MLB.TV is a joke

I live in one of those remotes areas of the country that does not yet have cable access. I am in that 5% of the US that has to get their television via their analog (soon to be digital) signal or via a satellite dish. I have chosen a third option. I get most of my television via the net. Most of the shows I watch are available via Hulu. Those few shows like Lost or South Park that are not available there so I go right to source. I get them through the networks web sites. So basically, I really don't need cable. I can even get baseball ... up until today. I don't think I am going to do business with MLB-TV anymore.

I have a Korean high school student living with me and he loves baseball, particularly the Korean team. This interest that we have in common has been key in our bonding with him. I subscribed to the MLB-TV early this year so that we could watch the World Baseball Classic. This is the second WBC. The next year should be 2012 (every 3 years). Korea has a very exciting team. They won the Olympics in 2008. Tonight they are playing Venezuela in the semi-finals. Tomorrow the US plays Japan. The winner of these two games go to the finals. We haven't been able to see much of the Korean games because their games have been in Tokyo or San Dieago so they have been on late here on the East Coast. We stayed home tonight with intention of watching the game. I had my popcorn ready ... I had my laptop hooked to my big screen TV ... but thanks to MLB.TV and Major League Baseball, it is not going to happen. The game is blacked out. The last 3 games of the WBC are blacked out on the net even if you have paid for it like I did.

The WBC has a total of 39 games. With the last three games being blacked out, that is almost 10% of the series that is blocked ... the three most important games. I didn't expect MLB to have a blackout on any of these games especially since most sports fans are watching March Madness right about now. I guess I also expect that any company that is going to take your money for a product might make it obvious that 10% of that product wouldn't be available. I would expect that they wouldn't hide this fact in their terms of service. This is just another example of the state of baseball in the US ... more about the money than the baseball.