2022 Brewers TV

[KeithStone53151]

I'm sure we'll inevitably run into a discussion of which providers are carrying ballys sports...assuming the season actually happens of course. That said, I also noticed this tidbit from Jeff Passan today.

 

 

Apparently Apple TV will be exclusively carrying 2 games on Friday nights. This is becoming a wildly annoying trend to not be able to watch certain games because of stupid tv deals. Imagine planning to watch a Brewers Cubs game on Friday but can't because you don't have apple tv.

 

On a general sidenote, I've been running into the exact same thing trying to watch US men's soccer world cup qualifying. One game is exclusively on espn+, then three days later a game exclusively on paramount plus, then three days later on peacock. The trend is super gross and wildly frustrating for people that don't want to pay $200/month for every streaming service that exists.

[jerichoholicninja]

I'm sure we'll inevitably run into a discussion of which providers are carrying ballys sports...assuming the season actually happens of course. That said, I also noticed this tidbit from Jeff Passan today.

 

 

Apparently Apple TV will be exclusively carrying 2 games on Friday nights. This is becoming a wildly annoying trend to not be able to watch certain games because of stupid tv deals. Imagine planning to watch a Brewers Cubs game on Friday but can't because you don't have apple tv.

 

On a general sidenote, I've been running into the exact same thing trying to watch US men's soccer world cup qualifying. One game is exclusively on espn+, then three days later a game exclusively on paramount plus, then three days later on peacock. The trend is super gross and wildly frustrating for people that don't want to pay $200/month for every streaming service that exists.

 

Pretty sure that's the point. They're all working together to make sure you buy everything instead of just one or two.

[Brock Beauchamp]

One nice touch is that the Bally Sports app is due to release soon - before the season, by my understanding - and the Brewers are one of only five teams that have signed an agreement.

 

I hope I'm allowed to purchase it, despite being out of market for the Brewers.

[KeithStone53151]

 

Rob Manfred just sounds like a putz at this point. No baseball, oh and if it happens we'll make it as hard to consistently watch your team as we can...

[Vgmastr]

Just allow me to watch the Brewers on MLB.TV and I'd subscribe every year. Can't wait for the RSNs to finally go belly up.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just allow me to watch the Brewers on MLB.TV and I'd subscribe every year. Can't wait for the RSNs to finally go belly up.

It never fails to amaze me how difficult a supposed "spectator sport" makes it for the average person to "spectate".

[KeithStone53151]

Just allow me to watch the Brewers on MLB.TV and I'd subscribe every year. Can't wait for the RSNs to finally go belly up.

It never fails to amaze me how difficult a supposed "spectator sport" makes it for the average person to "spectate".

 

Right? My father in law still has regular cable and watches the Brewers consistently. It was quite the undertaking teaching him how to get games on youtube tv with the youtube app...that were free. So at least once he could figure out the technology aspect, hey he could still watch. It's going to be that much more interesting explaining to him he can't get Brewer games certain Fridays unless he pays for a service that he would literally only use to watch maybe 4-5 games a year.

 

I blame both MLB and companies like apple tv for this. MLB is further alienating their fanbase, like do they wonder why nfl and nba revenues are growing so incredibly much faster than mlb? And then apple tv and other subscription only providers, thinking they can screw people into getting their garbage subscription service by paying the minimum amount for a small sliver of live events...it's a super toxic business strategy.

[SeaBass]

I wouldn't rule out blackouts for the Apple TV+ thing for the local markets. They tend to give preference to the RSN contracts in situations like that. Especially for a Friday night game.

[Vgmastr]

I wouldn't rule out blackouts for the Apple TV+ thing for the local markets. They tend to give preference to the RSN contracts in situations like that. Especially for a Friday night game.

 

Games on Apple won't be broadcast by the RSNs and won't be blacked out in the local market.

[nate82]

I don't see this as that big of a deal. It is the same as ESPN having exclusive games. ABC, CBS and NBC don't want to cover MLB games as the revenue is small and it is not worth the contract MLB would be looking for.

 

It would be nice if MLB.TV allowed you to watch without blackout restrictions. I haven't used MLB.TV in awhile but it would be nice if MLB Network was included with the subscription.

 

If MLB would pick a streaming service and put all of their games on that service I would sign up the next day.

[KeithStone53151]

I don't see this as that big of a deal. It is the same as ESPN having exclusive games. ABC, CBS and NBC don't want to cover MLB games as the revenue is small and it is not worth the contract MLB would be looking for.

