As streaming services take precedence and cable dominance dwindles, MLB's TV deals could spell the end of the casual baseball fan.
One of the first stories I planned to do when I started this job exactly a year ago was on the state of the MLB.tv blackouts. I put out a call on Twitter for testimonials of frustration and received over 100 detailed emails.
But now YouTube TV might not have Yankees games this year because it has been unable to reach an agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group, which last year purchased 21 regional sports networks and the right to control Yankees’ and Cubs’ distribution. YES Network’s website says it is “not optimistic” about its future on YouTube TV and suggests switching to a different streaming service. Probably that’s what I’ll do.
If I were a kid growing up today in a household where the people who pay the bills weren’t invested in chasing local broadcasts across platforms year-to-year, probably I wouldn’t become a baseball fan at all. Story continuesWhen everyone had cable, you didn’t have to opt into baseball uniquely. As a result, a lot of people watched baseball. With entertainment becoming more niche, and more a la carte, baseball will have to prove it can be popular as an intentional choice.
That will end up being the legacy of blackouts: Not the frustrations of people who are determined to find workarounds or even those who bothered to email me a year ago. But the loss of casual fans who could have been converted to diehards, or their kids who never got the chance because it’s becoming increasingly complicated to turn on the TV and watch baseball.
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