Major League Baseball Releases Webcasting Plans 261
TopShelf writes "With spring in the air, it's time to discuss the (US) national pastime. According to this story at CNN, Major League Baseball is planning to webcast 1,000 games this season. The interesting part is that in order not to violate TV blackout rules, they'll try to deny service to viewers who instead have local broadcasts available, using Quova's user-location service. At last, an opportunity to see my hometown Detroit Tigers more than once a year!"
Proxy (Score:5, Insightful)
that comment was not... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Proxy (Score:5, Informative)
And, if you're caught intentionally trying to circumvent the system, your credit card will automatically be charged $100.
Re:Proxy (Score:5, Insightful)
I wonder what Visa will do when you dispute a $100 charge on your credit card.
Re:Proxy (Score:2)
Re:Proxy (Score:5, Funny)
After you dispute the charge, MLB sends some "Customer Service Technicians" over to your house to give you a personal "Batting Demonstration" as part of the process to make sure that you are being "Serviced" to the extent that they wish.
Re:Proxy (Score:2)
Re:Proxy (Score:2)
By you agreeing to the terms of service. If you don't like the terms of service, express you dislike to MLB or simply don't use their service.
-Bill
Re:Proxy (Score:2)
Re:Proxy (Score:3, Insightful)
So you have to watch it for free on the old fashioned tube if you're local. How tragic.
Cut them a break. They have long standing contractual obligations to the affiliates. The alternative is to change nothing. Instead, they've arranged it so that this can happen despite the existing contracts. That's admirable. It opens the door to greater things.
Imagine if this is actually successful. Baseball (tm) might discover
Re:Proxy (Score:2)
Hmmm....
Bud didn't think of that, now did he...
Re:Proxy (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Proxy (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Proxy (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Proxy (Score:2)
Oblligatory joke for baseball fans... (Score:3, Funny)
At last, an opportunity to see my hometown Detroit Tigers more than once a year!
Why on earth would you want to do that?
TheFrood
Re:Oblligatory joke for baseball fans... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Oblligatory joke for baseball fans... (Score:2)
MLB has so sullied its reputation and so alienated its marketbase with repeated strikes, criminal players, drug scandals, and other misdeeds that most everyone I know, even those who are strongly interested in sports, are simply no longer interested in baseball.
Football, golf, NASCAR (Boo!), and even soccer are simply much more popular sports than baseball.
Really, who wants to watch a bunch of steroid-ridden uber-jocks stand around and scratch themselves in a game with zero strategy and zero excitement?
Re:Oblligatory joke for baseball fans... (Score:2)
Wow. You were almost a ballplayer, I guess.
Re:Oblligatory joke for baseball fans... (Score:2, Funny)
(pssst, Selleck's char was a detroit fan)
Re:Oblligatory joke for baseball fans... (Score:4, Funny)
Are there any baseball players that old?
Re:Oblligatory joke for baseball fans... (Score:2)
Re:Oblligatory joke for baseball fans... (Score:2)
Well, that's stupid. (Score:4, Interesting)
Blooming, blithering, drivelling, sputtering, drooling morons. But this is what we have come to expect from Bud Selig, unfortunately.
Re:Well, that's stupid. (Score:2, Insightful)
And because your own team is on free-to-air TV in full motion, instead of some jerky lo-res webcast?
And because it's much cheaper than the MLB/NHL/NFL packages services like DirecTV have?
Re:Well, that's stupid. (Score:5, Interesting)
I think they wasted a ton of effort to do the geographic limitation. Why bother? Yes, broadcasters paid for exclusive tv rights, but this is a different medium. Getting people to pay for webcasts must surely be nothing but new revenue.
Re:Well, that's stupid. (Score:4, Funny)
--Your Boss.
Re:Well, that's stupid. (Score:2)
Re:Well, that's stupid. (Score:5, Informative)
People happily pay $80 season just for a service [rotonews.com] that gives you [freely available] stats and tells you their opinion of who is good and who isn't. Being able to catch the occasional game to do some "scouting" would probably be worth just as much.
And, as amazing as it might sound, some people actually enjoy watching more than one team's games.
Re:Well, that's stupid. (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't think the webcasters will be able to carry the local network's commercials, so if viewers in the local area can bypass ads by subscribing to the webcast, then the networks will get less money for each advertising block. This, in turn, will reduce the amount of money that each team can get for its local broadcasting rights.
Business (Re:Well, that's stupid) (Score:4, Insightful)
All advertising will probably be blacked out or replaced with a "filler" screen so there is no legal problems from that end.
