# MLB Owners to discuss blackout solution



## DCSholtis (Aug 7, 2002)

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_y...F?slug=jp-blackouts080708&prov=yhoo&type=lgns



> Baseball's territorial blackouts, the scourge of so many frustrated television and streaming-video viewers, will be eliminated for the 2009 season if Major League Baseball's executive council follows suggestions president Bob DuPuy plans on presenting next week.
> 
> At the owners' meetings Wednesday, DuPuy said he will propose that if a team is not broadcasting in a geographic location for at least one season, it loses the right to black out games in that area. Gone would be the blackouts that prevent folks in Iowa and Las Vegas from seeing as many as six games each night and have caused viewing havoc throughout the country.
> 
> ...


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## Msguy (May 23, 2003)

No mention about making the other FOX Saturday games available on Extra Innings. Just that the Saturday blackouts during FOX's Saturday Broadcast window would remain and that blackouts would still remain. Uggh I just don't get it. They need to abolish blackouts all together and make every single game available everywhere especially for those of us who shell out $169 each season for MLB Extra Innings. And also still no mention about Over The Air Games that are not available on The Extra Innings Package. Those need to find a way to get on the package.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

I would urge everyone to politely write Bob DuPuy and suggest this to him--that blackouts shouldn't exist for those people paying extra fees to watch a subscription package like Extra Innings.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

I see that MLB is trying to help make things better, but the Fox total blackout on Saturday before 7pm ET is ridiculous. We pay a good hunk of change each year for MLB EI and we should get the out of market Fox games as part of this package.

Do you have an address (mail or email) so we can write to MLB and Mr. DuPuy?

C'mon people, let's let MLB know how we feel.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

Contact DuPuy at this address:

Mr. Robert DuPuy
Major League Baseball
245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY 10167

Phone: (212) 931-7800

Note: Letters via USPS Mail won't get to him in time. I'd recommend calling that office and politely requesting his fax number. They'll give it to you.


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## Msguy (May 23, 2003)

If MLB Doesn't do something about the ridiculous FOX saturday blackout rule then they have accomplished nothing. What's the idea of doing away with blackouts when you still have them or not having a game on at all. Every FOX game should be included in the Extra Innings Package. Like today the Yankees and Angels are playing out in California and the Cardinals are playing the Cubs in Chicago. You only get 1 game on your local FOX station while the other one is going on and you don't have access to viewing it if you wanted to. What's the point of having an out of market package when you can't actually tune into a game that's out of your market On a Saturday Afternoon?


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

Msguy said:


> If MLB Doesn't do something about the ridiculous FOX saturday blackout rule then they have accomplished nothing. What's the idea of doing away with blackouts when you still have them or not having a game on at all. Every FOX game should be included in the Extra Innings Package. Like today the Yankees and Angels are playing out in California and the Cardinals are playing the Cubs in Chicago. You only get 1 game on your local FOX station while the other one is going on and you don't have access to viewing it if you wanted to. What's the point of having an out of market package when you can't actually tune into a game that's out of your market On a Saturday Afternoon?


Exactly!


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

Msguy said:


> If MLB Doesn't do something about the ridiculous FOX saturday blackout rule then they have accomplished nothing. What's the idea of doing away with blackouts when you still have them or not having a game on at all. Every FOX game should be included in the Extra Innings Package. Like today the Yankees and Angels are playing out in California and the Cardinals are playing the Cubs in Chicago. You only get 1 game on your local FOX station while the other one is going on and you don't have access to viewing it if you wanted to. What's the point of having an out of market package when you can't actually tune into a game that's out of your market On a Saturday Afternoon?


I'd say changing the blackout rules for every other day is doing quite a bit. Fox pays 700 million a year for that exclusivity. What the other teams should do is not play their Saturday games in the afternoon and then they wouldn't be blacked out.


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## davidatl14 (Mar 24, 2006)

Ken S said:


> I'd say changing the blackout rules for every other day is doing quite a bit. Fox pays 700 million a year for that exclusivity. What the other teams should do is not play their Saturday games in the afternoon and then they wouldn't be blacked out.


Agreed. The Saturday Fox situation is not going to change during the duration of said contract.

Best possible solution outside of that would be to have MLB schedule all Saturday Games at 7PM EST or later.

Also only allow Fox to select two games from any Saturday. Every body else outside those two games selected by Fox starts at 7P or later East coast Time.
No exceptions, other than possible Doubleheaders because of makeup Games.


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## Msguy (May 23, 2003)

Yes but FOX moved there start times for Saturday baseball to 3:55 in the afternoon. Think about that. Why would they do that at that time of the day? That's just nuts and baseball teams have been around alot longer than FOX has. Everything FOX has touched with baseball has made things for the worse. Exclusive Saturday broadcasts and won't allow the other games they broadcast on the MLB Extra Innings package for viewers to watch out of market games if they want to. FOX is the villian and I hate how they do things when it comes to baseball.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

Fox apparently has a lot of control over the team's start times with the current contract. As long as MLB allows Fox this control, things won't get better. I did write to Bob DuPuy about the Fox issue, but who knows if it will help at all.


