Live baseball video coming to iPhone and iPod Touch

[AJAY]

For those who own the MLB at Bat application for iPhone or iPod Touch, they will soon be adding live video of out of market games. I am very excited about this because it will allow people to watch baseball on a portable media device. I do however wish they wouldn't blackout the home market games. It would be nice to have access to Brewers games if you are out somewhere and want to watch a few innings.

 

You would think that people who buy the application are already fans anyway and probably already have cable at home. So I don't see how a blackout help the cable industry very much. I hope they rethink this a little.

 

http://milwaukee.brewers....p;fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[brewtown82]

I'm definitely excited to try this out on my phone. It is too bad about brewers' games though. How sweet would it be to be out at the lake watching the last few innings of the game? Oh well.

[Legacy25GT]

I just tried it out last night on the A's-Dodgers game for an inning or so. I had a wi-fi signal, and at first it was a bit fuzzy/choppy, but after the video caught up to itself a minute later, it was pretty high quality on par with the video you get for the highlights. I'll have to try it on 3G next time and see how it compares. It'd be pretty cool if they eventually had all out-of-market games available on the app(and in-market, but that won't happen). With that said, the MLB at-bat app, is probably one of my most used app's, and well worth the $10 considering you also get the gameday audio, and now live streaming video.

 

As far as MLB going nuts with the blackouts... I don't know why they don't offer a subscription to in-market games, where you pay extra to have a specific team not blacked out. Or just pay to only get the live video to one team of your choice. The profits would go partly to the team and partly to the network with the broadcast rights. I would jump on that right away since I don't get cable, and I if I did, I'd be getting it almost exclusively to watch the crew.

[strawbossisevil]

Ugh, I was so excited about this seeing as how I´m out of the country and would really enjoy receiving video of the games. So I go out last night and purchase the 3.0 OS and hope on today, and.... Location Error (At Bat is having trouble verfying your current location. Make sure your cellular or wi-fi service is on and that you are allowing location checks in At Bat.)

 

1. Clearly if I can post on here, and do everything else on the the app, the problem isn´t that my wi-fi isn´t on.

2. I did allow MLB At-Bat access to my location.

 

So....what do/can I do to solve this problem. Is it possible that it only recognizes computers in the US? Because if that is the case, they didn´t make that clear anywhere. What a complete bummer of a situation.

[theavrock]

Thats it. This is the last straw. I am moving out of state and was contemplating buying the iphone. So stoked. I will definitely be doing it now.

[ccbrew]

Strawboss, let me know if your situation gets resolved.. since I'm abroad, live video would be the clincher for me in buying this app. So long as it works..

[Legacy25GT]

Just to be clear, if it hasn't been mentioned yet (especially for those going out to buy the app or an iPhone).... currently they only offer 2 games per day that they have live streaming video for... for example today they have Indian-Cubs and Braves-Red Sox. Though all games do have the gameday audio, video highlights and condensed games available (I think 45 minutes after the game ends). I know I hate it when I spend a couple bucks for a new app and it doesn't do what I thought it would. With that said, the At-Bat app is completely worth the $10 even before they had condensed games and live streaming video.

[Legacy25GT]

Here are few screenshots I took a couple minutes ago of the cubs-indians game on MLB At-Bat 2009. This is off of a 3G connection... it gets better with wi-fi, but I won't be able to post those screenshots until I get home (since I don't have access to wi-fi right now).

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn252/jrfroe/IMG_0065.png

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn252/jrfroe/IMG_0066.png

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn252/jrfroe/IMG_0067.png

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I'm surprised the Umpires Union is allowing this.

[strawbossisevil]

Just an update, I got an email from the programmers for the app, and they said that many international sites are having issues with the new update (not being able to locate, and then automatically blacked out). They said they hope to resolve the problem in the near future, but did not give me any sort of timetable (so I imagine it isn´t the highest priority for them as us out of the country folk are probably a small minority of those who own the app). I´ll be back in WI in late August, so at least I´ll be able to use it when I get back (although at that point, I can just watch the Brewers on Cable).

[Legacy25GT]

Here are some screenshots of tonight's Phillies-Rays game only this time with a Wi-Fi signal for those that are interested. At first it'll be a bit fuzzy/laggy, and then after 30 seconds or so, it looks like thes screenshots:

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn252/jrfroe/iPhoneUpload.jpg

 

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn252/jrfroe/iPhoneUpload-1.jpg

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn252/jrfroe/iPhoneUpload-2.jpg

 

 

[strawbossisevil]

Amazing! I´m very jealous. Wish it was working down here in Mexico.

[strawbossisevil]

The app just had an update, and now the live video feeds works. Awesome!!!!!

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I guess this came out a week ago, but MLB Advanced Media signed a deal to broadcast games locally over the net with the Padres & Yankees. I'm sure the other teams will follow. The good news is it will give the local folks some more options, the bad news is they will likely charge for it. My guess is this will help expand the mobile viewing as well in local markets.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090624&content_id=5499942&vkey=pr_mlbcom&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb