If you’re a New York Yankees fan living in Seattle, you know you can watch your favorite game on MLB’s overtime cable package or MLB.TV’s streaming package team – unless they’re in your city.
That’s because there was a blackout and that fan was only allowed to watch on the service that offered the broadcast – if they could find it. Local blackout restrictions mean many fans will have to go to the stadium if they want to watch a particular game and it’s not being broadcast locally.
To address the issue, MLB hired longtime regional sports network executive Billy Chambers to research ways to address local power outages, according to Sports Business Journal .
Current blackout restrictions are designed to protect local TV partners and drive fans to watch local broadcasts. But streaming is becoming the preferred viewing option for many fans, leading to frustration when they can’t watch the game.