The big losers for this will people who would like to watch the game from work within the "banned" radius. The internet radio version of this was great for people trapped in buildings with no reception. Too bad the MLB got involved and let their lawyers loose on the "implications."
Re:Well, that's stupid. (Score:2)
Who ya callin' a bum? (Score:2)
Seriously, the problem is the contract arrangements described by another poster. You'd think, though, that MLB would find some way to share those eighty dollars a year with the teams.
As for blackout rules on sellouts, you're confusing MLB with the NFL. There, games not sold out are blacked out locally (also a dumbass rule IMHO). In baseball, the local teams get cable contracts & revenue (except the Expos, who need to move to Washington, but I digress)
Re:Well, that's stupid. (Score:2)
Or, if he has a TV tuner card, he wouldn't even have to step away from the PC--just use a different piece of software.
Come on... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Come on... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Come on... (Score:2)
But then again being a geek doesn't mean you have to be smart.
Foil hats... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Foil hats... (Score:2)
Original Airdate on FOX: 3-Oct-1999 [snpp.com]
% The family heads up to Bart's room, where the boy has been doing some redecorating. The ceiling is filled with wire hangers, each dangling from a string. Bart, wearing a trash can lid for a helmet, is busy wrapping himself in aluminum foil.
Bart: You're probably wondering about the coat hangers. They're to block the satellite that's been spying on me.
Marge: [with trepidation] Okay
Bart: It can read your electr
ObSimpsons Quote (Score:5, Funny)
McGuire:"Do you people want answers, or do you want to see me hit some zingers?"
Crowd: "Zingers!"
I'd rather eat dirt under the bleachers (Score:2)
"You know, I never realized how boring this game is." --Homer
CORRECT obvious Simpsons quote (Score:2)
Uhh... It's "Dingers".
Zingers are cheap, knock-off twinkies...
Re:ObSimpsons Quote (Score:2)
Only on Slashdot would one of the greatest sluggers ever have his name spelled incorrectly.
effectiveness (Score:4, Funny)
If the user-location service proves ineffective, what will the MLB do?
Speculation welcome
Commercial Free? (Score:5, Funny)
Being bombarded by ads (either at home or at the game) has become as much a part of the beloved pasttime as the game itself.
If they're not gonna let me be a part of that, then NO THANKS!
They already Cover every pitch on the web.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Its pretty incredible. Baseball is a very data intensive sport
Re:They already Cover every pitch on the web.. (Score:2)
Re:They already Cover every pitch on the web.. (Score:2)
Re:They already Cover every pitch on the web.. (Score:2)
They are all great, but CBS tends to post an incorrect final score more likely than the others in my experience. They even have a reputation for it on many gambling forums. Sports bettors tend to notice if a score is 93-70 at one site and 93-72 at another.
That said, we are talking about the difference between 99.2% and 99.5%. The vast majority of the time CBS and the others
This is fucked up (Score:2, Interesting)
How many people do they hope to sign up for this?
Re:This is fucked up (Score:2)
~S
Bud Selig can bite me! (Score:5, Insightful)
Years ago, the individual radio stations apparently owned the rights to the audio of baseball games, and I listened to them directly from their web site, for free (and heard the local commercials, too...) Then, I think it was about two or three years ago, MLB "found" the Internet and decided it should control all audio broadcasts. Of course, by "control", I mean "Charge $10/yr for what used to be free.".
Last year, they raised the subscription fee to $12/yr. This year, they are apparently raising it to $19.95/yr. And after all that, they still have the local commercials! The commercials are supposedly paying for the broadcast, can't they have them pay for the Internet broadcast too?
I understand that if they provided the service for free, there would be a lot more people using it, and bandwidth isn't free. But did bandwidth costs really go up 100% in the past two or three years? If not, I think a more likely explanation is that Baseball (indeed, all sports) are filled with greedy owners, spoiled players, and weak executives, and that the cost of being a fan will shortly get prohibitive for most people.
Re:Bud Selig can bite me! (Score:4, Funny)
*gasp* You mean our beloved players don't play for the love of the game? The owners want _MONEY_? The executives are CLUELESS?!?!?
I mean, no offense, but in what country is THAT news? "Professional Athletes, Owners are Spoiled, Want Money. Film at 11:00."
FAR more interesting is re-reading your above line. Greedy owners, spoiled players, weak executives. Hell, it's no wonder it's America's passtime. It's a MICROCOSM for $DIETY's sake. With the Microsoft Yankees, the AOLTW A's, General Motors Giants, and let's not forget the Amway Cubs.
