Watching Mariners games without cable
December 19, 2017 12:14 PM Subscribe
My parents only have their expensive Comcast cable subscription because my dad likes to watch Mariners baseball games. What are his other options?
Is there something less expensive he can subscribe to that will let him watch both home and away games, on his tv? (As opposed to watching them online.) He’s reasonably tech savvy, and they do have a smart tv (not sure what brand). He also likes to watch the playoffs/World Series games (which needless to say are unlikely to feature the Mariners). Any suggestions? Thanks!
Is there something less expensive he can subscribe to that will let him watch both home and away games, on his tv? (As opposed to watching them online.) He’s reasonably tech savvy, and they do have a smart tv (not sure what brand). He also likes to watch the playoffs/World Series games (which needless to say are unlikely to feature the Mariners). Any suggestions? Thanks!
MLB.tv with a VPN service works well.
posted by halogen at 12:23 PM on December 19, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by halogen at 12:23 PM on December 19, 2017 [3 favorites]
Assuming that your parents are in the TV coverage area for the Mariners, they will be subject to MLB.tv blackout restrictions and it will show them everything but the Mariners. So if you wanted to subscribe (and watch on TV), you'd need to route the stream through a VPN. And then to watch it on TV you'd need the MLB.tv app (which is available on pretty much all the devices - Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire stick, etc.)
posted by AgentRocket at 12:25 PM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by AgentRocket at 12:25 PM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yep, MLB.TV -- which is not exactly cheap, but cheaper than cable, and they run discounts occasionally. It works on these devices, though I've only used it on a laptop myself. A nice feature: you can switch between home and away broadcast streams, plus they offer radio streams, so you can hear your preferred announcers.
In past years, MLB.TV has streamed Spring Training games for free, so he could try out the interface then and see if it works for him before committing to a full paid season. Obviously the schedule isn't up yet, but it'll post here eventually. Or he could try the offseason package, which would let him watch any of the 2017 games right now.
Important to note: games are subject to blackouts, so depending on the market he's in, he might not be able to watch everything live. But it's watch-on-demand, and games usually become available pretty quickly after they conclude.
posted by halation at 12:26 PM on December 19, 2017
In past years, MLB.TV has streamed Spring Training games for free, so he could try out the interface then and see if it works for him before committing to a full paid season. Obviously the schedule isn't up yet, but it'll post here eventually. Or he could try the offseason package, which would let him watch any of the 2017 games right now.
Important to note: games are subject to blackouts, so depending on the market he's in, he might not be able to watch everything live. But it's watch-on-demand, and games usually become available pretty quickly after they conclude.
posted by halation at 12:26 PM on December 19, 2017
As others have said, MLB.tv doesn't work if you live in your team's market. It also doesn't work for any live playoffs games. We used free trials of Hulu's live service and SlingTV to watch the baseball playoffs this year. They both worked okay, but both cut out a lot and were nowhere near the quality of MLB.tv. Neither carry the MLB Channel, either, which is where some of the early rounds were televised.
The World Series itself is usually on the main Fox network, which he may be able to get over the air with a digital antenna (this is what we do).
I think this is getting better all the time and in maybe 5 years will not be an issue anymore, but right now there is not a great solution.
posted by something something at 12:37 PM on December 19, 2017
The World Series itself is usually on the main Fox network, which he may be able to get over the air with a digital antenna (this is what we do).
I think this is getting better all the time and in maybe 5 years will not be an issue anymore, but right now there is not a great solution.
posted by something something at 12:37 PM on December 19, 2017
Sling TV and YouTube TV both have FS1, ESPN and local stations which should be more-or-less the same coverage that he gets through Comcast. Both can be watched on a TV though you'll have to use an app or a streaming device in addition to a TV. Both are about $40-ish per month.
posted by GuyZero at 12:38 PM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by GuyZero at 12:38 PM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
Honestly, I don't watch many baseball games on TV anymore due to the blackout restrictions and cutting cable. I would watch the local broadcasts when they were on and then listened to the other games on MLB.com's At Bat app or the radio.
How spendy are season tickets compared to 7 months of cable?
posted by jillithd at 12:49 PM on December 19, 2017 [5 favorites]
How spendy are season tickets compared to 7 months of cable?
posted by jillithd at 12:49 PM on December 19, 2017 [5 favorites]
I've had some success in the past avoiding the regional blackout of MLB.tv by using a DNS-based service rather than VPN. Note that this doesn't work for some mobile devices since the app requires use of location services.
posted by exogenous at 1:03 PM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by exogenous at 1:03 PM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
Don't know if they'll do it again this year, but MLB.tv was free this past year for T-mobile customers.
