An Open Letter to the MLB and FOX
To whom it may concern:
After the Red Sox and Rays last night had the benches clear, I was really ready to watch tonight’s game. It wasn’t just because tensions would be heightened, but also because there’s a number of other great storylines going on, and I really enjoy watching the Red Sox.
But you’re blacking out the game. Sure, FOX has the game. But they’re showing us the Phillies-Cardinals down here in the DC area. So even though you do not have the game on TV, you’ve made it impossible for me to watch the game at all. There’s no second broadcast of the game on a different channel. There’s no MLB.TV broadcast. There is literally no way for me to watch this game unless I hop in my car, drive to an area where it is not being blacked out, and turn on a TV there.
There are many angry fans who deal with this every week. Sure, you think you’re getting fans to watch other games, so maybe you’ll increase interest in more teams. Which is commendable. I’m not sure many general fans across the country had ever seen a game hosted in Tampa on broadcast TV before the Rays were in the World Series. But you’re also angering fans with this tactic. If the main FOX broadcasting team is so great - a tangent I’m not even going to start in on - then plenty of fans would be happy to flip back and forth between both FOX games to watch. Instead, out of spite, I’m just going to turn on the radio to be able to follow the game the only way you’re allowing me. And I bet a number of other people are just going to find other ways to spend their Saturday and hope the highlights are sufficient.
I know baseball isn’t dying - attendance is up, ratings are up, more small-market teams are getting good local TV deals - so contrary to all the usual articles that get written about it, the sport is in a really good position. But man, you do try to find ways to go out of your way to anger and alienate the hardcore fans you do have.
Give us a way to watch all the games. If you can’t do that, you really don’t care about your fans.
We knew we weren’t a priority. But stop reminding us.
Sincerely,
Dante Shepherd