Re:Bud Selig can bite me! (Score:2, Interesting)
The second time I got spammed with a pop-up window by RealOne, with no way to disable them, I called Real to cancel my MLB subscription.
At least Real was prompt with the refund. Paying for it is one thing. Paying for it and getting spammed in return is unacceptable.
Re:Bud Selig can bite me! (Score:3, Informative)
I'm on the fence as to whether to subscribe this year. If they changed things so you can't listen to he games on Linux, I ain't subscribing.
Incidentally, I just found out by reading the FAQ that they are offering a $12 package that just includes games from your favorite team. I might just go this route, since I never listen to any other games. To get it, you need to reg
Re:Bud Selig can bite me! (Score:2)
I'm sure its against MLB rules, but these people never seem to have gotten the memo, or any sort of equipment to block out the game from their webcast
Re:Bud Selig can bite me! (Score:2)
iirc the commercial/tv timeouts are faded to nothing as well
Unfortunately it's run by MSN, and likely requires IE/wmp... They have video too, but it's DRM'd and I've refused the updates. [pretty sure that's free too though]
Re:Bud Selig can bite me! (Score:2)
Re:Bud Selig can bite me! (Score:3, Insightful)
The owners charge what they charge in order to maximize their profits (or minimize their losses). Rest assured that they will continue to do that regardless of what they are paying the players.
Um... (Score:2)
Isn't that more like a form of punishment?
But... why would I want to? (Score:2, Insightful)
Mlb website (Score:3, Funny)
Don't forget.... (Score:5, Interesting)
What does this have to do with broadbandcasts? Wait and see what content actually shows up on the net... Is it real, or is it Memorex?
Block the Senators? (Score:4, Interesting)
What I'd really want (Score:5, Interesting)
If they really wanted to churn up a buck they could make available radio broadcasts of 'old time' games. Even better, make them freely available as a move to generate interest in the sport. Think of the benefits and possibilities.
One, you've got MASSIVE amounts of content. IF you got back to the pre-WW2 era you're looking at 20+ clubs playing over 144 games per year. You've games from hall of famers like mickey mantle, ted williams, or jackie robinson playing. This could introduce a younger audience to people they've only heard stories about.
Two, Niche markets and fan base expansion. I live in michigan and have been stuck with the piss poor tigers. Yet, I'm a big fan of the cubs thanks to having WGN tv. Image being able to equally expose all 32 teams in all markets. Long term you could see an overall rise in attendance (fans going to their local park to see their favorite out of state team).
As for niche markets, I'm also brooklyn dodgers fan. The team moved out of new york around the time my father was born. Yet I'd love to sit back on a summer day, and listen to a brooklyn dodgers game. I can't be the only one like this.
Third, and finally, Color. Listening to a game today sounds boring. Most teams have radio annoucers with communications degrees. They call baseball games until they can get a job as news casters. In the 'good old days' you had guys like Harry Carey, or Ernie Harwall who made the most boring baseball game a work of art. There's a great oral history and tradition in baseball. Most of it is lost on guys now. Those intersting, non sequitor stories than a broadcaster can tell during a dull game are what separate the good color men from the bad. think of the stories that are sitting in a vault rusting away right now.
An added benefit of making the old school games available is that you'd have to transfer them off of whatever media they're stored on now (probably steel wire or even wax in some cases, certainly magentic tape for the majority of games) is that you preserve the games for the ages.
Re:What I'd really want (Score:2)
I'm glad that Al Kaline is at least working for the team, even if he and Harwell are not broadcasting anymore. I actually haven't been able to listen to the games anymore since it changed from George Kell/Ernie Harwell/Al Kaline as announcers. To me, THEY were part of what made baseball so great... of course, the only memory I have of my father ever being genuinely obviously happy was when the 1984 Tigers just obliterated every other team that ever existed.
But I was a Tigers fan right up from then until I grew up, got a job, and moved (actually moved TO Detroit.. but have only been to one game.. thankfully it was in Tiger Stadium.. I'm afraid of Comerica Park... lol) and haven't had time to pay attention to the Tigers, since I work in the day.
Now it's the Red Wings, since I can catch them at work if necessary, and that's not usualyl since the games are almost always on after work hours.
In any case, without those three announcing the pitches, I just turn the volume off of whatever game I happen to catch when I do catch a baseball game. I haven't found any other announcers that sound even close.
My dad and I used to listen to the AM Radio in his old beat up pickup truck, and i could see the whole game as if it were playing on TV in my mind.. amazing.
Re:they already do this. (Score:2)
The selection is still pretty spotty, considering the collection they've got to drawn from.