VPNs are cheap and easy to get around the blackout. Private Internet Access is one of the internet's favorite.
posted by booooooze at 1:12 PM on December 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
VPNs are cheap and easy to get around the blackout. Private Internet Access is one of the internet's favorite.
posted by booooooze at 1:12 PM on December 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
If none of these tech solutions will do, could you or your father negotiate with Comcast for a cheaper deal? (Threatening to quit can be very effective.)
posted by JanetLand at 1:23 PM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by JanetLand at 1:23 PM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
That this solution hasn't been proposed yet makes me think that something must have changed recently to make it implausible, so somebody correct me if this is impossible, but...if he lives in the Mariners market, why doesn't he just put up a $30 indoor antenna and watch whatever local channel broadcasts it? This won't cover any games that happen to be on basic cable, but, like, baseball still airs local teams on the local affiliates...right?
posted by praemunire at 1:48 PM on December 19, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 1:48 PM on December 19, 2017 [3 favorites]
Nthing MLB.tv and a VPN service, though they might need to hook a computer to the TV (maybe via Chromecast?) to do it successfully.
There are also sites that list sketchy-ish illegal streams for every game that you can watch through a web browser. These actually work really well, as in the streams are fine 90% to 95% of the time, or um...so I'm told. Illegal streams are illegal and never should be watched by anyone ever, even if they're HD and don't have commercials, because it's illegal.
like, baseball still airs local teams on the local affiliates...right?
Not sure about Seattle, but in the Giants TV area, only about one game per month is available via local broadcast.
The World Series and League Championship Series have in the past been available via broadcast TV. The first round playoff series have not.
posted by cnc at 2:20 PM on December 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
There are also sites that list sketchy-ish illegal streams for every game that you can watch through a web browser. These actually work really well, as in the streams are fine 90% to 95% of the time, or um...so I'm told. Illegal streams are illegal and never should be watched by anyone ever, even if they're HD and don't have commercials, because it's illegal.
like, baseball still airs local teams on the local affiliates...right?
Not sure about Seattle, but in the Giants TV area, only about one game per month is available via local broadcast.
The World Series and League Championship Series have in the past been available via broadcast TV. The first round playoff series have not.
posted by cnc at 2:20 PM on December 19, 2017 [2 favorites]
There are no local OTA TV broadcasts of Mariners games.
VPN approaches can indeed resolve the local-market blackouts in MLB.tv. Using them are definitely against the TOS.
MLB.tv added local-area market blackout restrictions to at least English-language radio-derived audio live streams this past season.
Season tickets range from $4000-7000k for expensive lower-bowl full-season plans, 81 games at $50+ to $100+ per seat per game to $1300 or so for upper deck nosebleeds at about $15 per seat. In recent years, ticket prices have climbed steadily, more than doubling when compared to ticket prices from 2012 when I began tracking them.
Walkup and advance single-game tickets will be roughly double the lowest-individual-ticket price season ticket plan, the full-season 81-game plan. So the nosebleeds are about $30 most games and the lowers near home are from $75-125.
In general, these measures are calibrated to ensure that your dad's outrageously overpriced cable package is his least-expensive route of access to the games, except for OTA radio.
posted by mwhybark at 2:21 PM on December 19, 2017 [5 favorites]
VPN approaches can indeed resolve the local-market blackouts in MLB.tv. Using them are definitely against the TOS.
MLB.tv added local-area market blackout restrictions to at least English-language radio-derived audio live streams this past season.
Season tickets range from $4000-7000k for expensive lower-bowl full-season plans, 81 games at $50+ to $100+ per seat per game to $1300 or so for upper deck nosebleeds at about $15 per seat. In recent years, ticket prices have climbed steadily, more than doubling when compared to ticket prices from 2012 when I began tracking them.
Walkup and advance single-game tickets will be roughly double the lowest-individual-ticket price season ticket plan, the full-season 81-game plan. So the nosebleeds are about $30 most games and the lowers near home are from $75-125.
