Not everyone is aware of the #MLB streaming rights and blackouts issue, so let me summarize by saying it is VERY HARD to watch your team. There’s a Byzantine maze of blackout areas, regional sports network righst, and exclusive coverage.

This is important because it makes it hard to retain and create new fans when your product isn’t easy to access.

This quick anecdote illustrates that perfectly:

I sat down at my local bar this evening, ordered a drink and…

(cont.)

…asked the bartender to turn on my favorite #baseball team.

He looked at me and said “Man, if you had asked me for literally any other sport, I would have said ‘sure’ and turned it on. But baseball is SO hard to find any certain team, especially with the blackouts and all the different places it could be on. That shit is so whack. I’m sorry, I can’t put on any specific game unless it’s something easy like ESPN or FOX.

This really shows that MLB has a serious problem that they need to fix.