 

It would be nice if MLB.TV allowed you to watch without blackout restrictions. I haven't used MLB.TV in awhile but it would be nice if MLB Network was included with the subscription.

 

If MLB would pick a streaming service and put all of their games on that service I would sign up the next day.

 

The subscription service part is the problem. ESPN is still cable, so tuning into espn instead of ballys is whatever for people with cable. Needing an app and then having to pay an extra subscription on top of cable to get the game is why it's gross.

 

The closest similarity in major sports is amazon carrying thursday night football(which i also don't like but not as strongly as this new apple tv deal), but with that said if Packers play on Thursday the game is still carried locally.

 

You're going to have a lot of older people confused with how to watch or why they have to pay extra for it when they have cable already. And again, it's becoming a trend. How annoying will it be when in 5 years, bally's is covering 50 Brewers games with apple tv getting 4, youtube tv getting 4, amazon getting 6, espn taking 3, paramount plus gets 2 Brewers vs Cubs games...it shouldn't be this complicated to watch a damn brewer game.

[TURBO]

I don't see this as that big of a deal. It is the same as ESPN having exclusive games. ABC, CBS and NBC don't want to cover MLB games as the revenue is small and it is not worth the contract MLB would be looking for.

 

It would be nice if MLB.TV allowed you to watch without blackout restrictions. I haven't used MLB.TV in awhile but it would be nice if MLB Network was included with the subscription.

 

If MLB would pick a streaming service and put all of their games on that service I would sign up the next day.

 

The subscription service part is the problem. ESPN is still cable, so tuning into espn instead of ballys is whatever for people with cable. Needing an app and then having to pay an extra subscription on top of cable to get the game is why it's gross.

 

The closest similarity in major sports is amazon carrying thursday night football(which i also don't like but not as strongly as this new apple tv deal), but with that said if Packers play on Thursday the game is still carried locally.

 

You're going to have a lot of older people confused with how to watch or why they have to pay extra for it when they have cable already. And again, it's becoming a trend. How annoying will it be when in 5 years, bally's is covering 50 Brewers games with apple tv getting 4, youtube tv getting 4, amazon getting 6, espn taking 3, paramount plus gets 2 Brewers vs Cubs games...it shouldn't be this complicated to watch a damn brewer game.

 

Preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned...

 

I miss the old days when you watched cable, then talked about the shows that you watched the next day at work, or with friends. now everyone watches a lot of the same shows, but no one is at the same point, much less the same season as you.

 

Tons of great shows on so many different streaming services, that it is so hard to have shows in common with people in your life.

 

I'm old I guess...

[nate82]

 

The subscription service part is the problem. ESPN is still cable, so tuning into espn instead of ballys is whatever for people with cable. Needing an app and then having to pay an extra subscription on top of cable to get the game is why it's gross.

 

The closest similarity in major sports is amazon carrying thursday night football(which i also don't like but not as strongly as this new apple tv deal), but with that said if Packers play on Thursday the game is still carried locally.

 

You're going to have a lot of older people confused with how to watch or why they have to pay extra for it when they have cable already. And again, it's becoming a trend. How annoying will it be when in 5 years, bally's is covering 50 Brewers games with apple tv getting 4, youtube tv getting 4, amazon getting 6, espn taking 3, paramount plus gets 2 Brewers vs Cubs games...it shouldn't be this complicated to watch a damn brewer game.

 

ESPN is still a subscription if you just got basic cable and it doesn't come with ESPN are you still able to watch? Majority of people in the US have multiple streaming services. Yes older people will have a harder time but this is obviously not being geared towards older people.

 

MLB is trying to capture a younger audience who are going to be around for a lot longer than the older audience. MLB already has this older audience and the inconvenience of the older audience doesn't matter to MLB. The few games that it will impact on this audience is going to be minimal but the possible increase in new and younger fans from these services far out weights the negative from a dying off older audience.

 

This is the reality here younger people tend to not carry cable and instead carry streaming services. This is all about getting to that younger audience.

[SomewhereInTime]

I'm sure we'll inevitably run into a discussion of which providers are carrying ballys sports...assuming the season actually happens of course. That said, I also noticed this tidbit from Jeff Passan today.

 

 

Apparently Apple TV will be exclusively carrying 2 games on Friday nights. This is becoming a wildly annoying trend to not be able to watch certain games because of stupid tv deals. Imagine planning to watch a Brewers Cubs game on Friday but can't because you don't have apple tv.

