These regional blackouts in sports are getting out of hand.
If you’ve dealt with one while trying to watch your favorite team, even the slightest mention of a regional sports network can send you into a fiery mental breakdown. If you aren’t aware of the issue, then consider yourself lucky, because blackout regions have to be the dumbest thing in all of media. Especially for people that live near their favorite NBA, NFL, MLB or other professional team.
Need an example? I’m happy to give you one. Let’s say you’re a fan of the Indiana Pacers – like Pat McAfee is – and you live in the surrounding Indianapolis area. Guess what? You have two legal options to watch them play:
– Go to the game in person
– Have a TV subscription that includes regional sports networks
In the modern age of television, not a lot of people have basic cable. Many have decided to cut the cord, so if people do have a TV subscription, it’s likely streaming TV. And low and behold, regional sports networks are usually only included in cable television, not streaming.
You might be thinking, “Well what about subscribing to those MLB and NBA season long passes? Those surely get you the games you want to watch if you are paying for them, right?” Wrong. Even if fans pay their hard earned money directly to the respective league’s streaming service, the regional sports networks still maintain the rights to in-market games, thus have the power to enforce blackout regions.
Which is why Pat McAfee couldn’t watch his Indiana Pacers last night in their PLAYOFF GAME against the Milwaukee Bucks:
It’s all really, really outdated and really, really, really stupid. Under no circumstance should a postseason game in any sport be blacked out. Do these leagues truly not care when it comes to letting fans see their teams in the playoffs? Despite outcry from fans and media personalities, it doesn’t seem like many sports leagues are doing anything to change it. And when I say outcry, I mean this clip of Pat McAfee ripping into the concept of the regional networks.
“I couldn’t watch the next game we are going to talk about, even though I live in the city where it was happening and it was a close out playoff game. And we couldn’t f**king watch the game. We need to figure that whole thing out.
That is the dumbest… I don’t even know the proper words to describe the fact that I couldn’t watch the Pacers play the Bucks last night. I have YouTube TV and I have Hulu and I couldn’t find the game.”
Let me tell you, Pat McAfee isn’t the first person to be driven to the edge of madness by regional blackouts, and I’ll unfortunately proclaim that he won’t be the last.
To make matters worse, McAfee said that the Pacers game was available through his YouTube TV app for a portion of the game, but that turned out to be a mistake:
“It was on YouTube TV on NBA TV for like the first quarter, so I thought I had it figured out. I thought I had it on. I leave the room, come back, and no, (says) ‘Program has been blocked in your area.’ Okay, so I guess I’ll just watch through social media clips… that’s unbelievable that I live in the city in which this game was happening… and I can’t watch.”
Commissioners of all the major sports… I’m talking directly to you. Figure this whole blackout thing out. It’s outdated. It’s ridiculous. It’s borderline criminal. All of us are already paying for way too many subscription services to begin with. There’s no need to make sports fans jump through additional hoops in order to watch their favorite teams.
And during the playoffs? If blackouts are going to persist, they should only be allowed during the regular season. Everyone deserves to watch postseason play, and watching your favorite squad claw and fight for a championship should honestly be free of charge. That’s right. I’m implying that teams should stream their postseason games at no cost to the consumer.
I know Pat McAfee would have my back on that (right Pat?).
The post Pat McAfee Goes Off On Regional Blackouts After Not Being Able To Watch Indiana Pacers Playoff Game: “I Live In The City Where The Game Is Happening” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
