Call Major League Baseball NOW re the Extra Innings package

[LisaM]

Phone: [phone]

KO announced last night that MLB was thinking of having the Extra Innings package only on DirectTV. This would cut me out as a subscriber because I don't have a dish - and live in a rental house and can't get one! I couldn't believe it. As you guys know, I'm a Tigers' fan, and I have subscribed to this package for years, even watching them loyally when they racked up the most losses ever in the American League. I still tuned into the games that year and subscribed the next.

Last year, watching them was a dream come true. Now, MLB is trying to cut cable viewers out of the mix.

I called the above-listed number, which is the Office of the Commissioner. They transferred me to a really really nice woman. I explained my situation to her and told her that having a dish wasn't a choice I could make or not make. She said they'd been getting lots of calls and nothing "had been announced yet" - I don't know if that means there's still a chance, but I encourage any of you who care to call that number. I think KO's announcement (he named MLB as the Worst Person in the World yesterday) must have made a difference. If you won't call for me, call for Keith!

[northzax]

1. hey, it works for the NFL

with Total Access (only on DirectTV) if DirectTV wants to pay the rights fees, they get it.

[LisaM]

3. Yeah, well it doesn't work for the fans

And somehow I expect MLB to be a little more connected to the average Jane or Joe than the NFL. Of course, they do have Bud Selig running things, and he is Mr. Corporate Profit, but actually I was encouraged after talking to the MLB woman, and another woman I talked to in the Tigers' front office.

I think it's ridiculous that the NFL only is available via satellite. I hate that. I would pay money for the package on cable (yes, yes, even to see the Lions).

[Captain Hilts]

2. Hmmm....time to ask Congress to check out that anti-trust exemption....nt

[LisaM]

4. Mookie, you make an EXCELLENT point

Perhaps I should be calling my congressman! (Jim McDermott).

[Captain Hilts]

6. Actually, yes, you should. And he's the kind of guy that just might listen!

I took a class in sports law. The unique anti-trust exemption is near and dear to the baseball hierarchy.

I'm not exactly sure how the new anti-lobbying laws have affected professional sports yet.

[northzax]

5. they can sell the rights to themselves however they want to

if they want them to be broadcast only in Urdu, that's MLB's call.

[LisaM]

7. Well the public owns the airwaves

at least in theory. I take it that you either 1) don't care; or 2) have a dish already!

[northzax]

8. the public doesn't own the satellite airwaves

that's the point. and no, I don't care if a corporation makes it more difficult for it's customers to use it's product. Baseball is a business, people forget that.

[LisaM]

9. A business with a lot of handouts to help it function

But, let's hope for the best.

If the satellite airwaves are less regulated than the regular airwaves, they shouldn't be. We're becoming the business loophole nation.

Pro sports don't have to be the way they are. Pro owners are scared to death of one business model - the Green Bay Packers, where the municipality and the fans actually have a say in the team. It's a very successful model.

So, do you have a dish?

[northzax]

10. no, but then I haven't watched a baseball game on TV

in years. I have been to more Nats games in two years than I have ever watched on TV in my life.

And I go to bars on Sundays to watch the NFL or EPL games I can't get locally. I don't even have cable-

[LisaM]

11. Ah, well you live in the same town where the games are shown

It's a lot harder when you're 2000 miles away from your team!

I used to go to the bar to see the Lions, but people kind of laugh at me. And they come on early in the morning.

Once I was having breakfast watching the Lions in a bar, and ordered a breakfast called "the whole hog" (BOSSHOG - are you paying attention?) It listed three meats and I chose sausage.

The waiter came back in a few minutes and said, "you don't understand. It's the WHOLE HOG. You get bacon, ham, AND sausage!" I still laugh about it. The whole breakfast was about $5.

[Captain Hilts]

12. Our LisaM is getting her wish. Congress is going to rattle theircage. Now...

you need to e-mail Tony Kornhesier, because he doesn't understand that it means seeing games like this will be available to a lot fewer people.

[LisaM]

13. Do you have his email address?

I'll be happy to let him know.

[LisaM]

14. Done, Mookie, I emailed Tony Kornheiser

And to think that I was one of the biggest fans of the TV show Listen Up! I was sorry when it was cancelled.

Text of Email:

I have been trying to contact people regarding MLB's insane decision to limit the MLB Extra Innings package to satellite television. I, like many other people, not only live far removed from my home town team (the Detroit Tigers), I also live in a rental situation where owning a dish is not even an option! It makes me livid that MLB, with all the anti-trust preferences they've received over the years, would try to narrow the scope of their broadcasts to a select group of fans (in particular, those who own houses). I have bought this package for years, even watching my Tigers as they suffered through the American League's worst season ever. Now, the Tigers are doing well and I was very much looking forward to this next season - but find out I may not be able to get the package? Please lend your voice to the plight of people like me, the working-class fan, the urban fan. It would be heartbreaking to me if I couldn't get the Tigers on Extra Innings this year - despite the fact that they were in the World Series last year, you know that their national exposure on the regular cable channels will still be zilch. Anti-Detroit bias on the networks is always alive and well.

Please be on our side! I've contacted MLB and the Tigers, and spoke to two women who couldn't have been nicer. We need to get the big voices on our side.

Thank you for taking my comments.

[Captain Hilts]

15. Well-written. Short and sweet. Now...

put it on paper and mail it to the commissioner's office.

Hand-written letters mean a lot more than an e-mail does.

Again, this is a good, short, to-the-point letter. Folks, use this as a model for your letters to the editor about any topic.