How Blackouts are Killing MLB

In this video we deep dive into the broadcasting rights of MLB. Why are there blackouts? Why does this matter? What can solve it? Leave your comments below!
00:00 Intro
00:42 The RSN Golden Era
1:47 A Cord-Cutting Nightmare
4:00 The Blackout Era
6:37 Death of RSNs = Death of MLB?
9:27 Streaming Wars: A New Hope?
Does pitch count matter? Or does it just lead to more injuries? Check out our last Extra Innings video where we break it down: • Why Pitch Count is Rui...
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[@StealingHomeShow]

When you're not being blacked out from watching, what's your favorite baseball rivalry to watch? Here's a deep dive on ours: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z52bgYSIgNtqZ7s

[@FHL-Devils]

Blackouts - in any sport - are truly unacceptable in this age of sports media. Just makes pirate streaming more and more appealing.

[@StealingHomeShow]

Hard agree. Thanks for the comment!

[@user-pq9ji7kt4l]

As soon NASCAR moves its TV races to paid tier, my season is over.

[@bundesautobahn7]

Geoblocking is the most egregious form of greed in that regard.

[@chuckjones7218]

I paid for NHL streaming but found myself pirating half the games due to blackouts. Following year I just pirated because it wasn't worth the money for half the games

[@RFK6-qi8eg]

​@user-pq9ji7kt4l a birdie told me that DD12 has NASCAR content

[@itsnotme07]

MLB is its own worst enemy.

[@itsnotme07]

@@ITotallyGetThat Thanks! One of these days I will get that right!! Haha.

[@camberweller]

Very true. They want kids to become interested in the World Series but every year the game seems to start and end later on school nights,so young kids never watch.

[@stephaniegormley9982]

The game, on it's face is SUCH A GREAT GAME. But once every few years the powers that be,.... the commissioner, the RSNs, the unions etc, will BEG me to stop watching.

[@itsnotme07]

@@stephaniegormley9982 I hear ya. I haven't been to a MLB game since 2017. Why? Same reasons you mention. Previously I went to 15-20 games a year, multiple parks/fields.

[@phillyliverpoolfc4079]

@@camberwellerNBA and Cup Finals start at 8 or 830. Nobody complains about that.

[@mikehonchohimself3650]

I fully believe the reason the viewer numbers are down is because of the blackouts. No other major sport gives viewers this many problems. Fix it or lose all the viewers is their only choice.

[@StealingHomeShow]

Totally agree. And you see it in the way views keep dropping for baseball. Huge loss unless MLB can fix this.

[@billyquesenberry9857]

Nba does the same thing. The Pacers had a playoff game that was blacked out this year.

[@jettp3810]

NBA has the same blackout problem. I can’t watch the majority of Lakers games because RSN Spectrum Sportsnet carries the games. The same company that carries the Dodger games. If MLB and NBA really cared about its fans, especially the younger fans, they would drop the RSN contracts.

[@nightowl832]

​@billyquesenberry9857 I remember seeing that. There should be no blackouts during the post-season.

[@OneEyedGhoul84]

umm all major sports give us these problems, I pay for mlbtv, espn+ for nhl youtubetv for espn etc and they all have blackouts and require VPN or other methods to watch what we paid for so I don't see that being the issue. Cost of streaming services and the amount of ads/commercials bombarded with is more likely the scenario. Mlb tv costs 3 times as much as other services and shoves more ads down our throats than anyone else. I'm fine with the price IF I can watch MY team and they should have a ad free tier like most other services. luckily with mlb the blackout team I could care less about, but all other sports my teams are full blackout. The ads don't bother me that much having grown up in the 80s'90s where commercials were normal part of life lol aka snack and restroom breaks. People have just gotten spoiled with youtube red and such and find commercials obtrusive now and have the shortest attention spans I've seen in my entire life. It's not just mlb, its just everything, costs going up and games being shortened. Which I can go on a tirade on that alone, people want to complain about how expensive tickets are, then want to pay more for less game... makes no sense. Same with leaving a game early, you paid good money for it, enjoy the time out, a lot of us can't even afford to or have a game to go to nearby or even in state live in. MLB viewership was fine last year they were reporting an uptick over 6% and, only when world series ended up being texas and arizona did the viewership drop, and that's not because of mlb popularity but reality of most people don't care about either team unless a major fan (go rangers!) and a lot of butthurt braves, dodgers, houston, phillies etc fans. Go a step further and honestly I think the biggest reason playoffs and world series viewership was down is because you can't stream it. We pay to watch regular season of sports on dedicated apps, then comes playoffs and they start going to networks like espn, tnt, tbs,cbs, fox and if you don't have cable or fubo/youtube tv then you aren't going to be able to watch. I didn't watch as I had no access to fox to watch the games, but after seeing texas beat houston, then I had to pay ridiculous fubo tv with sports add on just to watch 5 WS games. It's like Netflix, they keep raising prices and raising and people bitch like crazy about it but don't actually do anything, aka cancel sub. If everyone in the US collectively cancelled netflix, and held fast on it for even just a couple months I guarantee the prices would drop and others would follow because they would be losing millions/billions in that short time. They are all just following netflix lead and know that people will continue to pay and watch regardless how bad situation is, because guess what we don't have another option currently. Its deal with it or don't get to watch it. I'm all for a PPV model to pay for every single game you want to watch, no blackouts, no restrictions. If you want to complain about it, then do something about it that has an actual effect, not just words on youtube/reddit. Not saying you or anyone in particular just in general. We still line their pockets with cash paying for their streams, so why should they change what they doing its working just fine for them. People don't seem to realize that on business side, streaming is not viable, as mlb is already seeing and talking about that with talks of handling the games themselves with the ballys bankrutpcy. Look at Disney + and peacock. $11 billion loss yet they still offering the streaming services.

