If you’re a transplanted Mets fan (or Yankees fan for that matter) living outside New York, and rely on the weekly Fox and ESPN baseball broadcasts to get your baseball fix, your free-TV options just diminished, thanks to the announced launch of the new Fox Sports 1 network
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Many of us have accepted today’s realities, forgetting that it wasn’t that long ago when most baseball games were on broadcast (non-cable) television. Remember when the Mets broadcast 100 games on Channel 9? Then 50, then 25… now imagine you’re an out of market fan who lives outside the SNY coverage area altogether. What are your options?
Many baseball fans can’t afford or don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on an Extra Innings package, so they can only see their favorite team when they show up on the game of the week.
Starting in 2014, much of Fox’s baseball coverage will shift to their new Fox Sports 1 network. According to an article on fangraphs.com:
For their Saturday Game of the Week, Fox will air a double-header, with one game on the network and the other one on Fox Sports 1. If you don’t subscribe to cable or satellite, but you do subscribe to MLB.tv, the news here isn’t all bad: Fox agreed to lift its national TV blackouts for the Game of the Week. Starting in 2014, fans will be able to watch any Saturday out-of-market game on MLB.tv (or Extra Innings on cable). For example, if you’re a Red Sox fan living in Los Angeles, and the Fox/Fox Sports 1 Game of the Week in LA is the Dodgers versus the Mets, you’ll be able to watch the Red Sox game on MLB.tv or Extra Innings.
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The biggest changes will come in the postseason. Fox Sports 1 will broadcast both Divisions Series and the League Championship Series granted to Fox under the new national TV contract. With the other two Division Series and one League Championship Series on TBS, the only postseason baseball games on network TV will be the World Series.
Read more at http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/with-fox-sports-1-launch-baseball-disappears-further-from-network-tv/
As a transplanted Mets fan living in central New Jersey, I get almost all my Mets games through MLB.tv. I refuse to pay for cable, so I rely exclusively on streaming through ROKU and AppleTV for television. Ironically, the only games I don’t get to see through MLB.tv are the national ESPN and Fox games. Luckily I live just outside the Mets coverage territory, so I am not subject to blackout of Mets games. If I were a Yankees fan I’d be screwed. The one bright spot for me with the new Fox contract is that starting in 2014 they will lift their national blackouts, so since I live outside the Mets territory I will be able to watch Fox Sports 1 Mets games through mlb.tv
at least you still are close enough to get something. I live in NC which unless its a braves game its not on TV
I’m still a major fan of the Unnamed Sports Streaming Site which allows you to watch the games for free. Unfortunately I cannot advertise this website due to its legal status, therefore it must be referred to as Unnamed Sports Streaming Site for future reference. Easily the best option for out-of-market games. Also fun if you want to watch two games at once. During football season, I keep the Jets on while I have RedZone running on the Unnamed Sports Streaming Site.