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MLB Frustration

Everybody wants my money!

A former colleague and I used to muse to one another about $10 here then $10 there. After a bit, we had to increase our pondering to $20.

When I was a boy there was no local television. To get reception, cable was required. This was the days before HBO. In those years I was blessed to have my choice of Phillies, Mets, and Yankees games to view. If the Phils weren’t on, it was a good bet one of the New York teams would be. I was a fan of baseball and I watched a lot.

MLB does not make those games available any longer. The Yankees went to the YES network some time ago. Every one in a blue moon, the Mets can be picked up, but I think even they disappeared last year. Truth be told, however, the Braves are on my line-up. And I do have all three channels that show the Phillies. Apparently, that is not available to everyone in the metropolitan region as I hear plenty of folks lament that CN8 and CSN are not available to them. And it does mean I need to subscribe to extended basic to get CSN.

MLB has turned up the pay-to-use features on most of its offerings. I used to be able to download the game notes for each game from the web site. These are the talking points announcers use throughout the game. That now is available only to subscribers.

I used to be able to listen to the games over the Internet. I still can, but I need to pay a fee to do so. As I mentioned on Jarvis’s site recently, I do not pay for radio.

I suspect that MLB Gameday will eventually be pay-to-view soon. MLB.TV is already.

Once product I am willing to pay for is the Extra Innings package. Extra Innings provides up to 60 games per week to the subscriber. No home team games (for me, that is the Phillies) are available, but other teams are. This allows one to watch games of teams not normally seen in his market. As a fan of the game, this is good. And I recognize there is a cost involved and am willing to pony up.

This package requires either satellite or digital cable. As a phan, I have cable. Remember, I ensure that I have all the Phillies games. But I want more. If Extra Innings goes to satellite, MLB would then expect me to pay cable fees for my local team and satellite fees to have access to purchase Extra Innings, which has its own fee. To me, that is absurd position to place the customer.

As it is, going to the park is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Figure $24 per ticket, $10 for parking, $3 for the toll, and the price of gas means I am looking at minimum $12 to get there. That’s $49 for me to walk through the door. I can go without the beverage and the dog. Sure, some of these costs flatten out if I bring my wife and daughter. But we escalate to $100 if I do. To see a baseball game.

The last time I went an NBA or NHL game was when I lived in Boston. That was 16 years ago! Those sports have priced me out of the arena (and basketball has pretty much lost me as a fan). The NFL has always been a tough ticket around here. I have seen some games since I came back to NJ, but not since the Eagles moved into the Linc. It’s easy to dismiss as the game is better for me to watch on television.

Baseball is my love. I used to be good for 15-20 games a season. No longer. So, I am looking to supplement that with an expensive television package. MLB looks to be doing its damndest to ensure that its fans can’t get what they want. With an already shrunk fanbase, this is not good marketing.

Also blogged on this date . . .

• Locks of Love - 2008
• Nano Hazard - 2008
• The Politics Around Me - 2006

Tags: MLB, Phillies