I look at it as...if the game is on it's on, if not, then I will be doing something else. Seems you guys aren't old enough to remember 1 game every week on Saturday, heck I can't believe we get to see as many as we do. I am as big a fan as there is, but theres more out there.
I too am almost 40 and certainly remember being only to receive a handful of baseball games each year. But that isn't the point. The point is that as subscribers to EI, we the consumer are paying top dollar to get what we want, which is out of market games (we do not just get to see games like FlyingJ alluded to, we pay for them), and if MLB is going to continually delete out certain games, then they should insist in D* and InDemand on putting up a disclaimer that not all telecasts will be available. The whole "up to 60 games a week" disclaimer is bogus, because I have been receiving as many as 80 games a week this season, which is great, but it still does not excuse why not all games are included in the package. I understand the whole "business" argument in regards to FOX and ESPN, but I don't think a relatively small percentage of their "potential" audience tuning into other games, that they pay extra for, is going to adversely affect their precious ratings that much. In fact, when my team, the Yankees, or my local team, the Red Sox, are not on FOX or ESPN, I do not watch any of their games. I'm sure some diehard fans may tune into a riveting game between two teams they care little about, but I'm thinking they are few and far between. My impression is that most people who subscribe to EI do so to follow one out of market team in particular. I'm sure there are some exceptions where some fans may follow the entire league, but again, I'd bet they are not the majority. So, if a fan purchases the EI package to follow his/her team, say the Angels, and ESPN blacks this telecast out, due to exclusivity, such as this past weekend, and the game ESPN shows is say, Mets-Marlins, do you think the viewer is going to tune in to the ESPN game? Hell no, most likely he will be ticked that he could not see the game that he wanted to see (and paying the premium price to see) and totally refuse to watch the ESPN game. I know this is my sentiment when it comes to the Saturday FOX telecasts that black out the 1PM Yankee games. If the game starts at 1PM, and most games play for around 3 hours, then it will probably end around 4PM, just in time for the start of the FOX game. Chances are I would be in a baseball mode and might tune into the FOX game just to keep the day going. However, when FOX causes the 1PM game to be blacked out, I totally lose interest in baseball for the day. So they've completely lost me in their guarded ratings. You all out there may have a different view on this subject, but as a consumer who readily gets access to all NFL games through Sunday Ticket (which I am very happy with), and have had NBA League Pass, which is also great and shows virtually all NBA games, I will say there is still definitely room for improvement with Extra Innings. I will continue to subscribe, as long as the cost is reasonable, to follow my team, but I still will be unhappy when they pull stunts like they did this past Sunday.