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

Msguy said:


> Yes but FOX moved there start times for Saturday baseball to 3:55 in the afternoon. Think about that. Why would they do that at that time of the day? That's just nuts and baseball teams have been around alot longer than FOX has. Everything FOX has touched with baseball has made things for the worse. Exclusive Saturday broadcasts and won't allow the other games they broadcast on the MLB Extra Innings package for viewers to watch out of market games if they want to. FOX is the villian and I hate how they do things when it comes to baseball.


3:55 ET = 12:55 on the West Coast. That's the reason they moved the start time. Same reason the NFL tries to put their "big" games at 4PM.


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## pdxsam (Jun 20, 2004)

They've already said they're not touching the Fox or ESPN exclusivity. This is just for teams that claim huge areas that they don't serve.

What I'd like to see ended is the stupid replay blackout stuff. If you pay for extra innings you should be able to see the game replays also.


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## MN Sportsfan (May 2, 2008)

What they also need to do is allow your local teams non-televised games in the Extra Innings package. I think it's ridiculous if the Twins are playing the Tigers with no TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul but FSN Detroit has the game, everybody but Minnesota gets it on the package. It makes no sense. If a Wild game is not televised locally, I get the game on the NHL Center Ice package. MLB should do the same thing.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

The blackout rules for the NHL and MLB are different.

For example, when the Rangers play the Capitals (I am within the Capitals territory), I can still watch MSG to see the Rangers feed. MSG is not blacked out. When the Yankees play the O's, only the MASN feed is on for me.

The NHL Center Ice package includes NBC's out of market Saturday/Sunday games... if you don't like the teams your local NBC station is showing, you can pick a different game. We pay for this service, why can't Fox/MLB do the same for their customers who pay extra for MLB EI??


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## Chuck W (Mar 26, 2002)

n3ntj said:


> Fox apparently has a lot of control over the team's start times with the current contract. As long as MLB allows Fox this control, things won't get better. I did write to Bob DuPuy about the Fox issue, but who knows if it will help at all.


Bingo. This is the crux of the problem. It's not as easy as Ken S makes it sound, for a team to just change their start time. A lot of times, it not up to the teams themselves, when they get to play their Saturday game.

What MLB needs to do is stop allowing FOX to control start times of games, in their exclusive window. I don't have an issue with giving FOX an exclusive timeframe, BUT MLB needs to allow only ONE game AT A GIVEN START TIME to be scheduled during that window, period. So if they want to do an East/West coast doubleheader, fine, schedule 1 game at 1pm and the other at 4pm, so they don't run simultaneously. Any other games that day should be scheduled outside the exclusive window.


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## Msguy (May 23, 2003)

Chuck W said:


> Bingo. This is the crux of the problem. It's not as easy as Ken S makes it sound, for a team to just change their start time. A lot of times, it not up to the teams themselves, when they get to play their Saturday game.
> 
> What MLB needs to do is stop allowing FOX to control start times of games, in their exclusive window. I don't have an issue with giving FOX an exclusive timeframe, BUT MLB needs to allow only ONE game AT A GIVEN START TIME to be scheduled during that window, period. So if they want to do an East/West coast doubleheader, fine, schedule 1 game at 1pm and the other at 4pm, so they don't run simultaneously. Any other games that day should be scheduled outside the exclusive window.


In Some Teams Cases Like the Cubs there is a city ordnance in place for Saturdays where they cannot play any night games on a Saturday night (unless it's playoffs or World Series) because of the location of the ballpark. It's in a residential area. The Cubs Never play a home night game at Wrigley Field on a Friday or a Saturday Night. So forcing teams to change to night games is out. FOX is stupid for wanting exclusive games and MLB is even more dumb for allowing it on a Saturday.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

What are you talking about?? Fox is very smart for wanting and getting exclusivity of Saturday games before 7pm. MLB is stupid for giving Fox this ability. The fans lose, especially those fans (like me) who pay extra to watch out of market games.


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## scott72 (Feb 17, 2008)

MN Sportsfan said:


> What they also need to do is allow your local teams non-televised games in the Extra Innings package. I think it's ridiculous if the Twins are playing the Tigers with no TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul but FSN Detroit has the game, everybody but Minnesota gets it on the package. It makes no sense. If a Wild game is not televised locally, I get the game on the NHL Center Ice package. MLB should do the same thing.


Absolutely! Why black it out when your home RSN doesn't even have the game?


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

MLB's Exec Council yesterday tabled any formal action on revising the league's local TV blackout policies until the next owners meetings in November, though MLB President & COO Bob DuPuy did initiate discussion yesterday on the issue


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