The only way I'd go to an MLB game (Score:3, Funny)
Is on "one free beer for everybody in the stands per player who tests positive for steroids night".
reply to article (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, watching a Detroit Tigers game probably isn't going to be all that interesting, though with Trammel, Parrish, and Gibson behind the scenes now, it should at least be better than the last few seasons! All we need is Mr. Sweet Lou Whitaker back.
Double hit for the hacked (Score:3, Informative)
Anyone caught intentionally circumventing the system will be banned and fined $100, automatically charged to their credit cards, Bowman said.
Great...so not only are viewers going to be kicked off their account by some 14 year old with a copy of Golden Eye, but they're going to be fined 100 bucks for the priviledge of being bruteforced.
I've already had bad experiences w/ MLB broadcasts (Score:5, Interesting)
Then the trouble began. About a month into the season, it just stopped working. I talked with the SysAdmin at the Irish University I was at (DCU), and nothing had changed with the ports/firewalls/whatever.
Clearly something changed at MLB. I emailed all the different addresses I could come up with, and didn't get a single human reply. They had no problem charging me $10 (advertised $9.95, but they threw in a nickel for "shipping" -- don't get me started on that one), but they never fixed the problem, addressed it, or offered me a refund.
So, I wouldn't buy the service. They screwed me over by (a) not fixing the service when it stopped working, (b) overcharging me for their service, and (c) having the balls to charge for shipping a streamed audio over the Internet.
Screw them.
Baseball has a history of this (Score:2, Interesting)
For a long time, not one of the three teams in New York (the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants, of course) would allow radio broadcasts because they were afraid that radio would damage the ticket sales.
Re:Baseball has a history of this (Score:2, Interesting)
It was quickly realized that augmenting ticket sales with radio adverts helped pay the bills and the strategy was quickly adopted. There's always an initial hesitation to advances in technology in professional sports but I think the MLB has been fairly good about adopting technology rather quickly. There was certainly not a long period of time where the New York teams weren't on the radio.
linked thoughts on the licensure of ... everything (Score:2, Interesting)
However, it's a bit like buying a DVD (and finding no legal way at present -- someone correct me if that's no longer true -- to view its content on other than an annointed operating system (Mac OS or OS X, Windows
What's worse than the present situation (where so many hidden and esoteric rules hold sway) is even worse to my mind: I forsee an increasing flood of fine-print, sir-don't-worry-about-these-technicalities, but BOY do we have some technicalities to go through before you can eat here / walk through the museum / sketch trees in the park / take note of the fine and copyrighted smells in our greenhouse. More formal "licenses" not just on software, but everywhere, minor Gotchas which don't just prohibit illegal for-profit exploitation of copyrighted works, but ever more of the *normal* things which common sense currently holds to be among the rights of customers
timothy
MLB TV blackout rules are out of date (Score:3, Insightful)
IMO the MLB tv blackout rules are an anachronism of a bygone era.
Besides preventing national broadcasts from competing with local broadcasts (which is arguably a "good thing") they also force fans who live outside the broadcast/must-carry range of the local station to pay outrageous Pay Per View charges to watch their favorite team.
If I was a bad citizen, I'd consider modifying my sattellite TV receiver to allow me to get out of market local channels as locals... Not that I would ever do that, of course.
Re:MLB TV blackout rules are out of date (Score:2, Insightful)
I completely agree. What fascinates me is that the league will complain about the precarious financial health of the sport, but they can't seem to adjust their broadcast/delivery scheme to actually collect money from those willing to pay. Why on earth would you ever black out an interested/paying customer?
The webcasting blackout thing is yet another example of how mlb can't get it's act together on this. The product should be baseball,
I'll show you my proxy if you show yours (Score:4, Interesting)
Another way to go about webcasts (Score:5, Informative)
It's just really cool to see a sport actually doing sometihng for the fans and not just as a cash grab.
COOL!!! (Score:4, Funny)
Minor league! (Score:4, Insightful)
You want real damn baseball, you go to your hometown minor league club. Sit right behind homeplate for $6. $3 for a brat and another $2.50 for a great American MACRObrew. None of that microbrew shit where some pretentious nitwit makes comments like "..a deliciously hoppy body and a crisp bite on the tongue. The nose is that of lemon rinds, and the tasting follows through with a light citrus flavor that cleanses and refreshes the palate..." wanker. Cheer when the pitcher beans a batter in the head for the 7th time in the game. Jump in your seat when a popup fly clangs into the roof of the stands. Get pissed drunk. Taunt the other team and listen to them curse. Moon the mascot if there is one. Yell at the kids. Then stagger home. Minor league's all about mom apple pie and america (and beer). Major's about subway series where no matter what New freakin' York wins, corporate greed, and rich assholes on the team, owning the team, and in the good seats. Screw 'em.
