Bye Bye Blackouts?

Rob Manfred gave a very good, very in-depth interview with ESPN that was released the other day.  He touched on several topics, including the automated strike zone, proposed rule changes, relocation and possible expansion (among others).  But perhaps the most significant thing he talked about was MLB's broadcast deals.  More specifically, the frustrating blackout policy that makes it nearly impossible for fans to watch all of their favorite team's games.

"Our No. 1 business priority right now is reach," he said in the article, which I guess was a way of explaining why MLB has so many different broadcast partners.  Before adding, "Believe me, we hate blackouts as much as fans do."  He also mentioned that it's been brought up at owners meetings and it's now a "top priority" to phase blackouts out.

Of course, the ironic thing is that Manfred has overseen all of these broadcast deals, all of which have blackout clauses written into the contract!  So, Manfred is negotiating the very contracts (and the blackout clauses) that he now claims to be as frustrated as fans about!

It's not entirely the exclusivity that's the problem.  Baseball, basketball and hockey all have their nationally-televised games that aren't available on the teams' local networks.  People get that.  It makes sense that any FOX games or Sunday Night Baseball games on ESPN are exclusive.  It's been that way for years, and no one has an issue with that.

The problem is MLB's foray into the world of streaming has resulted in a mix-and-match situation where games are only shown on various streaming services, which have exclusivity.  So, fans not only need to know the game is only on Peacock or Apple TV or YouTube TV, they also need to subscribe to that service.  It's confusing and frustrating.

I get why MLB wants to branch out into streaming.  That's clearly the way things are headed, and, if they're trying to appeal to a younger audience, that's where they'll find those viewers.  Except...Baseball also has the oldest average fan of the four major sports, and that audience would rather watch games on TV.  And all of the exclusive streaming is alienating these older fans, who've been the loudest voices expressing their frustrations!

For Apple TV and Peacock, the whole point of getting MLB games was to give people a reason to sign up!  And why would they do that if they didn't have exclusivity?  So, I get it from their perspective, too.  However, their exclusivity has had the opposite effect.  It hasn't driven fans to subscribe.  It's only pissed them off that they have to subscribe just to watch their favorite team play one game!  (There have also been plenty of complaints about the quality of the broadcasts, too, especially on Apple TV.)

And, adding to the frustration, these games aren't available on MLB.TV either!  MLB.TV, a subscription service that fans choose to pay for just so they can watch baseball!  They can even watch FOX games on MLB.TV.  But, when the game is on Apple TV or Peacock, they're S.O.L.!  It's either watch it on there or not at all!

What's even more confusing is that, while Apple TV and Peacock have exclusivity, TBS and FS1 don't.  TBS is in the first year of its new contract with a weekly Tuesday night game.  Those games are blacked out on TBS in the local market of the participating teams, though.  In the local market, the game is on the team's regular network, while the rest of the nation can watch it on TBS.

Same thing with MLB Network.  Their "national broadcasts" are usually just simulcasting one of the teams' local broadcast, but the games that they produce themselves are usually blacked out locally and they show a different one instead.  The FS1 situation is even weirder.  They have some national games, but not a lot.  And FS1 games not only aren't blacked out, the FS1 broadcast and local broadcast are both on!

Manfred does deserve some credit for actually listening to the fans' frustrations and vowing to do something about the games that are only available behind paywalls.  Of course, whether he actually will is a completely different question, especially since both the Apple TV and Peacock deals only began this season.  There does seem to be a pretty straightforward compromise, though.

Keep the Apple TV and Peacock contracts, but simply take the exclusivity and local blackouts away.  Make them more like the TBS and FS1 deals.  Apple TV and Peacock can show the game nationally, but the two teams can also produce and air their regular local broadcast, as well.  They wouldn't even need to black out Apple TV and Peacock locally.  Give people the option to watch either/or.

Or, take a page out of the NFL's book and let the Apple TV or Peacock broadcast be picked up locally.  The NFL, of course, has been doing this for years.  Monday Night and Thursday Night games that are only on cable also air locally on a broadcast channel, which simulcasts the ESPN/NFL Network feed.  This will continue when Thursday Night Football moves exclusively to Amazon Prime this season.

That may actually be the ideal solution.  It's a compromise that's the best of both worlds.  Apple TV, Peacock and whatever other streaming service MLB might make a broadcast deal with in the future will still get their package of games, but fans in local markets will still be able to watch them where they're used to without having to sign up for yet another streaming service just so they can.  Sounds like a win-win to me.