I live in Missouri, and I've been a good consumer. I've watched the Cardinals (plus Royals) like MLB wants me to. I subscribe to DirecTV Stream, and that includes Bally Sports Midwest. It isn't cheap; $99 for the lowest cost package that includes BSMW. That's $27 per month more than YTTY.

What's irritating me is MLB's continuing flirtations with streaming services. Twice I've had to get an Apple TV trial account in order to watch a Cards game. And God forbid they appear on Peacock, another app I'm apparently supposed to subscribe to. That extra $27 per month I'm paying doesn't buy what it used to.

mlb.tv just had a 50% price drop. I bought the out-of-market package for $48 for the rest of the season. I've also cancelled my DirecTV Stream account and will be signing up for YTTY. Using VPN, I connect out of country, and get around ALL MLB blackouts this way. I'm connected to Canada and watching a Peacock broadcast as I write this. Didn't have to bother registering for anything with NBC.

No more paying for local broadcasts for me. Outside of MLB baseball, Bally Sports is mostly garbage. I won't miss it. Even if I pay $180 for a full season of MLB in 2024, I'm still saving $12 per month over the course of the year, and I'm getting every MLB game instead of just two teams.

The end game of streaming will be us getting less of all the content we want at a higher price point than what we started with.

I guess that is to be expected when a market is disrupted by companies with a lot of funding whose business plan doesn't call for making a profit until they have totally smashed the old market model to the point where it can't come back the same.

I like Apple TV getting games because it's basically my only chance to watch an Astros regular season game. Living in the state of Texas means the Astros are blacked out for me. Funny enough, Rangers are also blacked out for me, so I can't watch any local baseball without jumping through a bunch of hoops.

The MLB blackout rules really hurt baseball's ability to grow. As a kid, I always had a game on in the background. Now, I basically get one maybe two games a week, and rarely are they for a local team. My kids have no interest in watching games, because the local teams are never on. It's basically European soccer to them.

It seems like everyone knows that MLB blackout rules just hurt fans, but no one in the business cares. Hopefully, after all these regional networks fail, MLB will do something to remedy the problem. I would gladly pay $150 to stream the Astros for a season on MLB.tv, but it's not offered to me.

I typically just watch on some website out there that costs me nothing

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My kids have no interest in watching games, because the local teams are never on. It's basically European soccer to them.

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This is becoming increasingly true. Kids growing up in houses without a regional sports network (or the local MLB rights they hold). They never had baseball, and they don't miss it.

dabo man said:

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My kids have no interest in watching games, because the local teams are never on. It's basically European soccer to them.

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This is becoming increasingly true. Kids growing up in houses without a regional sports network (or the local MLB rights they hold). They never had baseball, and they don't miss it.

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During the summer, there is no reason why MLB shouldn't be making schedules where there are good teams or match ups every Saturday where there are at least two games on and then selling both two FOX.

That's one of the things I remember growing up as a kid. Turning baseball on Saturday during the summer and letting it go all day.

It's not just that though. It's that baseball does a terrible job of marketing their guys. Granted, they've had some bad luck with Mike Trout being one of the best players MLB has, but the dude doesn't want to participate in marketing.

They've been blessed with Shoei, which he naturally draws eyes because he's a unicorn. However, the only commercial I recall seeing him in is a New Balance commercial.

The Braves team is a young, fun, team who mashes. As a Houston fan, there are some guys on the Rangers who are fun dudes to watch. Last year the only reason you knew who Jazz was is if he played the team you watched. The Reds have some fun young guys to watch. Rutschman is a unicorn too.

My point is MLB has got to start marketing guys to the point where a casual viewer see the Reds playing the Orioles and says I want to watch to see what Elly De La Cruz, Jonathan India, and Adley Rutshman are doing. Even if it's just for 1 game of a 3 games series.