MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is offering a ray of hope for baseball fans long frustrated by the sport’s TV blackout policy.
In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Manfred hit all the expected topics (torpedo bats, the balls and strikes challenge system), but he also touched on the sport’s blackout restrictions.
MLB’s blackout policy prevents fans from streaming games on MLB.TV in a team’s home territory. It’s designed to protect local broadcasters’ and clubs’ financial interests, but can lead to ridiculous situations for many fans; for example, Cincinnati Reds regional territory for FanDuel Sports Network extends into parts of North Carolina, almost 500 miles away.
Manfred said in 2022 that “we hate blackouts as much as fans do” but that blackout clauses are written into existing broadcast deals.
The commissioner said that will change when the league negotiates its next national media deal.
“I think it will get done at the time of our next national broadcast agreements, after the 2028 season,” Manfred told The Times. “We need to be out of the business of blackouts, which is essentially telling people that want to watch games that we won’t sell them to you.
“San Diego is a great example. We took over their local broadcasts. We sold tens of thousands of direct-to-consumer in-market packages. What does that tell you? There were tens of thousands of people who wanted to pay to watch baseball.”
Manfred also addressed MLB’s decision to open the season in Japan. While many fans were not happy with that oddity, Manfred pointed to the enormous buzz created by the Tokyo Series involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs (thanks in large part to Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani).
“The level of fandom was amazing,” Manfred said. “Think about the population in Japan. They draw 56 million people to baseball games. That’s an unbelievable number given the size of the country. It’s just great baseball culture.”
After talking about building MLB’s footprint in Japan, Manfred said that the sport will look at selling international broadcast rights to a streamer.
“I think it is vitally important from a business perspective,” Manfred said. “When you can say to a streaming company, ‘I have the ability to deliver an audience of 25 million people in Japan for a game,’ they’re interested.
“Our strategy will change. We have historically sold our Japanese rights in country, to Japanese broadcast companies. I think in 2028, when we do our next national deals, my suspicion is that those international rights, including Japan, will go to a streamer.”
