July 09, 2007
Harsh Punishment
Baseball Tonight won't be at the All-Star Game this season:
Major League Baseball limited ESPN's access this week after the cable network broke an embargo and announced the All-Star rosters before the end of a selection show on TBS.
Fox is broadcasting the game, but ESPN traditionally has moved its "Baseball Tonight" crew from the studio in Bristol, Conn., to the site of the game. Karl Ravech, Steve Phillips and John Kruk instead will do the show this year from the studio. ESPN does have reporters on site who will file reports but will be treated like all other non-rightsholders.
This isn't the first time MLB punished ESPN. I believe it was in 1999 that ESPN announced they would move Sunday Night Baseball Games to ESPN2 to make room for Sunday Night Football. MLB revoked ESPN's rights to show unlimited highlights during the post season that year, so a 1/2 hour Baseball Tonight show could only show 1 1/2 minutes of highlights from the game, including analysis tapes. You would think a fine would do.
One would also think ESPN would be clear on the rules regarding embargoes. Still, I'm not sure why MLB wants to upset a network that pays them tons of money. Someday, multiple networks may not be bidding to broadcast MLB games. Goodwill is nice in times like those.
Posted by David Pinto at
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When I saw the headline, my first thought is that someone had gotten shipped off to Detroit...
It does not bother me. ESPN often seems like they have a sense of entitlement (sp).
ESPN runs more Football stuff RIGHT NOW during the day than baseball- it is sad. MLB is not known for its sagacity, so that must be factored into the equation.
ESPN gives football too much play, but MLB is idiotic. Just another example of their short-sightedness. They are desperate for viewers and their response is to withold footage from the number one outlet for sports fans? Brilliant, Bud.
When you say you aren't sure why MLB wants to upset a network that pays them a ton of money it might be to show another network that they'd like to see pay them a lot of money over time gets what they paid for.
I think that MLB knows that it needs to start planning for a time when they will not be on ESPN all that much. The way ESPN treats the NHL like they don't exist combined with they hyping of Arena Football League, NASCAR, and Major League Soccer (all things that ESPN used to treat the same as they now treat hockey) shows that ESPN is not always going to be there.
Between MLB.com (you can watch the HR Derby there tonight, as well as on ESPN), TBS, and the to-be-created Baseball Channel MLB is positioning itself so it is not dependent on ESPN.
