I wonder just what this means to folks like me living 1000 miles away and watching DirecTV with the sports package.? (Associated Press report) (1-20-16)

 

 

Just as a trial was to begin, Major League Baseball and a group of its fans who had sued reached agreement Tuesday to expand the menu of online packages for televised games and lower prices.

 

The deal came weeks after baseball's lawyers said for the first time the league was going to let fans buy single-team online TV packages. In the past, viewers who didn't live in their favored teams' home markets had to buy access to every televised MLB game included in the national plan.

 

Lawyers for fans who filed the class action lawsuit in 2012 said MLB will offer unbundled Internet packages for the next five years, including single-team packages for $84.99 next season. They said that's a 23 percent drop from the cheapest version previously available.

 

The deal also calls for the cost of a league-wide package to drop to $109.99. The agreement provides other options to cable subscribers to regional sports broadcast networks. The league will let a subscriber buy access to a visiting team's broadcast online. MLB also agreed to provide live local team broadcasts over the Internet for cable subscribers by the start of the 2017 season.

 

WGN at Wrigley Field

The Cubs and WGN-TV have had a broadcast partnership that dates back to 1948.

In most instances, a subscription to a team's cable outlet is necessary to view games online, though the agreement contemplates eventually enabling some fans to watch games online without traditional cable subscriptions.

 

"We believe this settlement brings significant change to the sports broadcasting landscape," said Ned Diver, a plaintiffs' lawyer. "It is a big win for baseball fans."

 

Major League Baseball confirmed the settlement but said it could not comment further because "the process remains ongoing."

 

NBC Sports Regional Networks said in a statement it was pleased with the deal.

 

The trial had been scheduled to start Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, though officials indicated last week a settlement was likely.

 

Recently, MLB's lawyers said they would change their sport's packages similar to what the National Hockey League undertook when it settled its side of the lawsuit last year. The NHL also agreed to let fans buy single-team packages.

 

In 2013, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled baseball could not use its antitrust exemption as a defense.

 

The lawsuit had said that the leagues' clubs and some television broadcast entities colluded to eliminate competition in the airing of games on the Internet and on television. Baseball had defended a decades-old system of regional television contracts designed to protect each baseball team's area from competitors.

 

More recently, baseball has multiplied options for fans so they could view games on various electronic devices.

 

"Make no mistake, this mission is not altruistic," baseball's lawyers said in court papers. "Baseball faces fierce competition, including from other sports offerings and an increasing slate of non-sports entertainment and leisure options."

 

Diver, the plaintiffs' lawyer, had argued that dividing the country into geographic territories for each team had strengthened baseball's monopoly and permitted it to overcharge fans.

 

Associated Press

Wohooo.

Doesn't really solve my problems. I am 4 hours from the nearest MLB park and yet am considered "in market" for the Sox, Cubs, Brewers, Cardinals, Royals, and Twins so I still can't get any games that I would want to see being blacked out from 20% of the league.

Yeah I thought this lawsuit would end up settling the blackout debacle. Of course not.

Yeah, wake me when they fix the stupid blackout rules.

In summary, all this deal does is allow you to watch the visiting teams broadcast when they are playing a team in your home territory. Big f***ing deal. That solves exactly zero of the complaints people have regarding blackouts.

Cost of ther extra innings package is down maybe? Ability to just follow one team instead of paying for all games maybe? I am lost on this issue as I didn't even know there was a lawsuit going on

Cost of ther extra innings package is down maybe? Ability to just follow one team instead of paying for all games maybe? I am lost on this issue as I didn't even know there was a lawsuit going on

 

They are offering a cheaper package if you want just one team, but it's barely cheaper.. As far as it affects you, you still will not be able to watch Sox games unless they're playing Colorado.