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First off, I would like to open by thanking Matthew Gould again for his time in helping me with this.  I just got off the phone with him and he is the VP of Corporate Communications for MLB.com.  One thing that he made very clear was that their goal here is to bring live baseball to as many fans as possible.  This may mean live video, live audio, MLB GameDay which shows the live pitch data, box scores, etc.  They really want the fans to be able to follow their favorite teams anywhere and via any device that has a plug or a battery be it a PC or Mac, iPhone or Blackberry. However, a few weeks ago I had mentioned the new streaming video features of the new At Bat updates and vented some frustration at the blackout rules.

Thanks to Matthew’s help, he has really clarified how things work and how it relates to the fans.  The blackout rules, while they can be frustrating are actually there to help the fan.  They are there because it ensures that baseball fans will get to see the game.  I’m going to use the Cubs as an example and try to make things as simple as possible so that everybody can understand this.

The networks that have the rights to the Chicago Cubs games on TV are WGN, Comcast SportsNet, and Fox and ESPN have rights for Saturday Afternoon baseball and Sunday, Monday and Wednesday Night Baseball respectively.  Those networks have signed contracts to carry the video of the games.  This guarantees that the fans will see the game on TV assuming their cable/satellite company carries that network.  Since the At Bat application uses Core Location to check your geographic location if you are located in an area claimed by the Cubs as part of their home market, then you cannot watch the game on your iPhone. For fans to get the Chicago Cubs games on their iPhones with the live video, all those media companies in addition to MLB, MLB.com, and WGN Radio would all have to sit down and negotiate “in market” video streaming.

2 days ago, MLB sent out a press release that announced in market streaming for New York Yankees fans.  Cablevision subscribers (and ONLY Cablevision subscribers) can access live streams of the Yankees games airing on YES Network via Yankees.com, YESNetwork.com, and Optimum.net.  This will not allow for in market iPhone streaming but it is small steps like this that are getting baseball in the hands of fans how and where they want it.

Getting the in game “nearly live” video highlights and the Condensed Games in the iPhone application all required MLB and MLB.com to acquire the rights to be able to get this video to the iPhone users.  This is again the evolution of online baseball and they are working to help the fans as best they can.

If anybody has any questions in regards to the MLB’s rules in regards to online audio/video or any of the home market broadcasting rules please leave a comment here or find me on twitter: wyssaj01.  I’ll be more than happy to pass your questions/concerns on to Matthew and get back with you.