Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Audio By Carbonatix
It’s not just you. It is definitely getting more and more difficult to watch your favorite sports. It’s gotten so bad that even Texas Senator Ted Cruz has become someone with which we now agree.
When it comes to just baseball, you’ve got MLB Network, MLB.tv, MLB Extra Innings, ESPN, Apple TV+, YouTubeTV, Max, local channels, regional sports networks, blackout restrictions, and who knows how many other obstacles to deal with when it comes to trying to watch a game.
God forbid you also want to want college football, college basketball, college baseball, the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, MLS, or any other sports league. How many different streaming services and apps does one have to subscribe to these days just to be a sports fan?
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate held a hearing, with MLB executive Kenny Gersh, NBA executive William Koenig, and NHL executive David Proper in attendance (NFL representation was noticeably absent), about the future of sports broadcasting. And there was the human sports jinx himself, front and center and making some tremendously valid points.
“Catching your favorite team on TV shouldn’t feel like solving a puzzle,” Ted Cruz said when announcing the hearing. “Games that used to be free or easy to find are now scattered across pricey apps and exclusive deals. This hearing will explore how leagues intend to keep sports accessible and affordable for the fans who make it all possible.
During the hearing, Cruz wondered, “Whether on the couch or in the stands, Americans come together to cheer, hope, and believe. But those millions of fans are asking a simple question: why does it seem to be getting harder and more expensive to just watch the game?”
“It’s frustrating and it’s annoying to the dedicated sports fan,” Cruz added. “It’s not just frustrating—it can be expensive. … It can cost hundreds of dollars per year for a hardcore fan wanting to watch all of the league’s games.”
NBA exec Koenig claimed his league’s new media deal will have significantly more games available on broadcast TV. Gersh claimed MLB is working on eliminating “territorial restrictions” to alleviate the longstanding problem with blackouts. Interestingly, it was just one year ago that Major League Baseball was reportedly in talks to add Roku (the channel, not the device) to its ever-growing list of streaming services that will be carrying games.
Following the hearing, Ted Cruz spoke with reporters and expressed his frustration which mirrors many fans’ feelings.
“This is a growing problem,” he said. “Fans are understandably upset. It’s really hard to watch your home team, figure out what app, what network, how we watch it. It’s fractured right now. It’s expensive right now. And as the hearing laid out, major league sports enjoy significant benefits from federal legislation. And with those benefits comes an obligation for fans to be able to watch and enjoy and cheer on their teams.”
He also summed the entire reason for the proceedings by saying, “It shouldn’t be insanely complicated or insanely expensive to cheer on your hometown team.”