(01-27-2020 08:01 AM)J.B. Wrote: The MLB.TV blackout isn't about getting people to go to the games. It's about protecting the carriage rights of the Regional Sports Networks. The RSN's spend billions to carry the games, in regional markets and would screw them over if people used MLB.TV as an alternative to signing up for cable.
Yes. If you get the RSNs, the blackout doesn't affect you, but there are downsides:
1. If you are a fan of a team in a different market, you can't watch your team on their RSN when they play a local team. For example, Red Sox fans in New York can only watch Red Sox vs. Yankees games on YES (or broadcast Channel 11 for a minority of games with the same announcers as YES). Those games will be blacked out on MLB.TV. I had that downside when I went to my sister in Omaha. The Royals beat the Red Sox. A s a Yankees fan, I wanted to watch the Red Sox lose. I had MLB.TV, but I don't know if my sister got the Royals RSN, and I didn't ask, so I could only listen online (audio doesn't have blackouts) to a game I could have watched in New York.
2. In some places, games are blacked out on RSNs you can't get, meaning that it could be impossible for you watch your favorite team legally regardless of what you pay. For example, six teams are blacked out in Las Vegas. I don't remember the teams, but it's safe to say they are the five California teams and Arizona. I would think it would be important to the Dodgers and Angels to get their RSNs available in Las Vegas. I don't know why an RSN would want a blackout in a city that can't get that RSN, but there are blackouts.
In some places, you aren't near a team, and you can only get an RSN if it's available far away. For example, if you are in Plentywood in northeastern Montana, your nearest teams are Minnesota 10 hours 20 minutes away and Colorado 11 hours 3 minutes away.