Are the "select out-of-market games" on MLB+ just the ones that air on MLBN or are there a few MLB dot TV games each week included in that?
I am still one of the few who thinks cable cutting sucks in general. Being forced to watch commercials is nauseating in 2026.
Oh, all the cool kids are apparently watching Tubi. "It's free with ads!" (Yeah, that you can't skip, but people don't seem to mind such.) I must be stuck in the 2000s. Unless it's news or sports, I won't watch it live. I'll record it and watch it on my schedule so I can fast-forward through the ads. I'll watch Chicago Med around 9, Chicago Fire at around 9:40 and then get to Chicago PD around 10:20 so I can skip through the ads. If I started around 9:30, I could probably do the late news and late night shows without commercials as well. But hey, as much as people loved their DVRs of the early 2000s, Tubi is apparently where it's at these days, even if you must watch the ads. I'll gladly pay to avoid ads.
American sports and the news are the 2 worst things to watch live, I find. We're lucky as soccer fans as (so far) we can be sure to get two 50-minute commercial-free segments of programming every time we watch a match, whether watching live or on a cheapo streaming package w/ commercials. Even if I'm forced to watch 3-4 minutes of ads at halftime, I don't mind since by then I usually need to get up for some reason anyway. I don't get how people can watch 8-10 lengthy commercial breaks every hour like you see in every American sport and the news.
It would be tough to avoid spoilers and social media mentions of what happens during big American Sports events though. I have to watch most of my favorite teams live. Especially if they are in playoff contention.
Shhhhh! Don't jinx anything. He says, pretty much assuming that the largely sacrosanct 50 mins uninterrupted is gonna go the way of the dodo. Good point. Do you think the powers that be will somehow leverage that to make that mandatory for all footy matches, regardless of the heat & humidity? And not because of player welfare but because of advertising/greed?
Yep. At least for international matches. May take a while before its fully implemented at the club level.
So far during the cooling breaks I have not seen any annoying commercials on Telemundo, TNT, ESPN or FOX. They usually keep with the teams on the sideline and show shots of the coaches speaking to the players. Let's see if that changes come World Cup time though. If it does , I do not mind it. Built in bathroom breaks or restroom breaks are not too bad. I also am used to seeing a lot of commercials during Colombian League matches. Seems like every goal kick or dead ball or stoppage situation there is a commercial.
From what I've heard, it will change. We can expect full-screeen commercials, just like at halftime. If they insist on commercials, why not put logos next to the score like what MLS used to do?
This is why I'm forced to watch on BBC, even though its technically illegal and am not proud of it. But if one option has professional analysis and no commercials, and the other is loaded with clowns and commercials, it just leaves me with little choice. The whole point of watching the WC is to be entertained, not to be annoyed.
Considering the hydration breaks are obviously global, it'll definitely be interesting to see how other channels decide to fill the time.
Yeah, not sure. I imagine it will be mixed - some networks will run a series of commercials, some maybe only 1 commercial, and some won't run any. I mentioned "BBC" since they obviously don't have commercials. They might just chime in the guys in the studio to voice their thoughts on the first half of the half and give the play-by-play guy a break.