Major League Baseball has announced an agreement that will give satellite giant DirecTV what looks to be exclusive rights to the sport's Extra Innings package of out-of-market games. The agreement, announced formally at a press conference Thursday afternoon, is reportedly worth $700 million over the next seven years...
Under the deal, DirecTV will be the exclusive carrier of the Extra Innings package if Dish Network and In Demand, before the start of the season, do not match the rates and requirements to carry Extra Innings and the MLB Channel at the same level of commitment that DirecTV has agreed to in the deal. Baseball officials would not publicly disclose what terms that DirecTV has agreed to and what terms Dish and In Demand would have to meet.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has downplayed the controversy over the deal, calling it "ridiculous," and claiming that only a small number of consumers who previously received the Extra Innings package through cable will be unable to get a DirecTV satellite signal
"Of course we're sensitive to our fans," MLB president and chief operating office Bob DuPuy said. "But we're happy with our arrangement with DirecTV."
Said Tim Brosnan, the executive vice president of MLB: "This has been [done] with months of open, competitive negotiations. That choice, to whether these ... end up on cable, will not be ours, but cable's." (Source)
Email these guys and let them know what you think. It doesn't matter if you're a fan of the Yankees or not. This affects all fans. Flood their inbox. And make sure you send a very special message to Tim Brosnan. Remember this?
bud.selig@mlb.com
bob.dupuy@mlb.com
tim.brosnan@mlb.com
Also,
the number for the commissioner's office is 212-931-7800.
01.24.2007 Another NoMaas exclusive: Interview with the NY Times
In an exclusive interview, NoMaas's Sensei John Kreese sat down with NY Times reporter Richard Sandomir, who originally broke the MLB/Direct TV story.
To
learn more about this deal and how it will affect fans, click
here to read the interview.
01.23.2007 NoMaas exclusive: Email from MLB
The following is an email exchange between one of our visitors and Tim Brosnan, MLB's Executive VP of Business. We have protected the identity of our visitor.
From:
XXXXXX
To:
Brosnan, Tim
Sent:
Mon Jan 22 16:30:13 2007
Subject:
MLB's deal with DISH Network
Is this a joke? You have to be kidding me.
Shutting out fans from your product has got to be one of the worst business decisions I've ever heard of in my life.
Brosnan's response:
Thanks
for the note. You need to get your facts straight. I also appreciate your
business advice.
--------------------------
Sent
from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
Now,
Brosnan was referring to the "Dish Network" reference when he said "get
your facts straight" -- the deal is with DirectTV. However, is that
any way to respond to a fan? What's with the harsh sarcasm?
It seems MLB couldn't care less about us.
01.21.2007 Updated MLB contact information
We have been told the proper email address format for MLB executives is firstname.lastname@mlb.com.
Also, the number for the commissioner's office is 212-931-7800.
Let
them know your opinion on the DirectTV deal.
01.20.2007 Bud Selig, MLB shutting out fans
Major League Baseball is close to announcing a deal that will place its Extra Innings package of out-of-market games exclusively on DirecTV, which will also become the only carrier of a long-planned 24-hour baseball channel.
Extra Innings has been available to 75 million cable households and the two satellite services, DirecTV and the Dish Network. But the new agreement will take it off cable and Dish because DirecTV has agreed to pay $700 million over seven years, according to three executives briefed on the details of the contract but not authorized to speak about them publicly.
The only other way that fans without DirecTV will be able to see Extra Innings will be on MLB.com’s mlb.tv service.
DirecTV is available to about 15 million subscribers. (Source)
75 million people to 15 million people...this is an outrage. Do you think MLB cares about its fans? We need to do something about this. NoMaas will be contacting other blogs to alert them about this situation. We also hope you make your voice heard to the officials at MLB. We're still looking for a phone number to the MLB executive office, but here is a list of the top brass:
• Allan
H. (Bud) Selig Commissioner of Baseball
•
Bob DuPuy President & Chief Operating Officer
•
Jimmie Lee Solomon Executive Vice President, Baseball Operations
•
Tim Brosnan Executive Vice President, Business
•
Rob Manfred Executive Vice President, Labor Relations & Human Resources
•
Jonathan Mariner Executive Vice President, Finance
•
John McHale Jr. Executive Vice President, Administration
We are assuming their individual email addresses are the first initial of their first name and their last name @mlb.com. For example, Bud Selig may be bselig@mlb.com. Email these people and let them know how outrageous this is. If anyone has better information than we have, please email admin@nomaas.org