MLB Extra Innings

[VA Sox Fan]

One source familiar with negotiations said he now believes that the Extra Innings package will remain available to all three services.

 

"I'd be surprised if the DirecTV deal goes through

 

Gawd I hope this "one source" is right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[VA Sox Fan]

Does anyone out there have an update (a reliable one)????? I'm not switching until I absolutely have to. The bad thing is, I'll be at Spring Training the last week of March and won't have time to make the change before 4/2.

 

I can't believe they are waiting this long. Bud Selig SUCKS! s*** or get off of the pot!!!!!

[RedSoxRooter]

From what I read from Bud this morning, it doesn't sound good (that it won't go to DT). But damn it's sure getting close.

[VA Sox Fan]

From what I read from Bud this morning' date=' it doesn't sound good (that it won't go to DT). But damn it's sure getting close.[/quote']

 

That's what's killing me. If I have to switch, I have to. I'll be in Ft. Myers 3 weeks from today.

 

I'm wondering what the odds are of getting D-TV out here before then. This truly STINKS, BLOWS and SUCKS!!!!!!!

[Mr Crunchy]

who owns direct tv and why in gods green earth would the nfl and mlb abandon the cable market which is infinitely bigger and move to satellite?

 

someone has some muscle

[VA Sox Fan]

who owns direct tv and why in gods green earth would the nfl and mlb abandon the cable market which is infinitely bigger and move to satellite?

 

someone has some muscle

 

Rupert Murdoch owns DTV. I didn't think the NFL was ever on cable. MLB abandoned it for $700 mil from DTV.

[schillingouttheks]

Wait, so did the deal happen?

[VA Sox Fan]

Wait' date=' so did the deal happen?[/quote']

 

Almost:

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/john_donovan/03/08/directtv/index.html?eref=si_mlb

[schillingouttheks]

f*** Bud Selig.

[VA Sox Fan]

f*** Bud Selig.

 

yeah....exactly!

[Mr Crunchy]

no

f*** rupert murdoch and bud selig and the board of directors who set this up

 

the nfl has been on cable for almost 20?? years va

espn is cable and i think they cut their teeth on tnt if im not mistaken

 

late season games were on channel 262? here in town which was cable

it wasnt premium cable but you had to pay to see it none the less back in the day

[VA Sox Fan]

no

f*** rupert murdoch and bud selig and the board of directors who set this up

 

the nfl has been on cable for almost 20?? years va

espn is cable and i think they cut their teeth on tnt if im not mistaken

 

late season games were on channel 262? here in town which was cable

it wasnt premium cable but you had to pay to see it none the less back in the day

 

I was thinking of the NFL ticket where you can get all of the games, like the MLB package. I know select games are on cable.

 

Comcast is also to blame. MLB got mad b/c they wouldn't agree to offer their new all-baseball channel as part of their basic cable and Direct TV did. The channel won't be available until 2009 and I thought they would at least hold off the exclusive deal until then or at least next season. Comcast carries all NFL and all NBA channels, why they wouldn't agree to baseball is beyond me. There's so much more baseball history.

 

What do they do? Pull the trigger 24 days prior to opening day....ridiculous! I made the switch, no choice.

[VA Sox Fan]

Here's more about the deal:

 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-extrainnings8mar08,1,4215199.story?coll=la-headlines-sports&ctrack=1&cset=true

[RedSoxRooter]

Meanwhile, another source close to the negotiations said a recent counteroffer by In Demand — the cable pay package provider that shared the rights to Extra Innings for the last five seasons — plus one by satellite provider EchoStar, which owns Dish Network, "came too late in the game."

 

In Demand's counteroffer, which did not ask for exclusivity, matched DirecTV's offer.

 

f***ing ********.

[schillingouttheks]

Let's all march on Selig's office and pluck out his eyeballs. Then we can force feed him his own dick.

[VA Sox Fan]

Now THIS! Damn I'm confused:

 

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070308/20070308006061.html?.v=1

 

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Major League Baseball and DIRECTV, the nation's leading satellite provider, today announced a seven-year agreement that continues carriage rights to the MLB EXTRA INNINGS subscription package of out-of-market games and includes the launch of the MLB Channel as part of DIRECTV's basic package. Included within the agreement, DIRECTV will be a minority partner in the MLB Channel, and will work with MLB to develop the network, which will launch in 2009.

 

Additionally, in keeping with MLB's desire to provide as much MLB programming to as many baseball fans as possible, MLB and DIRECTV have agreed to include a provision that allows MLB EXTRA INNINGS to be offered to other incumbents - In Demand and DISH Network - at consistent rates and carriage requirements with a deal to be concluded before the baseball season begins. The provision also requires the incumbents to agree to carriage rights to the MLB Channel proportionally equivalent to DIRECTV's commitment. Should the incumbents decide not to match DIRECTV's commitment, the MLB EXTRA INNINGS package will be exclusive to DIRECTV. All out of market

[mosox]

According to the Associated Press, however, the president of iN Demand, Robert Jacobson, said the agreement would be impossible for his company, calling it a "de facto exclusive deal."

 

This is based on pure greed and nothing good can come of it. First baseball is pricing middle income fans out of the stadiums and now they're squeezing them out of their living rooms. It's possible the next generation will look at baseball the way the public now views hockey.

[VA Sox Fan]

I'm going to stick w/ my move to Direct TV, my appt is 3/17. I'll be in Ft. Myers the last week of March and don't have time to wait to see what InDemand/Comcast is going to do. They really screwed up by waiting so close to opening day to get this deal done. There's no excuse for it.