[@Mr.MikeBarksdale]

To steal Winston Churchill's line on America, "You can always count on Major League Baseball to make the right decisions after they have exhausted all other options".

[@StealingHomeShow]

Maybe most underrated comment here haha

[@SetheMan]

How ironic...

[@nomercyinc6783]

nothing winston churchill did mattered to americans especially in 21st century. for foreigners think about america is fully irrelevant. those who come from shit nations dont have anything to say about their new nations nor do they even deserve to be there

[@GrandNagusJG]

I live in Alaska and we are blacked out for the Seattle Mariners. 38 hour drive. 2264 miles.

[@MartyGlenn72]

Are the Mariners games available on an RSN in your area?

[@jamesdarcy3902]

That is TARFU

[@BKDBut]

Cmon man. Don't be lazy. You can make the drive if you really wanted to watch a game.

[@alaskanyeti907]

@@MartyGlenn72 Nope! It's a channel in its own cable package. Funnily enough, I got WGN Chicago growing up, so despite not being able to watch Mariners games, I got the Cubs and White Sox.

[@27mhz47]

Root sports northwest owners also own the mariner’s and root sucks.

[@kentstallard6512]

Excellent breakdown. Blackouts make no sense even for the areas close to the stadiums. If the team is good, watching it on TV makes many want to attend in person. It's an incentive not a disincentive.

[@OkonkwoBigYams]

Can confirm I live a quarter mile from the Orioles and have been a lifelong fan but I watch LESS than when I'm away. I also go to games pretty regularly and it kills my hype I can't watch except for highlights

[@craigduncan7010]

I think that is somewhat true. But not absolutely. I don't think the analogy is perfect, but movie theaters are going extinct; in no small part to the quality of home TVs, and the movies that we can all find using just our remotes. Baseballs' (and most sports) fear of entering a death spiral where people stop attending games, so people stop watching on TV, and more stop attending... is a genuine risk. I am not stating that blackouts are the correct solution, but simply that the risk is real.

[@TheCybertiger9]

@@craigduncan7010 I can't afford the ticket prices anymore, unless I want to sit in the bleachers

[@kentstallard6512]

@@craigduncan7010 Attending a sporting event like a baseball game is a communal event. TV doesn't provide that. In contrast I prefer seeing movies in an empty theater free of distraction.

[@kentstallard6512]

@@OkonkwoBigYams Good time to be an Orioles fan. I'm a Dbacks fan, was hoping last year's WS would be AZ-Baltimore. We're struggling but the O's are hanging with NY despite the pitching staff injuries. I would be happy to see them win the AL and they have a great shot. What a farm system. And finally Angelos sold.

[@gandalfgreyhame3425]

MLB is doing a great job of strangling its own popularity by putting its games on so many different platforms and blacking out so many home games. Baseball used to be the most popular sport in America, and was played by kids in the streets in cities and in farmfields out in the rural areas. Does anybody play baseball anymore just for fun?

[@StealingHomeShow]

On this channel we do play baseball and wiffle ball for fun 😂 but you’re right! Very rare to see kids playing baseball for fun now. Kinda sad.

[@willp.8120]

Recreation Baseball is still very popular in states like Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, and California.

[@HoshizakiYoshimasa]

Baseball is thriving globally right now. East Asia and Latin America. Even in Czech Republic of all places. Only place it seems to be struggling in is Burgerland.

[@redgr81]

in jasper, in there is a mexican rec baseball league on the weekends...blew my mind....but I never see kids playing

[@craigduncan7010]

@@StealingHomeShow Isn't that pretty much true for everything (expect video games) these days?

[@Elephant2024-wi2li]

In addition to the blackouts, what bothers me is it apparently isn't enough to buy the MLB package. MLB now broadcasts every week to outlets like Apple TV and Amazon Prime. And they stopped telecasting games on You Tube, which was available to everyone online. Now they try to make you pay these streaming services. Well, bleach to that. There is no way I am going to give them even more $.

[@paulwilliams8870]

Agreed, we payed 80/month to watch the Phillies (and jeopardy to be honest). But even still if it was broadcast on Apple TV, we couldn’t see it. To go off on a tangent, we once purchased NHL tv to watch the penguins but the joke was on us because even though A) we were considered “in market” because Pittsburgh is 5 hours away and b)the Pittsburgh sports were not carried by our “in market” sports channels. So the are blackout “holes” where you cannot get it at all.

[@Suarez05]

TBF, It looks like the Sunday Morning Leadoff games are moving to Roku which is FREE.

