MLB Blackout

[Lawrence Duckworth]

A few months ago I received a notice from my tv provider Dish Network that they would no longer be carrying nbc sports. I specifically added the nbc sports upgrade to watch the Braves....then they crapped out???? So last fall after canceling with Dish I signed on with youtube tv and today I got a notice they won't be carrying MLB-TV any longer...... I'm in the Atlanta blackout area so using a vpn with youtube mlb-tv would be a work around but then they canceled the mlb-tv.

Any suggestions on how to watch the 2023 Braves baseball season in a blacked out market?

[Stan Calow]

Similar issues here. KC Royals games are only available on BallyTV Sports (a Sinclair company) and none of the locally available streamers except for DirectTV Stream (formerly ATT) and Spectrum (formerly Time Warner old school cable) will carry it. So I have to pay for the more expensive mid-level DirectTV Streaming service to get the games. BallyTV is planning to offer their own subscription service, but at a cost that makes no sense. Really damaging to MLB.

No suggestions here.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Pretty much what Stan said. I picked YouTube.tv because they provided MLB and NFL networks, I have no confidence that the MLB network will ever reappear, yet the monthly subscription cost will never be reduced to account for the loss of MLB.

[Fred Perreault]

...."content is king".... all of the content creators are protecting their own product, and either creating their own streaming service or are selling the content to a vendor at obscene rates. In order to fill the hours of the now dozens of streaming services there is a shortage of content. MLB marketing is one of the most archaic and consumer unfriendly entities in America. They want an arm and 2 legs for their product. The attitude of MLB, coupled with unsustainable escalation in salaries will doom the "sport".
Content is king, and as long as consumers continue to pay the escalating fees the price will rise indefinitely.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Similar thing here with college basketball. ESPN is owned by Disney, along with the ABC network. Other local TV stations seldom mention college basketball any more, as they have to pay Disney for rights to use pictures, plays, etc. We are in the heart of ACC basketball country, which recently launched their own network, run by ESPN of course. Haven't watched a game in several years, since they sold their souls to Disney.

[Rich Konopka]

I sympathize with ya. The only way to watch the Braves is to go with cable. Then they add 50 bucks for all franchise fees, etc.. I’m disgusted with the Braves because they are too friggin cheap to pay good players like Freddy Freeman or Dansby Swanson. It even more frustrating living only 20 minutes from the Battery and seeing how they jacked ticket prices this year. BTW, Liberty Media owners of the Braves owns 48% DirectTV which competes with Comcast and Dish.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

I was in hopes Bally Sports might be the answer but they have a possible bankruptcy coming....I'd get canceled again

...this blackout technology is so effective you'd think the DOD would be using it

[Robert LaPlaca]

I was in hopes Bally Sports might be the answer but they have a possible bankruptcy coming....I'd get canceled again

...this blackout technology is so effective you'd think the DOD would be using it

Lawrence, to your point… I am a Mets fan, even if I purchase MLB’s goofy MLB.Tv package, any Mets games with the following teams will be blacked out: Braves, National, Orioles, Reds..

[Kev Williams]

NBC is moving quite a bit of content to Peacock. I had to get Peacock because NBC moved "Days of our Lives" exclusively to Peacock, and the wife can't not watch her 'Days'!

I have a couple of Firesticks, soon as I learn to navigate them better, I'm $#!*canning Dish Network. I can find lots to do on the 'stick' for the $89 I'm paying Dish (with no movie channels!)

[Alex Zeller]

I ditched Dish about a year ago. I had too many problems with their equipment towards the end and they just wanted me to pay to upgrade to the latest Hopper. When I cancelled they suddenly were trying to offer me stuff that only months earlier they wanted me to pay hundreds for. I'm now using a firestick with a couple of apps that my nephew set me up with. There are less than 100% legal apps for the firestick that allow you to watch any live TV (including NFL, MLB, and NBA) channel you want but I've heard they aren't 100% reliable.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

me thinks these BRAVES and NASCAR blackouts are caused by these 4king CHINA Spy Balloons!!!