A Dish Served Cold: Bud Makes a Deal with the DirecTV Devil

"The New York Times’s Richard Sandomir has the $700 million question that is on everyone’s mind today:

But DuPuy acknowledged that baseball listened to the fans’ anger and adjusted, which makes one question why Commissioner Bud Selig showed such a lousy grasp on the art of customer relations in his recent declaration that the controversy over the potential loss of Extra Innings to DirecTV is “ridiculous.” If it was a silly tempest blown out of proportion by sportswriters, why adjust one’s negotiations for it? If devoted fans around the country willing to pay $179.95 are squawking loudly, why label it ridiculous?

Because if there needed to be just one more example as to just how ridiculously out of touch baseball is with its fan base, this is now the prime one. Nothing has changed in this process except some PR maven dashing in at the last moment with an idea that will put the onus on the cable companies. It’s the poison pill theory; make them an offer that doesn’t really exist so they can’t really match it and you look like the good guy. There should be “Selig for President” bumper stickers on Volvos across the land by May.

The bigger issue here is the quieter stipulation: Customers who cannot watch via satellite can sign up for MLB.tv. In its quest to rid the world of any other website but their own, mlb.com is setting itself up to be the biggest benefactor in all of this. Despite the numbers that Major League Baseball is spitting out about how few people this affects, the wide-ranging complaints dispute that. Enter mlb.com -- the Obi-Wan of this charade, more powerful than you could possibly imagine -- alleviating all your fears. Oh, and buy a hat while you’re at it. " -- 3.9.07, Eric Wilbur, Boston.com