[@WilliamDavidJenkins]

Literally watching from Tulsa. It’s an 8 hour drive to Houston and an 8 hour drive to St. Louis, and can confirm-blacked out.

[@StealingHomeShow]

We found the Tulsa fan! So sorry, thanks for confirming :(

[@claythomas9467]

I remember going to college in Alva. I am a ranger fan. Blacked out. Royals? Blacked out. Cardinals? Blacked out. Astros? Blacked out. Rockies? Blacked out. Ridiculous.

[@downhillblur708]

Little Rock, AR. Blacked out of Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals. All games home and away. None of these places are less than 8 hours drive away. Thanks for fucking nothing MLB.

[@Tiberius22495]

Yep, I’m in Tulsa, even if you buy the Bally Sports Plus you still can’t get Cardinals or Rangers to stream cause they don’t have the streaming rights it’s so stupid.

[@1-800-WILLIAM]

Tulsa here too. Been a fan of the Astros since 2004 (I followed Clemens’ career but settled on them since my son was born during this short tenure) and struggled to find a fellow Astros mostly because baseball isn’t big in Oklahoma but among those who are, they liked Rangers or Cards. Prior to 2017, about the only people wearing Astros hats were me and a few Hoover gang members. After 2017 came all of the bandwagoners who suspiciously fell off by 2020.

[@Ai14106]

Blackouts are an old antiquated technique. I like how MLS has Apple TV and no blackouts at all!

[@okrajoe]

Shame to see MLB accelerating their own demise over greed...

[@anthonymellemasr.2661]

you raise good points. I remember in the late 70's early 80's when the NFL did blackouts. Most people just stopped watching and in my family they just stopped watching and didn't look back

[@marcus813]

The NFL was keeping the TV stations in many of its markets (plus official secondary markets) from getting more ad revenues with all those blackouts. I think the NFL should've ended its blackout policy in the aughts, when people could get around blackouts without having to go somewhere far away.

[@robertlindey2538]

@@marcus813 I remember in the 1970's in Erie, PA. Whenever the Buffalo Bills (90 miles to the NE) didn't sell out a prime-time game (which would be the only NFL game played that night.), many people in Erie would drive 40 miles to the SW to Ashtabula, OH, rent a motel room, and watch the Cleveland network-affiliate's broadcast.

[@robertadams6606]

I cut my Cable & I don't even own aTV. Baseball has so many games it doesn't matter much. How many games do the Season ticket holder normally attend ? I can see the highlights on the teams websites.

[@robertlindey2538]

@@robertadams6606 Not only that, but with the expanded playoff format, each regular season game has less meaning. Recently, the Dodgers won 115 games in their regular season, but were eliminated in a 5-game playoff series against the wild-card Padres. Last season's World Series TV ratings were a dud because it featured wild-card teams from DFW and Phoenix---two metro markets with scant national fan bases and not rich in baseball tradition.

[@footiebloke]

I missed it when home games were on local over the air channels.

[@xxcelr8rs]

Yep, and now I could not care less about that team. Wouldn't recognize one players name. They come and go every year. Telemundo used to broadcast local team,

[@uncletrick1]

Blackouts are the #1 stopping me from getting MLB TV. I cut the cord years ago and I'm not going back just to watch local baseball.

[@too1leasy]

So many good sites on the high seas, no need.

[@TheCybertiger9]

@@too1leasy exactly. a lot more than years ago

[@danr154]

streameast. your welcome

[@IPANoah]

I figured this out when I was kid in HS twenty plus years ago. One thing I could quibble with you about is that moving games from public TV to Cable (RSNS) still allowed most people to watch games. A huge amount of any market doesn't and didn't have cable. Moving baseball from over the air tv to cable tv was definitely going to eventually squeeze interest out of the game. RSNS weren't about making the product better they were about extracting more money out of the customer to view the product. The Cubs were the cubs largely in part because they were national broadcast, same with the Braves. Every day they were on TV for free. Currently in Seattle you can pay for cable and STILL not be able to watch M's games. They want an additional twenty or month or something. Its crazy and no one is paying for that except bars.

[@uhohhotdog]

Viewers are down because everyone is cutting cable. I haven’t been able to watch the orioles in 5 years because I got rid of cable. All I get to watch are KZbin highlights and the occasional Apple TV game.

[@CH-mq1kj]

I route for the same team and am in the same blacked out situation. Go O’s!

[@prman9984]

At least for NHL I get most games with only a relatively cheap ESPN+ sub. And all the UFC Fight Night cards are included too.

[@chuckjones7218]

Formula 1 has the ultimate streaming service. No blackouts, choose from several commentary teams, choose which driver cam to watch etc. And it's less than $100 per year. F1 TV is absolutely king

[@Combatant5]

And don't forget you can watch any race or show they put out they ever have put out. It's actually good value for money. Bang on.

[@chuckjones7218]

@@Combatant5 yeah there are tons of features with F1TV. You can even use third party programs to skim data from your stream and get crazy viewing setups. F1TV is truly king of streaming services

[@joesonwong]

Yeah, I was gonna say Liberty Media should take over MLB. May be a much better show there for baseball fans.

