MLB and DirecTV

Chest Rockwell · Post by **Chest Rockwell** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:01 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

I must admit that yesterday I took a long lunch and went home to check out my MLB Extra Innings once all NFBC lineups were set. To my delight, DirecTV added MLB Game Mix, which is one channel that can carry up to eight games at one time. It was too early for a beverage, but I must admit that I felt like opening a Corona at that point, putting my feet up and spending the rest of the day doing nothing but watching baseball games. I have seven fantasy teams this year and it seemed like every at-bat included one of my hitters or pitchers. Finally, I could enjoy baseball again.

I have a feeling that DirecTV is just teasing me with the Game Mix for the first two weeks and that I'll need to spend another $40 for it soon, but once again they've caught me. How could I NOT order that addition? My kids may not like it ("dad, which game are you watching?" my 5-year-old asked), but when everyone is asleep and I have all the games on one channel, I'll gladly pop open that beverage and enjoy America's Pastime. I'm not sure it gets much better than this.

Sorry to all those who can't get MLB Extra Innings anymore as I wish EVERY baseball fan had the choice to get this over 26 weeks of the season. It truly is worth it. Maybe baseball will realize that offering this to EVERYONE will help grow the game well beyond the price that one carrier has decided to pay. Greg did you or anyone else have the constant menu popup in the bottom left hand corner- I hope that is not there all season.

My wife had her first baseball season moment when she wanted to watch "The Hills" on MTV and I explained to her that I needed to watch Brad Lidge pitch b/c Captain Hook had him in our league and I had his backup and if they switched it would be good for me and bad for a key opponent. Her response you and your friend Captain Hook are both dorks... my response a grand is on the line, her response who am I supposed to be rooting for now?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:34 am

Nope, nothing was popping up at my home last night!!

Must be a personal thing with you and your MLB Extra Innings.

Mithrophon · Post by **Mithrophon** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:06 am

I gotta say, DirecTV rocks. I've had Extra Innings for years, always through cable. I switched to satellite this year for other reasons (although I would've switched for Extra Innings I'm sure), and WOW! That 8-game channel was outstanding. I've heard that you can get a special remote which allows you to select which volume of the 8 games you'd like to hear, with easy ability to switch volume sources as events warrant. I'm curious to see whether that's true and, if so, how well it works.

I encourage anyone out there with the interest and ability to do so: switch to satellite before any more of the season passes!

Hangtown · Post by **Hangtown** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:21 am

When I got home from work last night, my wife said DirectTV called...

I thought oh no, what now? But to my surprise, she said they gave me 4 Free days to try out the "MLB Extra Innings"!!

So Today I've taken the day off to check it out and figure out an angle to get my wife to spring for it??? She thinks I'm too busy to enjoy 60 games a week... :rolleyes:

Duh,

I'd probably only try to watch 30!!

devilznj · Post by **devilznj** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:35 am

If you are a fantasy player DirecTV is simply MANDATORY if you have access to it. I don't understand how any football fan can live without it (gotta love the Red Zone Channel).

Everyone with DirecTV gets the baseball package free this week, and everyone with the baseball package gets SuperFan free this week. For $39, I jumped on the SuperFan package just for the additional games in High Def. Once you watch the games in HD, it's difficult to watch a regular broadcast game. The other channels with the multiple games and the baseball version of the Red Zone channel are just icing on the cake.

Compared to what you pay for the NFL package, MLB Extra Innings is simply a steal. Probably equals the cost of 3 people going to ONE Yankee game without having to sit next to any annoying Yankee fans (unless you so choose).

Happy New Year!

eynstein · Post by **eynstein** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:11 am

Chest - I had the "menu - clear" thing in the bottom corner all day yesterday. It was really annoying but I am not sure that you could do anything as I tried to push all of the buttons on the remote and nothing stopped it from happening.

ssmarsh · Post by **ssmarsh** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:53 pm

I saw a little blurb in my local paper yesterday saying MLB and inDemand were still negotiating. I guess we'll wait and see.

sportsbettingman · Post by **sportsbettingman** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:13 pm

Wow...I've changed my mind on MLB season pass!

Unlike football...where seeing is so much more important than a stat sheet...I though baseball was pretty clear just reviewing the boxscores and viewing the highlights.

WRONG!

It was very nice to see Daniel Cabrera pitch...nice to hear games called by "local" voices to each games area...nice to see ballparks that don't make "Sunday Night Baseball" very often...even nice to see Wisconsin, Colorado, and Seattle's local commercials...kinda had a "visiting the area and watching the game from the hotel" feel to it!

I took the bait of the free few days of MLB ticket...and I feel my lip being tugged at!

~Lance

eynstein · Post by **eynstein** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:10 pm

Does anyone else have the problem that we have in Las Vegas with 8 teams (AZ, Seattle, Oakland, LAD, LAA, Colo, SD, SF) claiming to be in market and being blacked out on the extra inings package? It is completely absurd to think that any resident of Las Vegas would buy tickets to a game in Seattle (or any other city on the list) as a result of the games not being on TV. You would think MLB would want to show the games to build up a fan base in a growing market with potential to get a team in the future. Just another wonderful example of what is wrong with MLB. MLB makes it very frustrating to be a fan of the game sometimes...

