It was only a few weeks ago that we were discussing how, thanks to how fractured streaming has become, watching NFL games is becoming more and more an expensive and complicated process. It’s gotten so bad that ESPN has released an app designed specifically just to help viewers find where to watch the NFL game they’re interested in. But finding it alone doesn’t mean you can watch it, what with the labyrinthian landscape of different cable and streaming providers the NFL has negotiated to show its games. The point is not only that this is getting far too expensive for fans, but that there is a mental transactional cost associated with all of this as well.
I can’t speak for the NFL situation because I don’t care about football, but years ago I was into baseball and was following the local team. I thought about subscribing to the MLB app since I had cut the cable cord years before that. Of course then I found out, due to ridiculous blackout rules, there was no amount of money I could pay MLB to let me watch local games in realtime.
The first year I was able to use my VPN to get around the blackout but when they closed the loophole the next year, I threw my hands up and cancelled my account. I’m done giving money to companies that only use that money to find new ways to restrict and lockdown their content.
Amen. Sick of the current circle jerk they’ve set up punishing their fans. It’s like they want us to sail the seas.
MLB is the worst, and now they have the Department of Homeland Security doing their bidding, shutting down streaming sites. We had such a difficult time watching this season that by the time I finally got it working, we didn’t even care anymore. We watched maybe 5 games the entire season. People may be thinking “well so what? MLB wasn’t going to profit from your illicit streaming anyways”, but they’re wrong. Because we got out of the habit of watching games, we didn’t go to the stadium even once this year. We usually go 5-10 times per session. We also didn’t buy any overpriced hats or jerseys either, and I have only bought one pack of baseball cards the entire year, when I usually spend several hundred dollars per year. So by making it impossible to watch the games, they’ve essentially lost all of our business.
They keep saying they need to attract a younger audience, and making rule changes, but won’t even let people watch the fucking games! How about letting people watch the games? There’s a wild idea to attract new fans.
I still love baseball, but man do I hate the MLB executives in charge of their TV contracts.