[@too1leasy]

Hell yeah, it's the best. Being able to watch ANYTHING at anytime is worth the cost

[@stephanechamberland8486]

@@Combatant5 many of F1 fans (since 20 years and more) I know don't watch it anymore....no show ! Always the same winner...Verstapen !

[@billsheridan8635]

The Chicago Cubs were shown on WGN television for 30 years and they built a nationwide following. The still filled their ballpark every game.

[@stuffingtonjfluffypantsiii]

And that during the Curse Of The Goat years too. Cubbies are my Cardinals biggest rivals but I respect the Cubs fans for staying loyal through all that.

[@LinkRocks]

So did the Braves with TBS.

[@miker6570]

Back in the day the Cubs and the Braves were both broadcast on super stations. That is how they were able to draw nationwide fans. As of 2024 both of those superstations no longer exist.

[@justinturley7071]

@@miker6570TBS still exists, albeit without the Superstation on its logo. And still ran it’s games in TBS till 2007. WGN still exists as a local channel, but WGN America (the channel which simulcasted those games from the local channel feed) was rebranded as NewsNation in 2021.

[@rickmoreno7166]

It's even worse than you think. I live in Denver, and even though Rockies telecasts are put together by MLB and sold to cable by MLB, I STILL can't watch my Giants on my MLBTV subscription when they play the Rockies. They've kept the blackout rule in effect even though IT'S THEIR OWN DAMN BROADCAST.

[@Ryouski]

Did you pay for the season on MLBTV? I purchased the whole season for all MLB teams and have no blackouts

[@dayofdevotion]

@@Ryouski You must not be in a TV area. I am in the Reds region. I can see any game the reds are not involved in, so for the games the Cubs play the reds, or the games on ESPN or apple TV, they are blacked out.

[@too1leasy]

@@Ryouski I didn't pay a dime, use a streaming site and get to see all MLB teams and no blackouts.

[@willp.8120]

The whole Bally Diamond Sports fiasco with Comcast now has it where Braves fans can't even watch their own team.

[@fjskaff6462]

Same thing with the tigers right now

[@StealingHomeShow]

It's just going to keep getting worse for Diamond/Bally, too. We need a fix.

[@willp.8120]

@@fjskaff6462 I think it is Braves, Tigers, and Twins, maybe one or two more.

[@raylsullivan]

Comcast/Xfinity is giving proactive monthly credits to customers for the loss of Bally.

[@prman9984]

The Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes went to local TV when this happened. Worked out better. Phoenix Suns too.

[@jeyfromnowhere]

Took my dad on a trip to see the Field of Dreams diamond a few years back. On a whim I checked the MLB app to see what territory I was in and which games were blocked. It was a staggering SIX teams: Cubs White Sox Cardinals Brewers Royals Twins That is beyond fucked.

[@StealingHomeShow]

Iowa is actually notorious for being one of the worst places for MLB. So much so, I think legislators tried to ban blackouts a year ago because they can't watch ANYTHING. Didn't work.

[@johnsamoilis6379]

I don't have a problem with this if there is a way to watch games if the Regional Sports Networks to those teams are in your area

[@nortonhatfield7312]

The nfl has done the opposite of mlb. They have eliminated almost all blackout restrictions on nfl games.

[@Welcometomyworld4754]

Not true. I live in Orlando, and every single Sunday that rolls around, I am wondering whether or not I will actually get to watch the Buccaneers games. I literally stopped making plans around watching the game with people, because we have gotten together so many times to watch the game, only to get the middle finger from the NFL.

[@gbalph4]

Where I live (Orange County, CA), we have two teams (Rams and Chargers) and can watch them with no problems. Now that I have IPTV I might use that to find out of market games since my parents may want to watch the Patriots. I just wish it that easy to watch the Dodgers and Angels.

[@turtle19dad]

I have NFL+ and I can damn near watch every game. Even playoffs. Sometimes I can’t watch the Seahawks or Bengals or teams like that due to being out of market.

[@prman9984]

And the NFL is the most popular sport in the country. Crazy.

[@TheCybertiger9]

@@Welcometomyworld4754 If you know where to look you can watch any game.

[@GummyBear556677]

Wow, what a breakdown. I knew this phenomenon was pissing me off lol when I try to watch games but this really helped me understand it

[@StealingHomeShow]

So glad to hear that! It’s complicated, but put simply… it sucks haha. Thanks for watching!

[@ash2357577]

I personally like listening to games on the radio (I have an MLB At Bat subscription) because I can do other things while I listen and there is nothing to tempt me to look at the pretty flashing colors. Baseball is the perfect radio sport. That being said, I probably would watch a few more games a year if I was given the chance.

[@bobbest8627]

Nice work… Well done and informative. I’m an old guy 66 years… So I don’t understand everything… I use Hulu to watch the San Francisco giants on NBC, Bay Area, in Reno. But what frustrates is occasionally they stick a game on Apple TV which means if you want to watch the game you have to subscribe to them also. which at my age I don’t understand because they still have TV commercials to generate revenue. So many changes and different things to navigate. The one thing that hasn’t changed I can’t live without baseball.