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:53 am

Originally posted by eynstein:

Does anyone else have the problem that we have in Las Vegas with 8 teams (AZ, Seattle, Oakland, LAD, LAA, Colo, SD, SF) claiming to be in market and being blacked out on the extra inings package? It is completely absurd to think that any resident of Las Vegas would buy tickets to a game in Seattle (or any other city on the list) as a result of the games not being on TV. You would think MLB would want to show the games to build up a fan base in a growing market with potential to get a team in the future. Just another wonderful example of what is wrong with MLB. MLB makes it very frustrating to be a fan of the game sometimes... The Angels' game was blacked out for me last night, the only one of the night. I had thought of driving from Wisconsin to L.A. to attend the game, so I understand why MLB felt compelled to black that one out!!

Seriously, this happens all year with certain games. You'll find several Yankees' games blacked out on MLB Extra Innings during the year as well. I'm not sure what the rule is for that, but it happens a lot.

Lance, I trust that a week of watching eight games on one channel will lure you enough to buy the Extra Innings package. Even for football junkies like you, seeing all of the games every night brings you back to baseball a little more. MLB could lure even more fans like you back to the game if they allowed MLB Extra Innings to be bought by anyone with a TV.

eynstein · Post by **eynstein** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 11:12 am

A very wierd but good thing I found is that the blacked out games can still be scene on the MLB Mix for some reason. It is very unusual that the games are blacked out when trying to watch them on the station but not the mlb mix station.

Red Sox Nation · Post by **Red Sox Nation** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:16 pm

HUGE NEWS!!! Comcast told me they should have it available next week sometime.

MLB has deal to keep 'Extra Innings' on cable TV

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- After negotiations that went into extra innings, baseball struck a deal to keep its "Extra Innings" package of out-of-market games on cable television.

Under pressure from Sen. John Kerry, baseball and iN Demand reached an agreement in principle Wednesday on a seven-year contract, a deal that likely will allow the sport's new TV network to be available in at least 40 million homes when it launches in 2009.

Baseball announced an exclusive $700 million, seven-year agreement with DirecTV on March 8, but viewers who would have lost TV access to the games complained.

"The concern expressed by our fans who would have been forced to switch to alternative carriers or were unable to switch was something we tried to be responsive to," baseball chief operating officer Bob DuPuy said.

Kerry had asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the original deal, and during a hearing last week in Washington he pushed baseball to resume talks with iN Demand, owned by affiliates of Time Warner, Comcast and Cox. While baseball had set a March 31 deadline, the sides kept negotiating and announced a deal Wednesday night, an agreement that still must be finalized.

"All we ever wanted was a victory for the fans, and this outcome is a big step forward," Kerry said in a statement. "Everyone kept talking and pressing until we had a deal that protects the rights of most fans to follow their hometown team."

IN Demand began making games available to cable systems in progress starting at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, president Robert Jacobson said. The package will be available for $159 this year through a free preview period that will extend into next week, he said, but the 2007 price for those subscribing after that has not been set.

"I'm exhausted but happy," Jacobson said. "We always needed to feel like we were treated fairly relative to the other distributor. We felt like got our fair share."

As part of the agreement, iN Demand and DirecTV each will receive about 16 percent equity in the new network, a person familiar with the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because that detail wasn't announced. Under the original agreement, DirecTV was to be a 20 percent owner.

IN Demand will make the "Extra Innings" package available to other cable companies, which also would be required to carry the MLB channel. Baseball is willing to resume negotiate with Echostar's Dish Network, baseball spokesman Rich Levin said, but DirecTV president Chase Carey said he anticipated for now that his company would be an exclusive satellite carrier.

The dispute was largely over baseball's desire to have a deal that will allow its network to be widely available on a basic cable tier. At 40 million homes, it would be one of the largest launches in cable history.

"It provides both the financial stability and the exposure to ensure a successful launch of the channel and bring the game to as many fans as possible," DuPuy said.

Because of the new deal, DirecTV will pay less than it would have under the original agreement.

"The economics are better for us on the 'Extra Innings' side," Carey said. "Clearly there were benefits you had in capturing subs [subscribers]. We were paying a lot of money to get it. At what price? We weighed all the positives of each."

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:32 am

Originally posted by eynstein:

A very wierd but good thing I found is that the blacked out games can still be scene on the MLB Mix for some reason. It is very unusual that the games are blacked out when trying to watch them on the station but not the mlb mix station. Yeah, I noticed that. I watched the Brewers' game on the MLB Mix channel last night, even though it was blacked out on 741. I like that.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:35 am

That's great news for cable subscribers. Now most people will have a chance to get MLB Extra Innings, which for $159 a year is a bargain for die-hard baseball fans like us. Awesome news.

By the way, get the MLB Game Mix channel!!

Diamond Dogs · Post by **Diamond Dogs** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:29 pm

Comcast has placed my order for MLB Extra Innings and told me it would be available within the next 24 hours;

Heaven....(melody playing in background)....I'm in Heaven.......

They also said if it was not available, to contact them by phone or internet chat to resolve.

Hoping that they're not lying to me, new world order should be restored with the next 24.