Re:Minor league! (Score:3, Insightful)
Preach it.
I've been a New York Mets fan for 20 years, but I've sworn off consciously giving any money to MLB in the wake of 1) the threatened strike and 2) the abusive strongarm bullshit [slashdot.org] that the Mets pulled on their most prominent fan site last summer.
The New Jersey Jackals [jackals.com] play in a stadium 10 minutes from my house. Parking is $2 (Mets: $10). Box seats four rows off the third base line are $8 (Mets: N/A. Those seats aren't availabl
Re:Minor league! (Score:2)
There was a kid at The Masters College who'd pitch the first game of a double header, then catch the second game without losing a step. Wonder what became of him? Helluva arm by any standards.
walkout (Score:2, Funny)
However, MLB plans to go on strike after the third game, thus reducing the total number of webcast games.
percentage of games broadcast (Score:2)
Low bandwidth requirements (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Low bandwidth requirements (Score:2)
Which gives me pause and concern about MLB's ability to keep up with bandwidth demands once the season is in full swing and they have big games like Red Sox vs. Yankees (which will be their first game online...I guess they want to stress test the system early).
I've seen big guy's get slashdotted, like a 386 serving across a 56K modem, when they try and do something huge like streaming video service. Just look a
Webcasts (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not particularly excited that MLB is doing it. It sounds to me like another desperate ploy to get fans back after they abused us with their "I deserve more money even though I have enough $100 bills lying around to wipe my ass with for the rest of my life" spoiled rich boy player strikes.
Forget baseball -- NASCAR is the new national pastime.
Baseball easy to compress? (Score:4, Informative)
MLB Stinks (Score:2)
Check out the link here:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/s
Most teams will black out all games involving those in a fan's home market. But the Royals are one of three teams who will allow some of the normally blacked-out games to be shown to fans locally.
Why pay for the MLB when the NFL is free?
Sorry, gulp, drink | more beer.
Enjoy
Also Streaming Audio for $20/season (Score:2)
I just wanted to point out that you can also get the audio feed for every game in the nation for only $20/season. This isn't as big a deal for local games, but when you're following 22 fantasy players or your home team is on the road for a week, it's money fairly well spent.
The NFL still offers these feeds for free..but I guess $20 isn't too bad for more than a thousand games. And the audio feeds go silent for commercials (since radio commericals are local feeds)...so you only hear the game, which is als
Broadcasting technologies (Score:2)
Coming to webcasts, why not use a virtual broadcaster? ie a server can covert real-video to basic animation in real time.... which would take up lesser bandwidth. OR, why not conver the mo
Re:Quova (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Quova (Score:3, Interesting)
What?? How does this let you know if people are full of crap?
Re:Quova (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Other Major League Baseball Properties (Score:3, Informative)
For example, former Cleveland Browns Running back Jim Brown isn't listed as a player with the 1965 Cleveland Browns, but there will be a running back with the number 32 for that team.
The ability to use "all time" teams could be disappearing in the near future. With the popularity of "throwback" jerseys, many retired players have begun looking into the idea of being paid likeness rights (or the jersey equivilent). In their defense, this is fair. Current players get a piece of the merchandising pie, while money from retired players just goes to the retired players association or, in some cases, a general pension fund.
Re:Other Major League Baseball Properties (Score:2, Interesting)
http://www.diamond-mind.com/index.html
However, It is a Simulator, you only control decisions, not actual swinging/fielding/pitching.
Their Previous Season disks cover an awful lot of team, almost all the Best Teams in history, as well as complete seasons.
Otherwise, you may look for some ancient Warez Version of Earl Weaver Baseball for the PC. That had historical players as far as I ca
Re:Watch the Tigers ??? (Score:2, Interesting)
The toughest part about watching Tigers game is knowing that the payroll from last year opening day was about $55,000,000. The Red Wings, the greatest team on the planet, has a payroll of $66,085,756 (as of Feb 14th). Hopefully Tram can turn things around.
Re:They still play baseball? (Score:2)
Re:They still play baseball? (Score:2)
The Tigers played 31 Spring Training games last year. That would bring the number to 193. So you're still wrong.
Re:They still play baseball? (Score:2)
That or they are a bit nostalgically deluded about how great the 30's or the 50's or the 70's were in MLB.