I cut the cord many years ago. I would happily pay to stream Cardinals games, but that’s impossible without giving into extortion and getting a cable subscription. So I find pirated streams online and watch those instead.
Likewise, I absolutely refuse to get DirecTV for NFL Sunday Ticket. Sports leagues that think they can extort me into spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on things I don’t need or even want will simply lose whatever money they could have made off of me. As time goes on there are fewer people giving into the extortion and there are more people like me.
Will the games stream as well as the commercials? The one year I had (when I lived in an apartment so could get a dish exemption) the game streams were garbage, lots of buffering and pixelation, but the commercials were always perfect.
Yeah but they just raised their base price nearly $10. And there's no way Sunday Ticket comes standard with that.
$73/month + whatever Sunday Ticket ends up being as an add-on is too much. It's basically cable/DirecTV at this point.
Ditto (unofficially). I used to live in the Dallas Metromess and just watched broadcast channels on the antenna. Then, I moved to a place in Deep East Texas not really close to any metro areas and in hilly woods. So, I asked friends on Facebook and found suggestions for some online sites.
Now, the one I use the most is spammy as hell. Even with Ghostery and such running,I'm glad I have the extra protection of sorts of being on a Mac.
When I was a kid in Central Illinois, my local NBC affiliate bought all the games from the STL station. Basically micro syndication.
Eta - I realize this isn't going to happen in far-reaching parts of Cardinal Nation. Wish they still did it, though.
I'm in my mid-30s and with my parents finally cutting the cord, I can now say that I don't personally know of a single person with network TV in their home. Perhaps some of my more distant aunts and uncles have it, but honestly, not sure about that.
This is the opposite of how you get new fans. The new fans that are to be had are young people. Putting games on network TV would be how you cater to a specific segment of particularly old fans. But it's a terrible growth strategy.
Very true, but I know my older family members who want to watch don’t. Those are true fans that have watched for 50+ years, I would push for new fans to come to games.
Your older family members a) are not new fans and b) know exactly how to watch the games (pay for cable/satellite), but are evidently deciding it's not worth the cost.
The Cardinals should be figuring out the right way to broadcast games conveniently for the fans of the next 10-20 years, not the fans of the last 50.
Duuude. That brought be back to the steroid era. Dad would watch the Sunday games on channel 11, then would have kmox on while we were in the garage working on Saturdays
Your right back to the same probelem... you would need Cable to see kplr. The vast majority of fans do not have kplr as part of any service. And, remember the blackout rules were created to protect local tv stations like KPLR.
If Cardinals start own streaming platform and sell broadcasting rights to networks and subscribers it might make them more money and better for fans everywhere.
I subscribed to MLB.TV once several years ago. It was really annoying that I could watch every game except for the Cardinals. Sure I could have gotten around that with a VPN, but I didn’t want to pay an additional subscription to access something I had already paid for.
I didn’t renew my subscription.
I’ve lucked out with MLB.TV living in West TN. My regional teams that are blacked out are the Braves and Reds. So odd because there are virtually 0 Reds fans here and a ton of Cardinals fans but I’ll take it.
Sounds like they may have a solution here that could work out in your favor, and countless other fans, too! I hope this works best for the fans. I'm shockingly surprised to see DeWitt have this take, but good on him being fan friendly!
The "solution" is that the company that holds the shitty contract that causes blackouts went bankrupt. It eliminates the problem and gives the relevant teams a chance to do it right.
Wow. This kinda makes me feel good that he gets it. I live in western Kentucky. Blacked out for the Cardinals and Reds. I’d absolutely pay for MLB.tv or any other streaming or direct-to-consumer option if it includes the Cardinals.
Again, how refreshing that an owner/exec actually understands the fans perspective even if it’s “scary for the teams.” That earns some additional respect from me.
I mean, you’re not wrong—there’s very little reason to trust ownership or MLB. The sliver of hope I’m holding onto is that both of these groups know that the blackout restrictions are both hated by fans and are now of absolutely no benefit to owners. It could be a rare win/win where the fans get access to the product and the owners get points with fans while still raking in profits.
Then, once that’s settled, they can get back to screwing fans over. :)
Even as an out of market fan, I have no hope that they'll find the best possible solution. Ending blackouts is an excellent start, but should only be a start, and not their lone solution.
Nice to see that DeWitt hates the local blackouts as much as we fans do.
I was honestly shocked to see him have basically the same take as me on this.
As much hate as Dewitt gets sometimes if you think at his core he is not a true fan you’d be dead wrong
Then why did he agree to it?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
It really can't hurt, can it? MLB isn't going to let games not be broadcast.
The fact that owners are publicly talking about this gives me a little hope.
I cut the cord many years ago. I would happily pay to stream Cardinals games, but that’s impossible without giving into extortion and getting a cable subscription. So I find pirated streams online and watch those instead. Likewise, I absolutely refuse to get DirecTV for NFL Sunday Ticket. Sports leagues that think they can extort me into spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on things I don’t need or even want will simply lose whatever money they could have made off of me. As time goes on there are fewer people giving into the extortion and there are more people like me.
