Fall movies, football stadiums and Los Campesinos: While We’re Waiting…
November 20, 2015Bill Clinton visits Ohio State football team
November 20, 2015Ever wished Frankie Lindor could join you on your evening commute? Ever wanted to bring Jason Kipnis along while you shop? Come 2016, you’ll be able to—kind of—as you’ll be able to watch the Cleveland Indians from just about anywhere. If you subscribe to FOX Sports, that is.
On Thursday, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced a three-year deal with FOX Sports in which 15 teams, including the Tribe, will (finally!) allow in-market streaming of their games on mobile devices. Per Richard Justice of MLB.com, the announcement means that if you subscribe to local FOX broadcasts of the Indians, you’ll be able to live-stream their games on your phones, tablets, laptops, and more.
“I think this is a huge step forward for the industry,” Manfred said Thursday at the conclusion of baseball’s quarterly Owners Meetings. “I think the media landscape is changing very, very rapidly. I think it’s important for us to make sure that our content is available on as many platforms as possible in ways that fans may want to enjoy our games.”
Prior to the deal, teams hadn’t been allowed to stream games within their own markets due to insanely arcane blackout restrictions.
“We worked really hard with FOX to make sure that, not only can we get an agreement, but we would get an agreement that was good in terms of providing games to our fans,” Manfred said. “Assuming you are a paid cable customer, you will be able to watch.”
Forbe’s provided even more details about how the in-market streaming will work.
Users will need get the games streamed through FOX Sports Go, or FOX distribution points online. Like the MLB All-Star Game, users will have to authenticate to show which FOX regional sports network is part of their TV carrier’s package. Games will not be streamed as part of MLB.TV Premium, which includes the league’s popular At Bat for mobile devices.
The other 14 teams included in the deal are the Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, D-backs, Marlins, Padres, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, Tigers, Twins and Yankees. Manfred told reporters that negotiations are currently underway with the carriers of MLB’s 15 other teams, with the goal to complete similar agreements by Opening Day.
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(h/t to Paul Hoynes)
18 Comments
Any word if streaming devices will work for this as well as mobile? Roku, Fire TV, etc. ?
Should be any platform with a Fox Sports Go app. http://www.foxsports.com/mobile Doesn’t look like they’re on Roku yet, and I don’t know if the Amazon app works on Fire TV.
’bout time. I’ve been able to watch Cavs games this way for a couple of years now. Just need to add Chromecast support!
awesome! I took the cord cutter plunge a year ago, Have been waiting for a way to get the Indians games!
I also cut the cord early in 2014; what does it mean that there’s a requirement to be a Fox Sports subscriber? Can one subscribe to Fox Sports on a standalone basis or is it only as part of a bigger cable package?
You’ll need to pay for cable to have access to fox sports go.
Is this the video feed or the audio or both?
So this is mainly just an in-market benefit, right? I’m reading this as basically just trying to cover the local blackout gap in MLB.TV. I’m not reading this as being useful for out-of-market folks to, say, subscribe just to the Tribe rather than the whole MLB.TV package, correct?
Not that I’m complaining about MLB.TV – still be best bang for your sports buck. Just trying to understand the uses for the service.
I’d say it doesn’t cover the blackout gap. You still have to pay for cable to have access to it.
Yes. It allows for those with the channel to be able to access it from their mobile device. If you happen to not be at home, you should still be able to watch the Indians.
Not sure. Definitely video, they do not mention the audio package, but it is under $30 for the year from the MLB.tv app and I do not believe it has a local blackout on it.
Hook it up with that log in. 🙂
This’ll be good for the attendance problem.
I buy At-bat every year so I can listen to Hammy on my phone was hoping this would mean I didn’t need to buy it.
Ha, yeah, I guess I’m cheating by using my parents’ cable login, but I’m not paying $100/month for something I can get for free.
Right, like Steve said, you probably need to log in with a cable or satellite account from someone who pays for the channel. I use my parents’, because I’m a free-loading, Millennial grad student. So the people this actually benefits is small, but I’m one of them, and I’m happy, because there was really no reason for it to take this long (other than greed).
T-Mobile has given away At Bat for free the last two seasons, but you would have to live in a place where they have good service. (Works pretty well for me, but I’m in Cleveland.)
Any updates on this? Today is the first televised spring training game on STO, but it’s not listed in the FoxSportsGo app guide.