Minor League Games - Saturday, April 6, 2019

[zambonir]

ESPN + isn't a cable channel. Yeah, they are owned by a media company that also owns the TV networks, but guess what, it's the same one that owns MLBAM and MILB.TV! Given that MLB.TV is already giving programming to ESPN + I'd say more minor league games are likely, as rights are not an issue.

What will be annoying is when they double the cost of ESPN+ and start taking away more games from MLB.TV and the equivalent NHL packages.

[julio]

ESPN + isn't a cable channel. Yeah, they are owned by a media company that also owns the TV networks, but guess what, it's the same one that owns MLBAM and MILB.TV! Given that MLB.TV is already giving programming to ESPN + I'd say more minor league games are likely, as rights are not an issue.

What will be annoying is when they double the cost of ESPN+ and start taking away more games from MLB.TV and the equivalent NHL packages.

Thanks, Z. I stand corrected about ESPN+.

As to your second point...those who have effective monopolies tend to exploit them.

[zambonir]

For sure. One reason Disney and Fox have merged and Disney bought MLBAM and ATT bought TW is partly because they know those carriage fees are going away. And we don't exactly have
a trust-busting environment in the government (regardless of who's in office or party).

But that's also why the Phillies have all that NBC money to pay Bryce Harper. Comcast wants to keep its cable subscribers or figure out how to make money off you as a cord-cutter, even if they are not your provider, and the Phillies are more interested in serving their partner/master than us.

[schillingfan]

Someday soon, if not already, Amazon, google, Facebook and Comcast will own the world.

[andyb]

I actually cut the cord over a year ago. I am not against bundles though. As long as they are oriented on a theme and offer a discount. Just don't like having to buy 10 of them. Youtube TV and ESPN+ gives me about 90% of what I might watch. ESPN+ is really a pretty good deal at $50 per year. If they add stuff and it becomes $100 a year it might be too expensive for the second tier sports it offers. Minor league baseball would fit that pattern though and be a logical addition.

[phillychuck]

Hulu live gives me close to 100% of what I watched on cable. Weird interface to get used to, and it costs extra to fast forward through commercials. But I'm saving more than $100 from my former cable bill. Fubo TV seems likes it's best for sports fans, but I went with Hulu b/c it has all three major networks. Probably a dumb decision--we watch networks very rarely now. Just sports (golf, NCAA hoops, NFL).

[zambonir]

I believe we used to have a dedicated thread for this kind of talk, but, wth...

I have yet to see the value in ESPN + but I have DirecTVNow, and you said you're not paying for MLB.TV. If I didn't have that, the extra baseball games on ESPN+ might interest me, along with hockey and MLS Soccer (but I can see about half my team's game without it, plus I go to home games). The college football seems like a pretty deep dive. One of the reasons I stick with DTVNow is I'm at the introductory rate (though it's been raised) for the biggest package, which gets me more sports channels, including Big 10 and NHLN (which even my local cable providers didn't offer w/o an extra tier).

Of course if I really wanted to I could probably borrow a PA family member log-in and just access NBC Sports Philly streams.

Phillychuck, can you not get the networks OTA? It's a bit of a pain where I live but can still be done.

[phillychuck]

Not without an outdoor antenna, which really isn't possible in my situation. Even the really strong, powered indoor antennas can't always pull the networks cleanly.

[andyb]

The best part of Youtube TV is the unlimited DVR. No extra charges and they don't force you to watch commercials on most channels (CBS only, but that does not apply for sports). They also have MLB network and that is only on about half of them.

The ESPN+ is free for now, but Imagine I'll renew if the price stays the same. Last post here because I know we are way off topic (though the initial comment was how minor league ball is a natural for ESPN+). Hopefully the college baseball will be interesting in the lead up to the draft.