In Houston, David Barron noted yesterday's Indians-Astros matchup marked "the first Astros regular-season game on Root Sports Southwest." Astros Owner Jim Crane prior to the game said that the monthly payments of about $10M from AT&T and DirectTV, who jointly own Root Sports, "will be a nice turnaround from the season and a half that the team went without payments from Comcast." He added that the extra viewership -- "up to about four million households in a five-state area on DirecTV and U-verse -- will help, too." Crane: "We used that (the upcoming rights fee payments) on the payroll this year when we knew it was coming. We will continue to invest in the team and on improvements at the ballpark" (CHRON.com, 4/6).
CROSSING THE STREAMS: A CHARLOTTE OBSERVER editorial noted millions of baseball fans "will be unable to watch their favorite team on their smartphones, tablets or even their televisions because of MLB’s blackout policy." Most teams now have "moved their broadcasts" to RSNs on cable, which means they "no longer beam an over-the-air broadcast throughout their 'territory.'" MLB also "sells internet packages like MLB.tv, which offer fans the broadcasts of most every game each day." Still, the policy is "largely the same." The editorial: "Times have changed. It's time for Major League Baseball to acknowledge it" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/6).
