. It's a shame too, because it would be extremely useful and popular they weren't.

 

[KeithJenner]

Is it available on the AppleTV in the UK? On the website it quotes these for the premium service:

"Available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and Switzerland only."

Yes, it is very much available in the UK. I watched a lot on the Apple TV last year.

And, just to annoy a lot of people who are commenting on here, you have a choice from every single game played with no blackouts at all.

mlb.tv is the best value purchase I make every year. I usually watch 2-3 games a week all through the summer at a cost of around £1 per game. Compare that to the amount I pay Sky and ESPN to watch one game of Rugby featuring the team I support every few weeks for example.

 

[LFCRules]

Yes, it is very much available in the UK. I watched a lot on the Apple TV last year.

And, just to annoy a lot of people who are commenting on here, you have a choice from every single game played with no blackouts at all.

mlb.tv is the best value purchase I make every year. I usually watch 2-3 games a week all through the summer at a cost of around £1 per game. Compare that to the amount I pay Sky and ESPN to watch one game of Rugby featuring the team I support every few weeks for example.

Cheers Keith, appreciate the confirmation

I'd literally just sent off a mail to MLB.tv support asking the same question. I'm sure they will confirm the same, and when they do, I'll get them to update their website to say that also, they are probably missing out on a few sales in the UK by not having us on the list of countries.

 

[jeff123816]

One thing is different this year which will make me stay away from the MLB.TV package (although I will probably purchase the app for audio).

AT&T is now throttling unlimited data- this is big and, I believe it will end up stifling technological innovation (like MLB.TV). Have you ever streamed an entire game over 3g? I did this last year before the throttling began. A three hour game will use up almost 2GB of data by itself. The new model of data limitation that is being imposed by AT&T (and, I suppose Verizon and T-Mobile to be fair) will put an end innovations like this. Having the ability to put my phone on my desk at the office and work while keeping an eye on the game was awesome. It was worth the purchase because I could follow MLB from wherever I was. But what's the point of paying $125 if you're like me and wish to primarily watch on the go during the day, via 3g? Most of us don't work near a WIFI hotspot and very few are lucky enough to work for an employer that will allow video steaming over the corporate network. I would suspect that most baseball geeks like myself have day jobs and are chained to a desk from 9-5. I think that the carriers are closing a market to MLB and other video-streaming providers. A good number of people will choose not to purchase streaming content from providers, due, simply, to the fact that we cannot exceed our caps (despite the fact that we are paying for unlimited data, which, to me, is downright despicable).

Now one question remains: is it worth it to switch to Sprint, with true unlimited data, so that we can continue to enjoy the content that we pay for?

You must have the patience of a saint to watch an entire 3-4 hour babseball game, on your phone, over 3G.

Not at all. Actually, I found the video quality quite good, even over 3G. I'm not saying that I was glued to my phone. But I had the game on in the background while working. I would glance at it occasionally and actually focus on it when something big was happening. It was a nice little luxury that I will miss.

 

[SlickShoes]

Is it available on the AppleTV in the UK? On the website it quotes these for the premium service:

"Available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and Switzerland only."

I have no idea sorry, I downloaded the app on ipad and iphone and MLB.tv app from the USA Playstation Store, you don't need to buy it on the store so once its downloaded just log in using your mlb account.

And i see someone answered you already! Hope it works if not PS3 is the way to go!

 

[DiamondMac]

I played baseball until the Minors and love watching baseball whenever I can.

I usually get the Extra Innings TV package but am ditching it for the MLB.TV premier package.

I plan on watching most games on my computer/iPhone anyway. I can also watch games on my AppleTV/PS3 now too? Love it

 

[PhoneI]

$125. As a met fan, thats about $2 a victory.

 

[Moopy Sac]

Completely agree. I will NEVER EVER EVER EVER subscribe to any sports package that blacks out my local team. I want to give you my money and you won't just give us what we all want for it!

Isn't it pretty common for sports packages to black out local teams? If you have the NFL Package or MLB Package through cable do they show local games (if not sold out)?

 

[Patriot24]

$125. As a met fan, thats about $2 a victory.

There's always next year!

 

[afawcett]

Image

I was admiring the graphics, and felt the cityscape looked familiar. Then I noticed "PETCO" in the upper left corner of the picture. Go San Diego!

 

[Moyank24]

This app is completely useless as long as local markets are blacked out. It's a shame too, because it would be extremely useful and popular they weren't.

Not completely useless to everyone.

