MLB.TV – What shall I buy? And when? (My Baseball Winter #5)
by Steve
It’s getting to be that time. Spring Training isn’t so far off, and I need to start thinking of just how I’m going to go about watching baseball in 2010. MLB.TV is the obvious option. Access to every single game, from the first pitch of the first exhibition game, to the last out in the last game of the World Series.
But what option should I choose?
The past couple of seasons I’ve gone with the bog-standard MLB.TV option, and it’s been fine for me. I’m not a heavy user of this particular drug, and if the picture gets a little grainy at times I don’t mind. With the dreadful speakers on my laptop to match I can just squint and pretend I’m watching it on a cool old portable TV in a log cabin in 1976. Seems more authentic that way. I just need to be sitting in a wifebeater sucking on a cheap beer, howling at the screen. Or something. Well, it has been known.
But then again, I’ve always been a sucker for shiny advertising and clever payment options, where is only *just that little bit more* to upgrade. So, what do I get for my extra dough? Choice of home or away broadcast. Nice, but not essential. DVR controls to pause and rewind live. Now we’re talking. That could be good for when I drift off, or miss that key play as I reach for the pretzels. Multi-game view. I’d probably use it now and again, just to get a different feel for the game. Not essential though.
Well, thanks for talking me through that, dear reader. It sounds like the basic package will be just fine. Unless I feel a little flush and light-headed when I order. Feel free to convince me otherwise.
The price? According to my online currency converter findings, it’s £62 for cheap MLB.TV, and £74 for shiny, flashy MLB.TV. See what I mean about *just that little bit more*? Hmm. Damn them and their fine pricing policy.
I think it’s a little bit more than last year, and I’m no financial whiz, but maybe the exchange rate doesn’t help. Say, if you can predict the financial future let me know when I should buy. I’m not looking to fleece the worldwide markets. I just want my baseball a little cheaper so I can spend that money on, I dunno, takeaway curry, or something nice for the flat, you know?
Wait until next year 
nice…hedging the currency market so you can get baseball cheap!
I was a subscriber to NFL ticket here for several years, but let it go with the recession and all (plus they kept upping the price every year). I find that I didn’t miss it that much…weird.
I luck out and get my local MLB team everynight, which is good because they suck…and the only thing I’m wasting is my time.
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I’ve looked into the NFL ticket in the past, but it always seemed incredibly expensive, especially if you wanted to watch more than just your selected team. Maybe that was just a UK thing. At least the Superbowl will be on free-to-air TV here.
There’s no free MLB in the UK (there was some before last season), so I’ll be shelling out to watch the Mets have another horrible season. But the MLB package is so good, I won’t mind…well, not too much anyway.
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You say that you don’t use the drug that is MLB TV too heavily so you should take my observation with a grain or two of salt. I spent so much time watching games during the three years I had a subscription that I took last year off knowing that, with my work schedule, access to all those games would destroy my sanity through lack of sleep.
That being said I was never disappointed with paying that bit more for one of the more premium packages after having the cheapest option the first time round. Watching a game in a cabin circa 1976 is romantic and beautiful in its way, but if I’m in England, watching a game on the internet, I want to see things as clearly as I can. To my eye, the more premium packages do provide a clearer picture quality and smoother action. This pays real dividend when, as I do, you feed the computer into your television.
Besides, as watching baseball demands cheap snacks and even cheaper beer there’s no reason not to spend a few quid more on the ‘better’ mlb.tv package.
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Hmm, you might have led me to the more expensive option MDS. With a newly opened Maplins nearby, I might even buy a fancy cable to hook up my laptop to my TV…any help on what to get would be much appreciated!
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Because my laptop is rather old and creaky I didn’t have too many options on the cable front. In the end I went with a relatively cheap s-video lead and an audio cable that went from my headphone jack to the audio in ‘hole’ for s-video on my particular television. Whenever I plug the pc into the tv I just have to remind it to ‘extend my desktop.’
Of course, when I had my last subscription HD quality wasn’t within my grasp. Now that it is I’ve been eyeing up my wife’s much newer laptop and pricing hdmi leads.
I’ll be interested to hear what you go for in the end.
MDS
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