 

On a general sidenote, I've been running into the exact same thing trying to watch US men's soccer world cup qualifying. One game is exclusively on espn+, then three days later a game exclusively on paramount plus, then three days later on peacock. The trend is super gross and wildly frustrating for people that don't want to pay $200/month for every streaming service that exists.

 

Used to be only like 100 games a year on tv on MSC. Pretty much no day games. Can always buy a ticket or listen on the radio.

[KeithStone53151]

 

The subscription service part is the problem. ESPN is still cable, so tuning into espn instead of ballys is whatever for people with cable. Needing an app and then having to pay an extra subscription on top of cable to get the game is why it's gross.

 

The closest similarity in major sports is amazon carrying thursday night football(which i also don't like but not as strongly as this new apple tv deal), but with that said if Packers play on Thursday the game is still carried locally.

 

You're going to have a lot of older people confused with how to watch or why they have to pay extra for it when they have cable already. And again, it's becoming a trend. How annoying will it be when in 5 years, bally's is covering 50 Brewers games with apple tv getting 4, youtube tv getting 4, amazon getting 6, espn taking 3, paramount plus gets 2 Brewers vs Cubs games...it shouldn't be this complicated to watch a damn brewer game.

 

ESPN is still a subscription if you just got basic cable and it doesn't come with ESPN are you still able to watch? Majority of people in the US have multiple streaming services. Yes older people will have a harder time but this is obviously not being geared towards older people.

 

MLB is trying to capture a younger audience who are going to be around for a lot longer than the older audience. MLB already has this older audience and the inconvenience of the older audience doesn't matter to MLB. The few games that it will impact on this audience is going to be minimal but the possible increase in new and younger fans from these services far out weights the negative from a dying off older audience.

 

This is the reality here younger people tend to not carry cable and instead carry streaming services. This is all about getting to that younger audience.

 

Couldn't disagree more, the only part i agree with is the bolded part. What matters to MLB is getting max dollars. They don't care about alienating fans, which is absolutely what they are doing with each stupid decision they make. Watching the Brewers play shouldn't be that complicated and shouldn't require 4-5 subscription services to get them all.

 

For me personally, I plan on creating 4-5 phony emails and signing up for free trials and then cancelling after the game with a very nasty note in the "why did you cancel". So for me it's a minor inconvenience at best, I just find this principally wrong and very gross by both MLB and apple. The worst part honestly is that it'll probably work as intended for apple. So many people are so stupid with their money, there will be quite a bit of "it's only 5 bucks" and then sign up and then forget to cancel and the credit card keeps getting charged while they never use the service. Apple has probably run studies that enough people will begrudgingly sign up solely to watch their favorite team play 4 times(knowing that plenty will forget to cancel) that it's worth the whatever millions they paid to broadcast the games.

[jerichoholicninja]

 

The subscription service part is the problem. ESPN is still cable, so tuning into espn instead of ballys is whatever for people with cable. Needing an app and then having to pay an extra subscription on top of cable to get the game is why it's gross.

 

The closest similarity in major sports is amazon carrying thursday night football(which i also don't like but not as strongly as this new apple tv deal), but with that said if Packers play on Thursday the game is still carried locally.

 

You're going to have a lot of older people confused with how to watch or why they have to pay extra for it when they have cable already. And again, it's becoming a trend. How annoying will it be when in 5 years, bally's is covering 50 Brewers games with apple tv getting 4, youtube tv getting 4, amazon getting 6, espn taking 3, paramount plus gets 2 Brewers vs Cubs games...it shouldn't be this complicated to watch a damn brewer game.

 

ESPN is still a subscription if you just got basic cable and it doesn't come with ESPN are you still able to watch? Majority of people in the US have multiple streaming services. Yes older people will have a harder time but this is obviously not being geared towards older people.

 

MLB is trying to capture a younger audience who are going to be around for a lot longer than the older audience. MLB already has this older audience and the inconvenience of the older audience doesn't matter to MLB. The few games that it will impact on this audience is going to be minimal but the possible increase in new and younger fans from these services far out weights the negative from a dying off older audience.

 

This is the reality here younger people tend to not carry cable and instead carry streaming services. This is all about getting to that younger audience.

 

Couldn't disagree more, the only part i agree with is the bolded part. What matters to MLB is getting max dollars. They don't care about alienating fans, which is absolutely what they are doing with each stupid decision they make. Watching the Brewers play shouldn't be that complicated and shouldn't require 4-5 subscription services to get them all.