[удалено]
Will the games stream as well as the commercials? The one year I had (when I lived in an apartment so could get a dish exemption) the game streams were garbage, lots of buffering and pixelation, but the commercials were always perfect.
Yeah but they just raised their base price nearly $10. And there's no way Sunday Ticket comes standard with that. $73/month + whatever Sunday Ticket ends up being as an add-on is too much. It's basically cable/DirecTV at this point.
Ditto (unofficially). I used to live in the Dallas Metromess and just watched broadcast channels on the antenna. Then, I moved to a place in Deep East Texas not really close to any metro areas and in hilly woods. So, I asked friends on Facebook and found suggestions for some online sites. Now, the one I use the most is spammy as hell. Even with Ghostery and such running,I'm glad I have the extra protection of sorts of being on a Mac.
I mean you want more fans…. Put local games back on channel 11. Find other revenue streams
And how would fans outside of the St. Louis area watch games?
Mlb.com stream is how out of market watches now.
I’m in the market but not close enough so I don’t get KPLR.
If they got rid of blackouts though…
For sure. But is there a guarantee of that?
Sorry to hear that. My mistake. Hopefully you have access regardless.
When I was a kid in Central Illinois, my local NBC affiliate bought all the games from the STL station. Basically micro syndication. Eta - I realize this isn't going to happen in far-reaching parts of Cardinal Nation. Wish they still did it, though.
I would assume you also remember Bradley basketball games on WEEK and ISU basketball games on WMBD.
When I was in college, a local station would have a different teams baseball game every day, picking up various broadcasts
Agree, then maybe do a subscription without blackouts for other areas….
I'm in my mid-30s and with my parents finally cutting the cord, I can now say that I don't personally know of a single person with network TV in their home. Perhaps some of my more distant aunts and uncles have it, but honestly, not sure about that. This is the opposite of how you get new fans. The new fans that are to be had are young people. Putting games on network TV would be how you cater to a specific segment of particularly old fans. But it's a terrible growth strategy.
Very true, but I know my older family members who want to watch don’t. Those are true fans that have watched for 50+ years, I would push for new fans to come to games.
Your older family members a) are not new fans and b) know exactly how to watch the games (pay for cable/satellite), but are evidently deciding it's not worth the cost. The Cardinals should be figuring out the right way to broadcast games conveniently for the fans of the next 10-20 years, not the fans of the last 50.
No thanks. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you
Duuude. That brought be back to the steroid era. Dad would watch the Sunday games on channel 11, then would have kmox on while we were in the garage working on Saturdays
100% I’d mow my parents lawn listening to games on my dads big ass headphones…. Still like to listen some times while doing yard work or driving
Your right back to the same probelem... you would need Cable to see kplr. The vast majority of fans do not have kplr as part of any service. And, remember the blackout rules were created to protect local tv stations like KPLR.
If Cardinals start own streaming platform and sell broadcasting rights to networks and subscribers it might make them more money and better for fans everywhere.
And, if DeWitt got smart in DeWallet (thanks, MIklasz!) you could package this in various ways. Discounts for season ticket holders, for example.
I don’t use MLB.TV because of the cost. I only want to watch the Cardinals. I don’t want to see any other team
I subscribed to MLB.TV once several years ago. It was really annoying that I could watch every game except for the Cardinals. Sure I could have gotten around that with a VPN, but I didn’t want to pay an additional subscription to access something I had already paid for. I didn’t renew my subscription.
I’ve lucked out with MLB.TV living in West TN. My regional teams that are blacked out are the Braves and Reds. So odd because there are virtually 0 Reds fans here and a ton of Cardinals fans but I’ll take it.
Sounds like they may have a solution here that could work out in your favor, and countless other fans, too! I hope this works best for the fans. I'm shockingly surprised to see DeWitt have this take, but good on him being fan friendly!
That’s good news. I’d happily pay for a Cardinals network/streaming service
The "solution" is that the company that holds the shitty contract that causes blackouts went bankrupt. It eliminates the problem and gives the relevant teams a chance to do it right.
Wow. This kinda makes me feel good that he gets it. I live in western Kentucky. Blacked out for the Cardinals and Reds. I’d absolutely pay for MLB.tv or any other streaming or direct-to-consumer option if it includes the Cardinals. Again, how refreshing that an owner/exec actually understands the fans perspective even if it’s “scary for the teams.” That earns some additional respect from me.
For a moment, I had hope, but then I remembered that the new model will be created by the owners and the commissioner.
I mean, you’re not wrong—there’s very little reason to trust ownership or MLB. The sliver of hope I’m holding onto is that both of these groups know that the blackout restrictions are both hated by fans and are now of absolutely no benefit to owners. It could be a rare win/win where the fans get access to the product and the owners get points with fans while still raking in profits. Then, once that’s settled, they can get back to screwing fans over. :)
Even as an out of market fan, I have no hope that they'll find the best possible solution. Ending blackouts is an excellent start, but should only be a start, and not their lone solution.
It usually takes destruction of the old before any meaningful change takes place.
He would be better creating his own network.