Postgame Spread: JESUS. FUCKING. CHRIST.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Ok. I just read something that made my eyes bug out worse'n Reche Caldwell's. This infuriates me so much that I can't think, let alone write rationally about it.
MLB is selling exclusive broadcast rights for Extra Innings to DirectTV.

RAAWR!!!! HULK SMASH!!!! HATE WORLD!!!!!!

Help me, Obi Arlen Spector. You're our only hope.

1 Comments:

ok, i've calmed down a little about this, and here's what i have to say. This infuriates me on two levels-

1) it means i can't get extra innings package cause my landlord won't let me install a dish. that sucks. extra innings had become my favorite TV-related activity. In the words of Henry Hill, "And now it's all over".

2) It's just incredibly short sighted by MLB. Here they are, at the absolute apex of their fiscal health. Revenues, attendance, ratings, hell, even the QUALITY of the games is the highest its ever been. The game is poised to explode internationally. There's a growing awareness building steam that extra innings is the boom goes the dynamite. At the same time, two things are going on--- the whole steroid issue is positioning MLB in an antagonistic stance to Congress, and Congress, spearheaded by Arlen Spector (the sane yin to Santorum's tiny wang)is pressuring the NFL to release its sunday package from the bonds of DirecTV exclusivity, or face losing the anti-trust exemption on which its entire earnings profile is based. MLB operates under basically the same exact anti-trust exemption. It's hopefully only a matter of time for both sports before their forced to change their ways. In the meantime though, can't MLB see the writing on the wall? They really want to give the Man another reason to come a calling?

And even if not, why the fuck would you ever want to limit access to your product? I can understand limiting access to create demand. Hell, toy manufacturers have been doing that shit for decades. OPEC too. But once the demand is well established, it's just stupid.

I can also understand making a quick cash grab, which is exactly what this is, a $700M cash grab, but only if your business is in financial distress. It's killing the goose. You don't sell a guy one car, you sell him 10 cars over a lifetime (thanks, GGGR). If the NHL did this, and justified it with "this will give us the free revenue to save the sport", I might buy the argument. But MLB doing this is asinine, shortsighted, soulless, and wrong, It's a Lubmergh-level atrocity.

In short, go fuck yourselves, MLB.

By Alex, at 7:31 AM