 

For me personally, I plan on creating 4-5 phony emails and signing up for free trials and then cancelling after the game with a very nasty note in the "why did you cancel". So for me it's a minor inconvenience at best, I just find this principally wrong and very gross by both MLB and apple. The worst part honestly is that it'll probably work as intended for apple. So many people are so stupid with their money, there will be quite a bit of "it's only 5 bucks" and then sign up and then forget to cancel and the credit card keeps getting charged while they never use the service. Apple has probably run studies that enough people will begrudgingly sign up solely to watch their favorite team play 4 times(knowing that plenty will forget to cancel) that it's worth the whatever millions they paid to broadcast the games.

 

Exactly this. It's not about what's going to be easier for fans or even attract fans it's all about making money. The streaming services will make money and MLB will make money. I'm just sticking with my cable and getting the vast majority of games and just missing the ones I won't get. Not worth any extra hassle for me.

[nate82]

 

Couldn't disagree more, the only part i agree with is the bolded part. What matters to MLB is getting max dollars. They don't care about alienating fans, which is absolutely what they are doing with each stupid decision they make. Watching the Brewers play shouldn't be that complicated and shouldn't require 4-5 subscription services to get them all.

 

For me personally, I plan on creating 4-5 phony emails and signing up for free trials and then cancelling after the game with a very nasty note in the "why did you cancel". So for me it's a minor inconvenience at best, I just find this principally wrong and very gross by both MLB and apple. The worst part honestly is that it'll probably work as intended for apple. So many people are so stupid with their money, there will be quite a bit of "it's only 5 bucks" and then sign up and then forget to cancel and the credit card keeps getting charged while they never use the service. Apple has probably run studies that enough people will begrudgingly sign up solely to watch their favorite team play 4 times(knowing that plenty will forget to cancel) that it's worth the whatever millions they paid to broadcast the games.

 

 

MLB is trying to get the next generation of fans and the next generation of fans on average do not have cable. These fans all have streaming services and they have multiple of them. Sometimes they carry one or two one month and then cancel the next and only have one or none. From the 20 something's that I work with none of them have cable. They all have Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Hulu or YouTube. Some have HBO and others but it is mostly just a combination of Netflix, Disney+ or Hulu. They usually carry one or two in a given month.

 

This is very smart by MLB on a business standpoint. The cable market viewers will be decreasing as the baby boomers, genx and to a lesser extent millennials start to fall off. Millennials and genx tend to have both cable and a streaming service or two. The way American's consume entertainment is changing and if MLB doesn't change with this change the sport may start to die out. I wouldn't be surprised if the regional sports for the small market teams start to get dropped in the next 5-10 years or less and less games are televised think like the early to mid 90's where there was only a handful of games televised. If MLB continues down the cable route this is what will happen.

 

MLB has to pivot to the streaming services as this is where the viewership is heading to. These are smart decisions that MLB is making now you may disagree with it and find it annoying but this is not a dumb decision by MLB.

[TURBO]

 

Exactly this. It's not about what's going to be easier for fans or even attract fans it's all about making money. The streaming services will make money and MLB will make money. I'm just sticking with my cable and getting the vast majority of games and just missing the ones I won't get. Not worth any extra hassle for me.

 

That is what I'll be doing. Hate missing games, but not going to jump through the hoops...

[SeaBass]

LOL so nobody here would pay $5 to watch a Brewers game? It's not like you have to subscribe year round for the rest of your life. You could find 5 friends and chip in a dollar each and share the password. Get creative.

[KeithStone53151]

MLB is trying to get the next generation of fans and the next generation of fans on average do not have cable. These fans all have streaming services and they have multiple of them. Sometimes they carry one or two one month and then cancel the next and only have one or none. From the 20 something's that I work with none of them have cable. They all have Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Hulu or YouTube. Some have HBO and others but it is mostly just a combination of Netflix, Disney+ or Hulu. They usually carry one or two in a given month.

 

This is very smart by MLB on a business standpoint. The cable market viewers will be decreasing as the baby boomers, genx and to a lesser extent millennials start to fall off. Millennials and genx tend to have both cable and a streaming service or two. The way American's consume entertainment is changing and if MLB doesn't change with this change the sport may start to die out. I wouldn't be surprised if the regional sports for the small market teams start to get dropped in the next 5-10 years or less and less games are televised think like the early to mid 90's where there was only a handful of games televised. If MLB continues down the cable route this is what will happen.