In general, these measures are calibrated to ensure that your dad's outrageously overpriced cable package is his least-expensive route of access to the games, except for OTA radio.
posted by mwhybark at 2:21 PM on December 19, 2017 [5 favorites]
On the off chance that your father is outside the Mariners blackout region (or is OK with using a VPN), T-mobile has been giving away MLB.tv to its customers for the last couple years. No guarantee that they’ll keep doing it this year, but I think it’s more likely than not that they will. Last year, it was part of the T-Mobile Tuesday promotion right near the start of the season.
As a fan of an out-of-Market team, MLB.tv is a great solution. On the other hand, that team is the Giants, so I’m pretty glad I didn’t spend any actual money on it last season.
posted by Betelgeuse at 2:55 PM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
As a fan of an out-of-Market team, MLB.tv is a great solution. On the other hand, that team is the Giants, so I’m pretty glad I didn’t spend any actual money on it last season.
posted by Betelgeuse at 2:55 PM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]
MLB.tv added local-area market blackout restrictions to at least English-language radio-derived audio live streams this past season.Are you talking about the 2017 season or upcoming 2018 season? I definitely listened to audio (radio feed) for local teams (Giants, As) on MLB.tv this past 2017 season on the At Bat app.
posted by moxiequz at 3:21 PM on December 19, 2017
cnc: "There are also sites that list sketchy-ish illegal streams for every game that you can watch through a web browser. These actually work really well, as in the streams are fine 90% to 95% of the time, or um...so I'm told. Illegal streams are illegal and never should be watched by anyone ever, even if they're HD and don't have commercials, because it's illegal."
To be slightly more specific about this, the subreddit /r/MLBStreams will list illegal streams for each game shortly before it airs. Assuming the TV has a built-web browser, you can probably go to that website on the tv and load up a stream directly, if you were willing to go down this road.
posted by crazy with stars at 5:54 PM on December 19, 2017
To be slightly more specific about this, the subreddit /r/MLBStreams will list illegal streams for each game shortly before it airs. Assuming the TV has a built-web browser, you can probably go to that website on the tv and load up a stream directly, if you were willing to go down this road.
posted by crazy with stars at 5:54 PM on December 19, 2017
Are you talking about the 2017 season or upcoming 2018 season?
This season just past, there was no in-market English-language radio stream available via mlb.tv for Mariners games on my iOS devices. My geographic location is Seattle proper. I can imagine that radio-blackout boundaries may differ from cable boundaries.
posted by mwhybark at 6:43 PM on December 19, 2017
This season just past, there was no in-market English-language radio stream available via mlb.tv for Mariners games on my iOS devices. My geographic location is Seattle proper. I can imagine that radio-blackout boundaries may differ from cable boundaries.
posted by mwhybark at 6:43 PM on December 19, 2017
praemunire, Mariners games are only available on cable and have not been on the air for many years. This is a great disappointment to my wife, but a source of comfort and joy to the rest of the family, as she would watch. every. game. when they were on the air.
posted by lhauser at 8:42 PM on December 19, 2017
posted by lhauser at 8:42 PM on December 19, 2017
I want to add that mlb.tv has been hinting at adding an extra fee to watch in-market games for a couple of years. It's an *excellent* service at a very fair price (imo of course) so you might check to see if that's in the cards once the season draws closer.
posted by dbx at 9:23 AM on December 20, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by dbx at 9:23 AM on December 20, 2017 [1 favorite]
I totally second dbx here. the technical accomplishments behind mlb.tv make literally every other streaming *anything* look like, i dunno, hand-drawn flipbooks?
occasionally i stop and gawp at the disconnect between the polish and perfection of the dizzying array of streams and data available on any given in-season day and the rather more typical big media entitlement and dunderheadedness exhibited in stuff like their password reset mechanisms and pretty-much-what-you'd-expect sportsman talking head clip shows.
Why doesn't John Bois have his own show somewhere in that proliferating media and statistical forest, for god's sake?
posted by mwhybark at 1:25 AM on December 21, 2017
occasionally i stop and gawp at the disconnect between the polish and perfection of the dizzying array of streams and data available on any given in-season day and the rather more typical big media entitlement and dunderheadedness exhibited in stuff like their password reset mechanisms and pretty-much-what-you'd-expect sportsman talking head clip shows.
Why doesn't John Bois have his own show somewhere in that proliferating media and statistical forest, for god's sake?
posted by mwhybark at 1:25 AM on December 21, 2017
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oops...should have looked closer. That only covers out-of-market games.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:17 PM on December 19, 2017