I haven’t written about my favorite sport for a while, so I would like to take some of my privilege and dissent with the MLB and certain franchises that black me out of watching Nationals games for one or two series per year. Yes, I know it is a little petty, but billionaires are the ones that dictate this petty television black out policy.

I subscribe to the MLB App that allows me to stream any MLB game in the country and choose the broadcast for a pretty hefty fee. I can watch any game I wish during the offseason, or a minimum of 90 minutes once the game is over. However, blackouts occur for teams that land within a certain radius of my homes location. I am unable to watch these games in real time. I have to wait until these games are over to watch them. When you know the outcome, why watch it. Surprise is why we watch the games in real time.

I know the blackouts are all based on money. Most franchises depend on broadcast rights, ticket sales, sponsorships, and merchandise sales for revenue. MLB has a $1.5B deal with ESPN for broadcasts. Fox, TBS, YES, and numerous regional networks have million dollar deals with their specific team. This helps pay the exorbitant salaries players receive for working in the show. (This is an argument for later.)

Ticket sales are the second highest revenue stream followed by sponsorships, and merchandise sales. Then you have advertising, naming rights, blah blah blah. Everything is for sale for a price and the consumer pays it if they enjoy the product. I do. I like watching baseball. I’d rather watch a baseball game than watch a movie or television show.

Despite the streaming app, six franchises block the broadcast of games featuring my Washington Nationals. It is infuriating, because I don’t wish to purchase a cable or streaming package that features any of these teams broadcast rights. If I go to a game at one of these six franchises it is a considerable investment in travel to watch that game. This is why I dissent with the blackouts.

The six franchises in question. I live in Davenport, IA. A state without a team. Here they are:

1. Chicago White Sox – 178 miles
2. Chicago Cubs – 185 miles
3. Milwaukee Brewers – 209 miles
4. St. Louis Cardinals – 265 miles
5. Minnesota Twins – 358 miles
6. Kansas City Royals – 363 miles

The Chicago White Sox are the closest team. Depending on traffic it can take anywhere from 2.5-4 hours to drive into a game. I have to take toll roads. It is possible to commute to a game here, but it takes an entire day away to do so. 5-8 hours of driving and 2.5 hours for a game. That’s about the same length of a typical workday. This begins my grief with the blackout. If it takes a full workday to go to a game then I should be able to watch it through the MLB app. If I lived less than 100 miles from the stadium I could support the black out. I have been to two Sox games. Once during the 1980’s at Old Comiskey Park and once recently at Rate Field. It is a nice place to take in a game.

The Chicago Cubs are just a bit further away. Wrigley field is in a neighborhood without the amenities to park thousands of cars. To avoid this you can park at a train station and take the train in followed by a bus transfer. I have done this for a Jimmy Buffett concert at Wrigley. I have also parked near the stadium and walked, which is nice, but inconvenient when your car may be blocked in. I’ve been to Wrigley more than any other stadium. Five games since my youth and one concert. I still have to pay tolls and it takes a whole workday to see a game.

The Milwaukee Brewers are just over 200 miles away. In terms of commute the Brewers are the easiest to get too. I have two tolls to pay on the way there, but I can drive all but 5 miles of the distance to 1 Brewers Way on a four lane highway. It takes about two hours and forty five minutes to get to Milwaukee on a light traffic day. Sometimes it is a tad over three hours. Still a full workday to get a game in. My wife and I have visited Milwaukee three times. We enjoy this stadium and the amenities. It is very easy to get in and out of American Family Field. No worries about weather either. The dome is a perfect obstacle for rain delays.

The St. Louis Cardinals are 265 miles away. Once you push the 3.5-4 hour commute one way there is the potential for an overnight stay. Driving eight hours round trip with a ball game in the middle isn’t as enjoyable as one might think. I have been to two versions of Busch Stadium for a total of four games. Going to a game in St. Louis is a weekend affair not a quick one day trip. Being blacked out at 250+ miles away punishes the fan. It does not really impact potential revenues for tickets. Going to a game here is an investment. Might as well go to the Zoo, Art Museum, and other amenities while here to make the investment worthwhile.

Minnesota and Kansas City are both over 350 miles from my home. I have seen Kauffman stadium once in my travels to Kansas City, but never for a game. I’ve been to Minneapolis/St. Paul a couple of times, but the Mall of America is the closest I have ever been to the Twins stadium. They are both on our stadium chase to do list, but again this is an investment. We are talking about a weekend or week long trip. This is a six hour trip one way. How is watching a ballgame on the MLB app preventing these two small markets from earning money? We are pennies compared to those that live within a 100 mile radius of the Target Field or Kaufmann stadium. The black outs are all about greed. It isn’t about the fostering a love of the game.

The fact that Iowa (a state without a team) is blacked out by six franchises bothers me. It is an inconvenience for a lot of us. I do not want to buy another app for 3-6 games. I do not want to carry a television streaming service package for a lot of channels I do not want to watch. It costs too much money to have the illusion of choice in broadcast. I would rather purchase an app that I will watch like the MLB app, or Amazon, Paramount, Netflix, etc. The cable services are outrageously expensive and full of fake reality television. It is simply time for MLB to base its blackouts on a city by city basis with a hard cap of 100 miles or less. I would be satisfied if they capped it 200 miles. You want to protect the Chicago franchises that’s fine for me. I should be able to watch four of the six franchises based on my zip code. Southwestern Iowa should be blacked out only in KC. Northeast Iowa blacked out only in Milwaukee and Minnesota. Southeast Iowa should only be blacked out in St. Louis. Let’s be logical on actual distance not by bordering state.

I dissent with billionaires dictating blackouts over pennies for us that live a long way a way. I know I’m complaining about privilege. I will live just fine under the current circumstances. It all is petty BS on both sides if you look at it objectively. I just wanted to complain about it. I wanted to dissent about something without digging into something more substantial. It really is just another billionaire boys club telling us what we can watch or not watch based on their pocketbook. More oligarchic spoon feeding… So it goes….