 

MLB has to pivot to the streaming services as this is where the viewership is heading to. These are smart decisions that MLB is making now you may disagree with it and find it annoying but this is not a dumb decision by MLB.

 

I have no problem with pivoting to streaming services. I would pay $20/month just to get all the Brewer games on one streaming service, literally for Brewer games and nothing else. What i have a problem with is having to have 6 different subscription services to get all the games, which seemingly is where live sports are headed. Everyone wants their sliver, because people are stupid with their money as i outlined above and it's a smart albeit slimy business decision for streaming services providers. MLB is never going to attract casual fans to watch games with this strategy. It's fine as a short term strategy but in due time baseball will get passed in revenue by NBA and NFL and these stupid decisions will be exactly why.

[KeithStone53151]

So many people are so stupid with their money, there will be quite a bit of "it's only 5 bucks" and then sign up and then forget to cancel and the credit card keeps getting charged while they never use the service.

 

 

LOL so nobody here would pay $5 to watch a Brewers game? It's not like you have to subscribe year round for the rest of your life. You could find 5 friends and chip in a dollar each and share the password. Get creative.

 

Hey look at that, apple tv already found one.

[SeaBass]

So many people are so stupid with their money, there will be quite a bit of "it's only 5 bucks" and then sign up and then forget to cancel and the credit card keeps getting charged while they never use the service.

 

 

LOL so nobody here would pay $5 to watch a Brewers game? It's not like you have to subscribe year round for the rest of your life. You could find 5 friends and chip in a dollar each and share the password. Get creative.

 

Hey look at that, apple tv already found one.

Excuse me, are you calling me stupid? That doesn't seem in line with what this forum is about. It's a conversation man, try to be an adult.

 

Again, it's $5. A movie rental. Sorry if you unwisely spend every last dime on your cable subscription that you can't afford a one time cost of $5 to watch a game.

 

Or it's just not as big a deal as you're making it out to be since you apparently don't mind missing a game.

[jerichoholicninja]

I don't think people have a problem with the games being solely on a streaming service per say, it's having the games jump around from service to service. I've seen pretty much universally people comment here that if all the games were on MLB.tv they'd get it in a heartbeat. But that's not the case.

[KeithStone53151]

So many people are so stupid with their money, there will be quite a bit of "it's only 5 bucks" and then sign up and then forget to cancel and the credit card keeps getting charged while they never use the service.

 

 

LOL so nobody here would pay $5 to watch a Brewers game? It's not like you have to subscribe year round for the rest of your life. You could find 5 friends and chip in a dollar each and share the password. Get creative.

 

Hey look at that, apple tv already found one.

Excuse me, are you calling me stupid? That doesn't seem in line with what this forum is about. It's a conversation man, try to be an adult.

 

Again, it's $5. A movie rental. Sorry if you unwisely spend every last dime on your cable subscription that you can't afford a one time cost of $5 to watch a game.

 

Or it's just not as big a deal as you're making it out to be since you apparently don't mind missing a game.

 

Maybe i could have changed my wording to "isn't smart with their money". Regardless, I wasn't calling you stupid but that comment seems like someone who maybe doesn't make the best use of their money. One step in this direction is certainly annoying, but it won't be as bad as when 5 years down the line we have 162 games split up among 6 different streaming services. Or 10 years down the line when it's split up among 12. That to me feels like where this is headed. Apple tv+ got their piece, I'm sure netflix and amazon and youtube and peacock and paramount plus and espn plus and disney plus and hulu and discovery and whoever else is going to want their little sliver as well. Eventually it will get annoying just figuring out what subscription service is carrying the game on a day to day basis.

 

I think you'll see a lot more people complaining than just me in the gameday thread(assuming games happen) when the Brewers first friday game is being broadcast exclusively by apple tv+...which will be when people start getting impacted by this stupidity. I just realize already how principally wrong and just slimy this business deal is and called it out right away.

[nate82]

I don't think people have a problem with the games being solely on a streaming service per say, it's having the games jump around from service to service. I've seen pretty much universally people comment here that if all the games were on MLB.tv they'd get it in a heartbeat. But that's not the case.

 

I would rather keep as many streaming services as possible otherwise it will turn out just like cable. Consumers tend to win when there are multiple companies competing for their money. It sucks for MLB viewers in this instance but I would rather have this inconvenience than going back to cable.