[@JZekis]

I think it's telling that NFL is the most popular sport in America and it's the only sport where most of the games aren't paywalled.

[@gregpochet4812]

100% agree. We watch college baseball and softball because I can watch them on TV. 20-30 year olds don't want to invest 4 hrs+ of their time and $100+ going to a game.

[@GarandGunner]

I'm a Diamondbacks fan living in Northern Utah, a 12+ hour drive from Phoenix, or a 2 hour drive to SLC Airport with a 2 hour flight. And I'm still blacked out from Dbacks (and Rockies) games. So stupid.

[@jamesq7954]

The regional blackouts seem even more aggravating when you consider the taxpayer dollars that go into building stadiums.

[@qporscheq]

Great video. I am a father of two baseball loving boys. We cut the cord two years ago and saved $100+ per month. The only thing we lost was our local baseball RSN. My 13 saved up his money to buy MLB TV. We live in an MLB city. However, because of the black outs my boys never watch their home team. They watch all the others. It’s beyond short sited as the teams are creating a generation that don’t have a home team because they are not allowed to watch their actual home team. So stupid.

[@bfaulkner17]

I live in Las Vegas, 4.5 hours from the nearest MLB stadium. I am in a SIX team blackout area. There have been times when MLB network has carried two games and I couldn't get either of them.

[@StealingHomeShow]

Well, luckily you'll be getting a team soon? Are you excited for the A's?

[@HighpointerGeocacher]

@@StealingHomeShow When the A's move to Las Vegas, the A's will be blacked out but other teams will no longer be blacked out.

[@stuffingtonjfluffypantsiii]

@@StealingHomeShow Doubt it. Vegas is the 2nd biggest market for the Dodgers. Only bigger market is LA itself. As are gonna have to REALLY up their game to build a fanbase in Vegas

[@delllaptop6958]

The crazy thing to me is that the pirate streams I see due to blackouts have substantial viewership. While pirate streams will always be a thing, if you give people like me and so many others a chance to watch their in market team without having to pay for a crazy expensive cable package, baseball would be just fine

[@too1leasy]

The pirate streams are commercial free too. It's great.

[@burgerbarn5000]

Life long Angel fan here...I would be watching every game if I was able to. Without subscribing to local Cable or DirectTV, I cannot...Greed kills everything.

[@billtate6962]

I'm a Cubs fan...started as a kid in the 70s...why? Not because of their stellar play back then, that's for sure....no, it was because I got to watch 162 games a year (if I chose to)....on free TV through WGN. That changed later to 1/2 on WGN and 1/2 on Cable (Comcast Sportsnet)..... thankfully I got to see my Cubs win the World Series (finally).... because here we are in 2024 and now if I want to watch the Cubs I need to pay $20/month for Marquee Network....but at least they don't "blackout" any games.

[@joshuaprado1]

As someone who works in an RSN, we know that even though that streaming is up and coming, the biggest issue that they have as of right now is attracting new fans - not the ones who have been watching for sometime. Could this change? Sure, but what the league wants are multiple bidders for those broadcasting rights.

[@prman9984]

If there are no fans, there will be no bidders.

[@AS-qn9yg]

Whoever is in charge of marketing and sales at MLB is a moron, at every turn they making terrible decisions. I don’t think I can name three current MLB players, shows what a great job they’re doing.

[@backfreedom8232]

don't worry, you're not missing much

[@jakeski3142]

I’ve been screaming this for years. When I was a kid I was a huge Cubs and Braves fan, because I could watch every game. Now I have four different streaming services and never see a game

[@nortonhatfield7312]

Bally sports used to be fox sports. Those regional sports channels were much better back when Fox owned them.

[@robertlindey2538]

I remember decades ago when all (or at least most) Braves, Cubs, and Mets games were shown nationally on "superstations." Since then, TBS/TNT switched from airing the Braves to MLB in general. WGN---who carried the Cubs---is now News Nation, and WWOR----who showed the Mets---is not in my current cable lineup.

[@audrisampson]

I paid my cable company for mlb tv and the Cincinnati RSN. They are now both cut from my plan. Last year I watched at least 100 games on tv. This year so far Im at 2. Im sorry I don't want to buy more streaming services. So its been nba playoffs for me.

[@cameronwheeler3219]

I went to Camden yards last year to watch an Orioles game and the tv at the concessions said “blackout”

[@jeffgolden2308]

NESN costs $30 a month to watch the Red Sox! Absolutely absurd!

[@TheCybertiger9]

Weekend games use to be on channel 6 out of Providence. So at least you could watch them over the air sometimes, but not anymore. I just gave up on Baseball after following for 30+ years

[@bevinmarshall]

The blackouts for the Toronto Blue Jays are terrible. Their games are blacked out for the entire country of Canada. This is because they are owned by Rogers Cable, I hope MLB fixes this cause baseball is the only thing stopping me from cutting the cord.

[@robertott9925]

My blackout is DC and Baltimore, I live in NC 10 hours away

[@andrewalden8364]

I live in WV where the regional team is the Pirates. I get the MLB ticket every year to watch my O’s, but I do pull for the Bucs and would like to see them play, but I can’t because I stream. It’s aggravating and dumb. The NFL got rid of blackouts a long time ago and MLB should do the same.

