Here's some more from the story: MLB, sources said, will provide Padres games through its MLB.TV app for free through Sunday. After that, in-market fans can continue to stream games for $19.99 a month or $74.99 for the rest of the regular season (postseason games air on national platforms). Through this process, Padres games will no longer be subject to blackouts. Huh? $19.99/month???? I mean if MLS fans are balking at $14.99/month.....are MLB fans willing to pay more?
It's a lot more games for baseball. MLB.tv for the year is usually about $134.99/yr for the league and $119.99/yr for just one team. Lots of blackouts, but still way more games.
Regular price for the full MLB package is $25/month or $140 for a full season. For a single-team package it's $120 with no monthly option. If prorated for the remaining fraction of the season it would be $80, so they get a bit of a discount there. Also the article said that MLB is providing its feed to the major cable providers and DirecTV, so fans who watched the RSN on those platforms should be able to get the games without changing anything.
Remember that MLB's streaming services used to include only out-of-market games. So viewers in New York could not but a single-team subscription to the Yankees or Mets. And if they chose the Red Sox, they could not watch any games against the Yankees or Mets.
These days retiress are getting pretty damn technically profecient. And they are the only ones who watch baseball regularly.
More than the actual price, it the price competitivness with other services. Also devaluation has to be taken into account. For Example 20 USD is about 88700 Colombian Peso. As a reference I pay about 38900 Pesos for Netflix (8.85 USD). MLS would be a very expensive package to watch really compared with the prices of other Streaming Services. Price Comparison for other streaming services in Colombia: (Monthly): Amazon Prime Video: 20600 Pesos (4.69 USD) Crunchyroll: 14900 (3.39 USD) HBO Max: 14200 (monthly cost, but paid anualy) (3.23 USD) 20 USD is way overpriced relative to the streaming competition.
I'm a retiree and I'm not that technically proficient. Most people I know that are retired, know less than I do! If they're watching baseball on whichever platform/station, they need help from their kids or younger neighbors to help them set things up so they can watch their favorite shows/sports teams easily.
Yes the change is only starting, but it will accelerate. By the next decade every new retiree will know how to use a smart phone and stream netflix.
After it took me 4 minutes from turning on the TV to actually watching the game, then the laggy video, I turned off the game after a few minutes. Sure, I was using my Xfinity box, which of course is slower than just using Roku, but you know what is much faster, turning on a channel. Honestly, with NYC sucking, I might not even open the app again this season. I've been progressively watching less week by week and get frustrated by some technical issue every time I go to watch. My experience with MLS has just been so negative all season. 360 is just a horrible production, and there is literally zero compelling non-game content to watch. I get that this is year one, but this was not a great idea, or at least it was horribly executed. Hopefully the league can save themselves and have an opt-out clause. Now that they handle match production, it should be easier for them to sell in other countries. Please, just opt out of this disaster.
I've been following MLS since its inception in 1996. My first MLS season when I had internet service was 2000. Viewing availability for not only MLS but other soccer leagues around the world has never been better for fans. When I was in my formative years, the only soccer I could see on a frequent basis was 'Soccer Made In Germany', which aired on PBS Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. and hosted by Toby Charles. I'm not the most tech savvy person around. When people started cord-cutting, I had no idea what they were talking about. I've been cable-free since 2018, and frankly, I wish I'd done it sooner. I can be slow to adapt too, because I finally rid myself of my land line a couple of weeks ago. I guess my point is, if I can figure it out, a lot of other people can too, so don't give up on MLS just yet. I love the coverage of MLS provided by Apple TV. It's not perfect, but it's better than what we had in the past. Fox Soccer Channel was the only outlet for diehard fans to watch on a consistent basis...if your cable company offered the channel in the first place. I would also wager that Apple TV+ has many, many more subscribers for MLS coverage today, than Fox Soccer Channel had viewers 20 years ago when it was at its height.
So, even 10 years ago did anyone expect that the UCL final would be live on CBS with a 90 minute pregame show?
So trying to watch some European games on P+ made me realize just how much better MLS Season Pass is. It's almost like Apple read every single thing I wanted and implemented all of them. Still an awkward interface, but massive improvements since the start. I am EXTREMELY impressed.
I had to wait about 3 years before it was available to me on my system, and when it was available, I had to pay extra for it because it was placed in a 'specialty sports tier'. Basic cable? No way.
I had it as part of the standard package for digital cable. So I guess not quite basic cable, but certainly a low tier package. Want a blast from the past? I also had goltv as a part of this package.