Comments on: @TwinsPrez, Why Don’t You Want Me To Be a Twins Fan?

By: Call It The Knuckleballs Playoff Plan » Knuckleballs - "Like butterflies with hiccups"

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:34:27 +0000

[...] again, I do still have the whole blackout issue to hold against [...]

By: Flipping The @MinnesotaTwins The Bird » Knuckleballs - "Like butterflies with hiccups"

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:26:25 +0000

[...] of you may still recall my rant a week or so ago about the absurd, insane, unfair, and downright indefensible blackout rules that prevent me (and all [...]

By: Jim Crikket

Jim Crikket — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 21:56:48 +0000

Thank you all for your support… see my follow up post on the subject if you’d like to demonstrate your support via social media.

E, I’ve tried the proxy server route without any luck… maybe I’m just doing something wrong. Frankly, I’m past the point of caring about playing by MLB’s rules. The rules are asinine. If I can figure out a way to get the games using a proxy server, I’ll do it in a heartbeat.

Rick, for a variety of reasons, DirectTV isn’t an option for me, nor for a significant segment of people who can’t do satellite due to financial reasons or because dishes aren’t an option due apartment/condo/neighborhood restrictions. And frankly, given the problems my friends with dishes have any time there’s a raindrop between their dish and the satellite it’s aimed at, I’m not sure I’d want to go that route anyway… and I shouldn’t have to.

By: Join The JimCrikket Anti-MLB Blackout Movement » Knuckleballs - "Like butterflies with hiccups"

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 21:37:54 +0000

[...] people have found one way or another to express support for my rant on the subject of the bizarre MLB blackout rules, which prevent those of us in Iowa from watching Twins games (and Royals games… and Brewers [...]

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 17:41:54 +0000

I live in Waterloo Iowa and was also frustrated about the blackout policy on MLB.com. But I contacted Dish Network and for a small premium I was able to choose FSN-North as my preferred sports network and now get 150 Twins games a year. It is well worth it. Got rid of cable Also the Twins did sign up AM1250 in our market. Although it is a very weak signal and gets hard to recieve at night.

By: Twins Geek

Twins Geek — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 15:30:04 +0000

I wonder if the black out area is written into the existing contract with FSN. If so, I think that ends after 2011 or 2012.

By: James

James — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 12:26:18 +0000

I wonder if there is some legal action that could be taken. How can the Twins/MLB claim a ‘home market’ for their team for a city that is 500 miles away.
The blackouts make no sense too. Look at northern Minnesota. A swath of area is Twins/Brewers land, but the arrowhead is solidly Twins. So you live in Duluth, you are in disputed territory, but move to Grand Marais you get to watch Twins game…IT MAKES NO SENSE

By: ScruffyRube

ScruffyRube — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 12:24:04 +0000

Great post. This stuff drives me crazy, especially when consumers are cutting luxury items (like satellite and big cable packages) and moving more and more of their viewing hours to online sources (i.e. Netflix & Hulu). I had no idea that the “blackout rules” come from the 1960s…absurd.

If MLB wanted to make the most of their summer in the sun (while the NFL/NBA eat themselves up with labor strife) they’d come out as the most pro-fan league of them all. Keep offering out of market fans the MLB.Tv package, and offer in-market fans streaming (with commercials) for a little less than standard cable–bypassing the middleman and getting straight to their customers. Advertisers get more revenue, channels get more revenue, teams get more revenue, fans get a better product and ultimately save some money that they can spend on more baseball stuff!

Keep the faith…and keep fighting the good fight.

By: SeNDai Twins Fan

SeNDai Twins Fan — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 09:02:05 +0000

I’ll offer a brief note of hope. I spent the first two years of an mlb.tv subscription not being able to watch any games in Japan! Given that there might be only 1 game per day on NHK, if we’re lucky, that didn’t make much sense. I used to mark the games v Mariners (Ichiro) or Yankees (Matsui) in hopes they were the days broadcast. The good news (I hope) for you, is somehow that policy changed!

Good luck with your battle. Is there anything we (your followers) can collectively do to help.

By: E

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 08:02:17 +0000

Have you tried using a proxy server or UltraSurf? A pain and not so much playing by the rules, but clearly the rules are stupid and should be ignored.