Comments on: DirecTV and the MLB Extra Innings package

by: Cliffy

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:22:04 +0000

I’m really not that interested in what Alan Spector has to say on this matter. I’d rather hear from the Sausage King himself, Abe Froman. From what I understand, he and his youngish looking posse are quite the big Cubs fans.

by: Gonzo

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 18:13:30 +0000

Your’e missing a key point - the NFL Sunday Ticket on DTV has been in place FOR TEN YEARS. Everyone gets their panties in a bunch a minute after MLB announces the deal, but the NFL has been in place for many years without the same uproar? It’s nice the Spector has something about the NFL deal - now. After the horse has left the barn.

And IMO, I don’t think the frequency matters all THAT much. Granted, it’s easier for me (financially and otherwise) to see 16 Giants games in a bar than to see 160 Met games. However, the act of having to go out (or not go out, in the case of the deals in place) is still the same, and IMO the number of times required shouldn’t sway whether or not Congress should nix the deal(s)

by: Striker

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:03:06 +0000

First off, I think is it *way* too strong to say that no one says a peep about the NFL DirecTV deal. I think plenty of people are upset about it. Alan Spector was in the news recently trying to bring down the exclusive NFL deal.

That being said, there are three major differences between the leagues: 1) the NFL enjoys national TV deals while MLB deals are (mostly) within its own market; 2) the NFL has 16 games, MLB has 162; 3) NFL games compete against each other for TV times on one day a week vs. everyday in MLB.

Any NFL fan has a much better chance at seeing his/her team play “out of market”. And even if it is not on locally, the investment (in both time and money) to go to a sports bar to watch that game is much smaller than for MLB.