[@johnsamoilis6379]

completely different blackout policy. The NFL blackout policy required stadiums to be sold out. The NFL broadcasts the vast majority of there games on over the air television.

[@rickmoreno7166]

@@johnsamoilis6379 It's even better than that! The NFL broadcasts EVERY game on over the air television somewhere. If your team is on ESPN, that game is simulcast on a local over-the-air channel so that fans can see it no matter what. It's a brilliant strategy to ensure maximum viewing. A team can still enforce a blackout if the stadium isn't sold out, but that's only within a 50-mile radius or so of the stadium.

[@Alan-lv9rw]

I’m in a suburb of Dallas. We cannot get the Texas Ranger games.

[@richardeicholtz4868]

If you have MLB TV and a VPN then the blackouts become moot.

[@nightowl832]

It makes it hard to keep up with your favorite teams if you can't watch them. For example, I live in Central Kentucky, and we have the Reds, Cavaliers, Grizzlies, Predators, and Pacers all blacked out. It's ridiculous.

[@fortynights1513]

Blackouts go as far back as the 50’s or so I believe. Back then they may have made a certain amount of sense to give local affiliates games to air. It’s possible that we didn’t truly see how outdated blackouts were until the past decade or so.

[@StealingHomeShow]

Totally right all around with history and not noticing. When people started cord-cutting is when this became a real noticeable issue, as more and more of us don't have cable. Thanks for the comment!

[@fortynights1513]

@@StealingHomeShowYou’re welcome! What teams do you root for out of curiosity (Mariners and Cubs are mine?)

[@StealingHomeShow]

@@fortynights1513 On this channel show we split between Rays, Yankees, Royals and Brewers! But we've both been to Wrigley and Cubs have a special place in my heart for sure!

[@jamesbusald7097]

Glad to hear you ranting about this.

[@tonyschmitz1997]

When looking at blackouts to live games you should look at Iowa. The entire state corner to corner is blackout to live games of 6 teams Twins, Royals, Cards, Cubs, White Sox, Brewers.

[@StealingHomeShow]

Almost included Iowa, but ultimately wanted to show there are TONS of places with multi-team blackouts across the country. It's awful.

[@redgr81]

friend tried legally following the reds but cant because of blackouts, came to me and I turned him into a swashbuckler

[@TheCybertiger9]

Grrrrrrr....ahoy matie

[@saxman112]

Absolutely ridiculous how even in this day and age, blackouts are still a thing for ANY sport They absolutely shouldn’t exist, but yet somehow they do I really feel for y’all who are somewhere like Tulsa, Vegas, or anywhere that has more than 1 team blacked out, especially in a case like Tulsa where they don’t even have their own MLB team to begin with As much as he’s hated, if he does go through on his plan to come up with some direct to consumer streaming platform and that will finally end blackouts once and for all, then I will have some kind of respect for Manfred

[@elliottFamily2]

I’m a Kansas City Royals fan. One of my five kids is into baseball. I subscribed to the audio only MLB app when Kansas City was shown as the free game of the day. He and I planned our entire evening around it and sat down to watch only to be greeted by the blackout screen.

[@VanessaDMusic]

Great video and production quality!! Keep this up you got a new sub!!

[@Sacto1654]

I think MLB should work with a streaming provider with really deep pockets to buy out all the local RSN righs. Alas, only one company has that type of money: Apple.

[@JaggySam]

Big debate in the UK at the moment as the Premier League wrestles a similar conundrum. Traditionally games are played at 3pm on a Saturday, but to encourage fans to go to games (Premier League or lower level) all games at this time are blacked out in the UK, while the rest of the world can watch freely. But broadcasters pay so much money for TV rights they have a say in how the games are scheduled. So we end up with teams playing at silly times on silly days in silly locations all so the broadcasters can get around this 3pm Saturday black out. Also fans in the UK hate it because someone from Canada might be able to watch all games for $20 a month, whereas we have to pay £100 a month for the privilege of a small selection of games.

[@otaviofrn_adv]

The blackout rules there are nuts... Here in Brazil we used to have blackouts for the cities in which the game was played, when the game was broadcasted free to air (we have a free to air broadcaster in our league. A nationwide broadcast pretty much every wednesday evening and three games broadcasted on sunday, with some regional locks but no blackouts to the area where the game is being played), but that stopped some years ago. If you consider the paid options, you can easily get every game of the league. And we get every game of the Premier League, either through cable or streaming.

[@jdb2002]

I got a free subscription to MLBtv through my phone company. Was disappointed finding out I couldn't watch my hometown Twins, only listen. Something I could do with my clock radio.

[@Ironcabbit]

Same here. Being on the other coast I can watch my Pirates, your Twins, and any other teams I want - except for the Mariners (but they aren’t worth it right now anyway).

[@GolfhausYT]

@@Ironcabbit Geography is doing no one any favors on the east coast. If the "Oklahoma Rule" is consistently applied, and "eight-hour trip" is the radius by which the blackout applies, then someone in Seattle will be blocked from seeing... Seattle. Someone in Philadelphia will be blocked from seeing a third of the league, and even if the Phillies AREN'T their team, the team they DO support is probably in that third.

