Hi folks. My apologies if this thread shouldn't be here, but I'm hoping to find someone who has dealt with this before. I am blacked out of all DC United games on MatchDay Live. I am told by the chat and email helpdesk at MatchDay Live that this is because I am "located within the market area for CSN-DC". My zip code is 17603; I live in Pennsylvania. I am firmly in the CSN-Philadelphia market. I understand their helpdesk zipcode table SAYS I live in DC, but I am positive that the entire state of Maryland lies between DC and Pennsylvania... Do any of you know how I may be able to get this corrected? If anyone has dealt with this, any help you can provide would be much appreciated!
I'll take a stab here : a) Write them telling them the above. b) Insist on getting a phone number that you can call to speak to someone who is capable of resolving the issue c) If they don't resolve it, let your credit card company know they're not providing the service as promised and dispute the charge. Just my two-bits worth. Oh, and no need to be sorry. Not that you need to be overbearing and rude but there's nothing wrong in expecting a decent level of service.
If you get a contact, let me know. I'm pretty sure MDL is going to screw up the Denver market on Wednesday. There's no TV for the Rapids game in Chicago, but I'm betting when I try to load it on MDL I get a blackout message.
Thanks for the responses. The "help desk" folks are pretty unhelpful in providing some sort of path for escalation on the matter. I think my next option is as prk mentioned; to write a letter and see where that gets me. I'll post back here if I hear anything.
Does MLS black out ISP areas or home address. I'm currently on travel tonight and want to watch the dc united game. But my home address is in MD. Any past issues resolved?
I'll be watching this with great interest. There were blackout issues in New England last year, but the ban was lifted in pretty short order after some protests were lodged. The big issue is that Revs games are carried by CSN, and Comcast is not an option for everyone in the region.
It is based on your IP number. So if you are physically (or via proxy) outside of the blackout area you will be fine.
I've always found escalating immediately above the CSR as soon as you are connected, and then going straight to profanity has worked for me.
I'm getting blocked from the chivas - sporting game. I live in San Diego. If this is the way MDL is going to work, then I'll promptly cancel.
I just noticed that all chivas games will be shown on Prime Ticket, which I don't have. I really hate all the blackout rules. I will cancel as soon as I can figured out how to do so (email?). Oh look, the game shown on one of those questionable sites...
I completely agree. Blackouts are stupid. They really need to come up with more creative ways to generate money from broadcasting games.
Yeah, I would. I live in Arizona and was blacked out of both the Galaxy and Rapids games, and I am certain neither game was televised on any channel in this state. On the other hand, I had no issues watching the DC game.
The Galaxy game was on ESPN, the Rapids game was on Fox Soccer. Those two channels have their games blacked out on MDL nationwide as part of their contracts with MLS.
Ok, throw out some ideas. Selling the broadcast rights to networks isn't working well enough for you? It makes total sense to protect the interests of those they've sold the rights to be blacking out the online stream to those who can receive those broadcasts.
Whats fun is living in Indy and the Chicago games on Comcast Sports Net Chicago, yet Comcast (whom i have as cable provider) told me they do not carry Comcast Sports Net. Personally confused by that
I live in San Diego but can't get Chivas or Galaxy games. Both teams have deals with Prime Ticket, but not all cable networks in San Diego have Pirme Ticket (COX). In any case everyone knows that you can find quality streams on the net. Its the networks that are responsible for the existence of piracy. The customer wants and is willing to pay to be able to stream any game on any platform he owns. Why can't MLS/MLB/NHL/NBA and the broadcasters understand that?
The problem is mostly dealing with regional networks. In my case it would be Prime Ticket. Costumers that can prove they pay for that service should not be blocked. Those who don't pay for the network service should pay an additional fee that will go directly to the rights owner(s). Or there simply should be a "no blackouts" option, which will cost more than the regular price. In my case I should be able to pay MDL for $39.99 + additional fee ($5.00). Of course, this is never going to happen because it would encourage cord cutting.
As someone else has already mentioned, why not find a way to pay those rights owners? A blackout is a very coarse tool that prevents people from seeing a game that they are willing to pay for. It isn't the 70's anymore. You should be able to watch your team anywhere on the planet that has an internet connection. If FSC, ESPN, or a local station wants an extra 2-3 bucks kickback from MLS for each viewer that doesn't have FSC but wants to watch the game there are fairly simple technological solutions to this problem. The only difficulties are contractual and thus inherently solvable if the willingness is there. Ok so my Sounders game is blocked again? Click here to pay the $2 blackout-buster fee. I will do that every time instead of chasing down shitty pirate streams that get shut down constantly. Pricing would probably have to be different for regional blackouts and people without cable who want to watch a whole season. The point is that the desire is there. Customers are out there. There is a market staring people in the face but instead of figuring out how to make money off of it they are spending craploads of money chasing down "pirates" who would cease to exist the day they found a flexible and fair way for people to enjoy the events they want to see.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]I wrote to cancel and got this instead: Hi, Thank you for your email. All payments for Subscription Services are non-refundable. We encourage you to utilize your subscription to MLS Matchday. All games will be available on demand, even if you were blacked out for the game live. Thank you for using MLS Matchday and have a nice day. Regards, MLS Support [/FONT]
Curiously, Crew games were not blacked out for me last year, despite the fact that ONN is available on Time-Warner up here. (I didn't try to stream the game live last week, so I don't know if that's still the case.) ------RM
Hi MLS Support, Most credit card companies will allow me to reverse the charge and take my money back. Thanks for your support! Signed, Everyone