I'm a transplanted New Yorker living in Texas....so the ability to watch Yankees games daily is worth every penny. Not everyone lives in the market where there favorite baseball team plays.

Every sport blacks out local games in apps like this. I have no idea why people continue to complain about it every time a new app is announced or a new season starts.

And this year, it looks even better - especially with the cost of the App included in the package.

 

[SBlue1]

we want NFL!!!!

 

[Gamoe]

When will we uncouple content from device?? Is it tech news when a new TV show premieres? No! The content has nothing to do with the device apart from being the medium through which it is broadcast. I have come to regard these sorts of "apps" are regressive. Tying such a service to one device or platform is contrary to accessibility and consumer rights.

Most services don't require a specialized "app"- unless they insist upon draconian DRM and such. Those "apps" which do enhance access to the service (perhaps a YouTube app) should be available for all platforms. This is entirely different from an app which is not merely a conduit for a service.

 

[KeithJenner]

Tying such a service to one device or platform is contrary to accessibility and consumer rights.

mlb.tv is available via an internet browser on PC's and Macs. It is also available on:

iOS devices
Android
PS3
XBox
Roku
Apple TV
Boxee
Popbox
WD TV

Also, a number of TV's and Blu Ray players from Samsung, Panasonic and LG.

 

[doboy]

Is it that big of a deal that only LIVE in-market games are blacked-out? You can always watch the archived blacked-out game 90 min after the game ends. I personally prefer this since I want to watch other TV shows and watch MLB at my leisure.

 

[slu]

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Is it that big of a deal that only LIVE in-market games are blacked-out? You can always watch the archived blacked-out game 90 min after the game ends. I personally prefer this since I want to watch other TV shows and watch MLB at my leisure.

Yes. I don't care to watch a game when I already know the outcome. Going into "radio silence" is annoying. Most games end at 10:30, so that day's game isn't available util 12:00am and some of us have jobs and/or small children who get up early. And finally, I don't watch any TV shows. Not everyone has the same use case as you do.

 

[doboy]

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Yes. I don't care to watch a game when I already know the outcome. Going into "radio silence" is annoying. Most games end at 10:30, so that day's game isn't available util 12:00am and some of us have jobs and/or small children who get up early. And finally, I don't watch any TV shows. Not everyone has the same use case as you do.

I guess I meant deal-breaker. I guess that's true that lot of games end that late. I forgot about it since I only got into watching baseball since last season. Since only legal options are either paying for cable (unless terrestrial TV is available) or MLB.TV, it's nice to have the MLB.TV option.

 

[marksman]

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MLB is yet another streaming content provider that doesn't "get it". They're better than the NFL about this stuff, but as a cord cutter, I look at this service as a waste of money. If I pay for MLB.TV, I want to watch the games live whether they're in my market area or not. If they would get rid of the game delays for local games, I would be all over this service.

These big companies these days just don't understand where things are moving. In ten years time, I honestly think we'll be streaming everything we watch and paying for only the content we want rather than 500 channels of stuff we don't care about.

Given the huge contracts many teams have for local tv rights that will not happen any time in the near or far future

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how long before there is a way to watch home team baseball for people who have dropped cable tv??

As soon as the channels who pay 10s and hundreds of millions of dollars for local rights fees start streaming their channels, maybe.

 

[scotty588]

As others have said if you are jailbroken you can easily spoof your GPS location to get around the blackout restrictions. It has worked the past couple seasons perfectly. Hoping it works this season as well.

 

[happydude]

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MLB can go F themselves. $125 to not even be able to watch my home team. Seriously.

 

[marksman]

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Guys, there are a number of solutions out there for less than $6 a month (roughly $40 for the whole season) that allow you to watch your in-market games. Just Google it up....

Any of them legal?

 

[larrylaffer]

MLB gets it, just that the channel that covers your team owns the rights to broadcast is exclusively. aka why would they want mlb to stream it in their market. They would lost views, then lower commercial pricing and then them not making any money.

I know in NY the YES channel, offers in-market streaming package, lets hope other channels caught on to this.

The only reason they can do that is because you have to pay extra money for YES anyway. It's premium TV. Ultimately, it's a raw deal because EVERYONE has to pay extra, even those that pay for cable/sat.

McCourt was trying to pull that nonsense with the Dodgers as well. Thank God he's on his way out.

 

[BlizzardBolt]

Can the location be faked so that games won't be blacked out?

Thinking of using locationholic tweak to put my location in another state so I could watch my home team.

Has anyone been able to do this(change location so that games aren't blocked out)