[@petepyeatt6909]

We’re going to watch it. Nothing is blacked out.

[@handsomeawkward1822]

Great video! I’m glad I stumbled across this channel. Subscribing and looking forward to more.

[@StealingHomeShow]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@Jshmoney24]

The MLB is a leader in strangling its own product for the sake of tv deals and uncharges

[@R8rRen]

I live in Las Vegas, where the A's will hopefully be moving in 2028. But I can't watch the A's on TV. Not even if I buy MLB TV. WTF?

[@marksuddjian4570]

Just as well. The A's are painful to watch. SELL THE TEAM!

[@Hydrowarriornash]

I’m a New York Yankees fan but I live near Houston Texas so I’ll only be able to watch less than 15 games this entire season and they’re probably losing a lot of money because of the blackouts Edit: great video by the way

[@stereomois]

Are the Yankees blacked out in Houston? Yikes I usually have MLB audio since am more likely to listen to a game than watch it. And Rickie Ricardo on the Yankees Spanish broadcast is one of the best along with the Mets

[@Hydrowarriornash]

@@stereomois I haven’t been able to watch it

[@greedo2660]

I'd pay for a streaming service in a heartbeat, but my favorite team (Seattle Mariners) are blacked out in my area despite their field being 500 miles from my house.

[@davidburke9596]

It would make sense if the blacked out MLB-TV games were on local Tv. I understand they want us watching local commercials , but baseball is never on here.

[@jesalbov]

Nice video! Glad I got here. Subbed:)

[@StealingHomeShow]

Thank you! Glad you liked it and welcome :)

[@muthergoose4084]

I wanted to say this was a well thought out and well done video. Kudos for making such wonderful content.

[@TreverWhipbuilder]

Great video! Here’s what’s crazy to me - rsns complained about losing to cord cutting but they owned the rights to go direct to consumer and cut out the negotiations with the cable companies (not to mention the revenue share) seems like they should love cord cutting!

[@Klanchey]

I live in Alaska, making us in the region for the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Kraken. Root sports, which is the RSN they are on, is legitimately not available on cable or streaming packages. The ways to watch a game is spend $400 or more on airfare not including places to stay to watch these games or pirate the games or use a VPN. Blackouts are stupid and dumb

[@BreakTime10101]

None of the cable companies up there have it on their systems, not even GCI?

[@HighpointerGeocacher]

How could any major team be blacked out in Alaska? It's not like you can get your car and drive to a game.

[@KaleviBTSL]

As a fan in the PNW this is an excellent breakdown of why the sport is dying. If I want to watch the mariners my 4 options are; 1) pirate a stream and risk malware or a virus, 2) get mlb TV and use a VPN and hunch over my laptop, 3) pay almost $100 per month for fubo (which has random glitches and constant lag/144p moments, or 4) get a cable subscription for almost $150 forced to pay for 1,000 channels I have no interest in. Something has to change or this sport is going to die. Great video again, earned my sub.

[@KevinCanessaJr]

This video was exceptionally researched and reported. Thank you!

[@sorenmpeterson]

In Iowa, we suffer from blackouts for 6 MLB teams-Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, and St Louis Cardinals. All of those ballparks are a 4-5 hour drive (so not as bad as Tulsa), but it’s far enough that it means an overnight stay and taking time off work to go to a game.

[@ronnies6811]

Excellent video, and channel. I just subbed. 👍

[@BearIslandComics]

Fantastic job. Subbing this channel without hesitation!

[@larrymickey3419]

I've lost interest in Baseball due to blackouts on the MLB streaming service . They expect me to drive 12 hours round trip , incur the expense of motels, restaurants and overpriced tickets to watch a ballgame . The straw that broke the camel's back was MLB taking my money then telling me I couldn't stream the game because Apple TV or Amazon pays them more money so basically we'll take your money but screw you Fan . Now the only Baseball I watch is the 15 minute KZbin game highlights . I've lost interest to the point of not being able to watch the free game of the day on MLB , I just don't care to spend 3 hours out of my life to watch Baseball anymore. I have two grown sons who also have lost all interest in Baseball.

[@DjFIL007]

Really well presented video. Not a big baseball watcher myself (just occasional games), but RSNs and Blackouts are a huge pain in basically anything but the NFL (though I believe they do select blackouts, within local regions if stadium isn't 100% sold out).

[@mavensbaseball]

Nice video. You need more videos like this. Great production and nice voice sounds like an SB nation video. Love it.

[@true_shermanator1129]

I remember back in the day the only blackouts where within the city the team was in, as long as the game wasn’t/close to selling out then the blackout was lifted [which made sense] but just being in the region the broadcast is in is insane

[@Cindoreye]

It's telling when finding an illegal stream is easier than figuring out how to pay for and watch your team's games. People are completely willing to pay and the MLB makes giving them money difficult. It would be hilarious, if it weren't so infuriating. My grandfather needed to purchase satalite TV to get the YES network, because cable didn't carry YES where he lived. When cable eventually did start carrying it, the provider couldn't get it to work in his area. He could purchase the channel but was never able to view it. Even so, he still needed regular cable for the odd game here and there. Oh, and many of those odd games on cable were against the Red Sox. Even with all that, you might need Amazon Prime and/or Apple TV nowadays to add further to the mess. It is a complete joke.