[Mr Crunchy]

f***em

i wont buy a dish to watch baseball when the sox are on 162 games a year as it is on free cable here

 

baseball needs to generate a shitload of revenue as guys like gil meche juan pierre and jd drew are now earning more money than most south american nations

 

i truly hope this comes back and bites them in the ass

f***ing satellite tv.....

doesnt rupert murdoch know that most of us dont live in bumble f*** nebraska??

[VA Sox Fan]

f***em

i wont buy a dish to watch baseball when the sox are on 162 games a year as it is on free cable here

 

baseball needs to generate a shitload of revenue as guys like gil meche juan pierre and jd drew are now earning more money than most south american nations

 

i truly hope this comes back and bites them in the ass

f***ing satellite tv.....

doesnt rupert murdoch know that most of us dont live in bumble f*** nebraska??

 

You enjoyed the baseball package last year didn't you? You may still be able to get it.

[mosox]

I won't get a dish. I have underground utilities where I live and I've never had cable go out in bad weather. Why would I change and put up with rain fade which does happen when I go to the bar to watch the NFL.

[ksushi]

Yeah, when it rains dish is useless, we had dish for like four years and every time it frickin rained the TV was useless.

[VA Sox Fan]

Yeah' date=' when it rains dish is useless, we had dish for like four years and every time it frickin rained the TV was useless.[/quote']

 

My brother and a friend have the Dish and swear it's much better than in the past and they rarely, if ever, lose their picture. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[MANNYHOF24]

Yeah' date=' when it rains dish is useless, we had dish for like four years and every time it frickin rained the TV was useless.[/quote']

 

I have had the dish for like 2 years now, and have only lost the picture in really really bad thunderstorms. Rain does not make you loose reception; at least not anymore.

[Mr Crunchy]

i did enjoy the package va

however

im not about to put the west virginia state flower on my roof to continue getting it

[VA Sox Fan]

i did enjoy the package va

however

im not about to put the west virginia state flower on my roof to continue getting it

 

I know Seano, although unlikely, the bball package could still be available through Comcast.

 

I'm still in an apt for now and I've seen neighbor's balconies w/ the dish on it, it doesn't look so bad or big as I would have imagined.

 

West Virginia state flower....good one....

[mosox]

Leave it to a Sox fan in Congress to fight the good fight.

 

The Associated Press

Tuesday, March 27, 2007; 8:58 PM

 

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Kerry urged Major League Baseball on Tuesday to hold off on a deal to put the sport's "Extra Innings" package of out-of-market games exclusively on DirecTV Group Inc. A top baseball official declined to agree, with opening day less than a week away.

 

Kerry, D-Mass., made the push at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on behalf of subscribers to cable TV and EchoStar Communications Corp.'s Dish Network who had received the package previously.

 

The dispute concerns which homes will receive baseball's new television network in 2009. DirecTV, a satellite service, has agreed to carry that package as part of its deal. The company would also receive an equity stake in the channel.

 

At Tuesday's hearing, Rob Jacobson, president and CEO of iN Demand, owned by affiliates of the companies that own Time Warner Cable Inc., Comcast Corp. and Cox Communications Inc., offered to carry the package on the same terms that DirecTV is, while putting off the issue of The Baseball Channel until it is launched.

 

"This would ensure that for the next two years at least, all baseball fans would have access to the 'Extra Innings' package," he said. "If we're unable to reach an agreement when the channel launches, we'd give baseball the right to cancel the 'Extra Innings' deal. We think this is a fair compromise."

 

Kerry, often playing the role of mediator, got behind the effort.

 

"What's the matter with that?" he asked Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer.

 

"We believe that DirecTV has the right to begin to help us build the channel," DuPuy answered, adding that the cable industry had nine months to negotiate a deal.

 

Kerry pressed the issue, suggesting that the status quo be kept in place while the sides tried to work out a deal.

 

DuPuy wouldn't agree to that, although he said, "Our door remains open" for a resolution.

 

Baseball gave other incumbent carriers until the end of the month to match the $700 million, seven-year deal it announced with DirecTV on March 8. IN Demand recently made an offer it said matched the deal, but Major League Baseball said it fell short.

 

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who has been critical of the National Football League's "Sunday Ticket" deal with DirecTV, which allows viewers to watch teams outside their regional markets, issued a warning to baseball.

 

"When fans react, Congress reacts," he said, adding, "You may be well advised to act before we do."

 

Chase Carey, president and CEO of DirecTV, said that the issue was a business one that was best left to the market.

 

"I don't run down to Washington every time we have a contract issue or a programming issue or a cost issue," he said.

 

DuPuy said that fans who have gotten the out-of-town games on other providers will still have the option of receiving them this year: by switching to DirecTV or subscribing to MLB.TV to watch the games on the Internet.

 

"This is not a matter of fans being unable to view Major League Baseball's out-of-market games," he said. "It is a matter of not being able to watch those games on a particular system."

 

"Extra Innings" had more than a half-million TV subscribers last year.

 

Carl Vogel, president of EchoStar, said exclusive content deals are bad for fans.

 

"They harm existing consumers while limiting choices in the future," he said.

 

Kerry, who has asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate, said in an interview after the hearing that legislation was a possibility but not his preference.

 

"Obviously, we're interested in it, a number of senators suggested the possibility of Congress doing something, but I'd like to see the parties get together in the next four days and hopefully resolve this," he said.

 

"If they can't get together, we are where we are and we'll look at what we're going to do."

[CrespoBlows]

I'm trying to make a list of the most important things the United States is facing right now, and I can't justify ranking MLB Extra Innings in the top 100.

 

Let MLB do what it wants. I mean this is a freakin' sport. Why the f*** is Senator Kerry sticking his nose in this one?

[mosox]

It's the Senate Commerce Committee. It's what they do.

[CrespoBlows]

It's the Senate Commerce Committee. It's what they do.

 

Congress doesn't need to regulate baseball. That's a waste of yours and my tax dollars.