| Petey Arms |
Exclusivity for Extra Innings package worth $700M
Major League Baseball is preparing to announce an agreement that will give satellite giant DirecTV exclusive rights to the sport's Extra Innings package of out-of-market games. The agreement, expected to be announced formally at a press conference Thursday afternoon, is reportedly worth $700 million over the next seven years.
The proposed agreement has drawn criticisms from several corners, including from Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who asked the Federal Communications Commission to look into the deal. Under the deal, DirecTV will be the only carrier of the Extra Innings package, which enables consumers to view up to 60 out-of-market games per week for a fee of around $179 a season. The Extra Innings package had been available on Dish Network, DirecTV's main competitor, and cable television systems throughout the country.
I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices," Kerry said in a recent letter to FCC chairman Kevin Martin. "In this day and age, consumers should have more choices -- not fewer. A Red Sox fan ought to be able to watch their team without having to switch to DirecTV."
Many consumers had complained about the inconvenience and cost of switching from cable or Dish Network to DirecTV. Estimates vary, but more than 200,000 of last year's approximately 500,000 Extra Innings subscribers will be forced to make the switch to DirecTV if they choose to keep the package this season. Some, because of restrictions in getting the satellite signal, may not be able to make the conversion.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has downplayed the controversy over the proposed move, calling it "ridiculous," and claiming that only a small number of consumers who previously received the Extra Innings package through cable will be unable to get a DirecTV satellite signal. Chase Carey, DirecTV's president and chief executive officer, put that number at about 5,000 users in a statement in the Los Angeles Times. Others estimate the number at far greater than that.
Dish Network assailed the new agreement. "When our customers are suddenly cut off from watching their favorite sports teams on TV," the company said in a statement, "it is time to ask whether the market is working. This is both anti-competitive and anti-consumer." |
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| Petey Arms |
| bumpers :rolleyes: |
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| Remo Williams |
| A shitty deal for me. I love watching baseball, love fantasy baseball but I have cable TV. Just another dumb move helped along by Selig. I'm not going to pay some guy to put a dish on my house to watch these games, baseball really crapped the bed on this move. |
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| PicksForArtie |
| simple solution, MLB.com, you can get it there |
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| MagilacutyJones |
| Thats kinda retarded. |
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| GRATEFUL DEAD |
| no.......... |
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| nedmark61 |
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| KingOfAllMedia |
| Bud once again fucking up MLB. :rolleye2: |
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