Major League Baseball Sells Its Soul to Direct TV

For the last several years, 750,000 households around the country were in baseball heaven. Thanks to the Major League Baseball "Extra Innings Package," baseball fans could pretty much watch any game, anywhere. A Yankee's fan in California could catch every homerun from the comfort of his west coast home. For less than the cost of a family of four to enjoy one game from sitting in the stands, the "Extra Innings Package" pretty much gave subscribers every American League and National League game on a silver platter, complete with virtual stadium dog, cheesy fries and a beer. It was awesome and, truth be told, made shopping for Father's Day a breeze.

So, what's happened? What's got baseball fans across the country weeping into their gloves? The MLB has signed an exclusive $700 million contract with Direct TV which will give them exclusive rights to major league games for the next seven years. Direct TV will also be the sole carrier of the long-awaited 24-hour Baseball Channel. Basically, if you don't have a satellite dish and Direct TV, you can kiss your out-of-market games goodbye.

Fans nationwide feel that baseball Commissioner, Bud Selig, has turned a blind eye toward the fans, the very people who have made baseball the national past-time it is today. The dollar signs in his eyes are overshadowing the alienation of loyal baseball fans from coast to coast.

So, what's the big deal? Why not just switch to Direct TV? Many viewers live in an area where Direct TV simply isn't available. Others rent houses or apartments where landlords won't allow it. Even if they wanted to fork over the cost of installation, Direct TV is not an option. There are also those of us who enjoy the convenience of the cable tv /internet package. Even if we do win the lottery and wake up tomorrow independently wealthy, who wants the hassle of reconfiguring memberships, not to mention dealing with the menagerie of cords and whatever ELSE may be living behind the entertainment center?

The only alternative that baseball fans have is the premium package available online at www.MLB.tv. For $19.95 a month or $119.95 annually, they can watch the whole season of baseball on their computers. This, of course, assumes that they have a high quality connection which would allow for a smooth feed during the game. Anything less than high speed means more time spent buffering than streaming, more paused screens and missed plays than anything else. Maybe fans could pull their pennies and get a discount on group therapy.

It seems this Direct TV MLB launch coincides with the introduction of two new Direct TV satellites. These will allow the broadcasting of 150 national high definition channels and 1500 local channels by fall 2007. How convenient that all these new channels become available around the same time that Direct TV hopes to entice displaced former "Extra Innings" subscribers.

Petitions are circulating around the internet and fans are hopeful their tirades will collectively knock some sense into the heads of the powers that be. But are petitions truly going to make an impact or are they simply a means of allowing disgruntled fans to vent their frustration toward an organization they feel has kicked them below the belt? This baseball fan fears it's probably the latter.

So, come spring training, it's more than likely that a collective huff will be heard across the country. Husbands and dads will pout like 3 year olds who've had their favorite toy taken away... a whine that could only be drowned out when their wives and daughters are forced to revert back to the old standard of disappointedly ugly ties for Father's Day. Let's hope Mr. Selig's is a doozie.