[@Impure-Thoughts]

Nice video. Great style

[@nomadkeller8612]

GREED of major league baseball has killed the middle class fan which fueled the MLB 1920 to 1995....GREED has now ruled for almost 30 years and a complete GENERATION is disenterested now.

[@telepolo]

I totally agree with your video because these damn blackouts are super annoying and it’s a rip off even you pay the subscription you still can’t see your hometown team so these year I decided not to subscribe and just see the free games when available 😡

[@tetis677]

Great video 🎉

[@StealingHomeShow]

Thank you! :)

[@papabare1977]

I live in Las Vegas, and six teams (Dodgers, Padres, A's, Giants, Angels, Diamondbacks) are all blacked out.

[@jettp3810]

Six teams are blacked out in Vegas? That’s terrible. I can see Dodgers and Angels, but A’s and Giants? The Bay Area is almost 600 miles away from Vegas.

[@nortonhatfield7312]

Same thing if live iowa. Several teams ( cubs, white Sox, twins, brewers, royals, cardinals, and rockies)have thier games black out in iowa

[@StealingHomeShow]

Are you excited to be getting a team in Vegas soon?

[@papabare1977]

@StealingHomeShow I am. My favorite team is also in the AL West, so it'll be great to see them live two or three times a year. The only problem is that the stadium is going to be built right in the middle of the Vegas Strip, so it's going to be organized chaos getting in and out.

[@jamesdarcy3902]

MLB business model. SNAFU as usual, driving the fan away likely to never return

[@thoughtfulbobcat1872]

I have no idea who thinks limiting viewers for their sport is a good idea. NFL stopped that and their ratings have exploded to the point they are the highest rated show year after year. Also RSN'S pulling their channels off of streaming services basically cut off their nose to spite their face.

[@CB-vt3mx]

people wonder why I still listen to games on AM radio...well...this is why. It is sooooo stoopid.

[@joesantamaria5874]

I live in coastal Delaware, two and a half houses from Philly, and three hours from Baltimore and DC. I’m in the blackout zone for Phillies, O’s, AND Nats.

[@alejbr4]

i know in southern il, some areas cant get sox or cubs games, because its too close to st louis, so they are part of the cards tv area

[@jamescaron6465]

I live on the gulf coast and 5 teams are blacked out to me. The closest team to me is Atlanta which is 5 hours away. Screw them. I dropped the regional sports package and stopped my MLB subscription.

[@vangelis7]

Im a hockey fan now living in The states. Ive tried paying for services that allow me to follow hockey only to be affected by blackouts whenever i Im interested in a matchup. And then playoffs come and i cant watch anything. Eventually I had to find ways to PIRATE THE STREAM I WAS ACTUALLY PAYING FOR. Eventually i stopped paying. And over time stopped watching all together. If me a hardcore hockey fan has had enough how do you expect to grow the sport amongst casuals? This video sums up very well what Ive been feeling for years with regards to sports viewing. Eventually when advertisers fail to get their messages to eyeballs because no one is watching things may change.

[@jekanyika]

In the UK a large percentage of PL games are not allowed to be show on UK TV. Whereas people in other countries are allowed to watch all of the games.

[@jamesdarcy3902]

A lot of Premier League games are on local TV, starting at 0430 on weekends and 1130-1200 weekdays from USA west coast (8hr difference)

[@morrisfam]

excellent breakdown! please keep talking about blackouts, they’re infuriating

[@SomebodyPickaName]

It used to be that you could use a VPN to get around it, but now MLB is cracking down on VPNs. There's a notice that will say that it detected a VPN, and to disable the VPN to continue. There's a work-around apparently but it seems like a huge hassle.

[@jeremiahsmith8499]

They haven't been able to detect my VPN at least not yet lol

[@bduds14]

Great video! I will say, im listening in the car and I was having to turn down the volume for the music between voiceover sections.

[@StealingHomeShow]

Thanks for the comment! Taking notes on the music volume for sure :) appreciate the feedback. And drive safe!

[@alandesgrange9703]

Met's fan. Blacked out, eight hours away. The geniuses are in charge.

[@sanandaallsgood673]

I live in one of those zones you talk about. I'm a St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Rays fan but I live inside the 500 mile radius of Los Angeles, San Diego, Arizona area, but I also can't watch the Giants or A's (as if I'd want to!) when either of the teams I follow are playing in the Bay Area. They are 610 miles away but I am blacked out! I've contacted MLB about this and all I get is crickets! They don't care apparently so I find this video very relevant! Thank you.

[@Skippydogo]

woul love to watch the post season but the entire post season is blacked out lol

[@cubbie8330]

WGN and TBS were all I needed as a kid. Now I have the MLB package on DirecTV and the Braves are blacked out. I'm not driving four hours to see them every home game !

[@superandy89]

Very good content!

[@StealingHomeShow]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for commenting!