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Senator John Kerry told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that changes are needed in ensuring that Americans have easier access to out-of-market baseball games. It's great to see the politicians finally focusing on what's important.
According to Kerry, "I have no doubt that there are business advantages, but what is the impact on fans? They lose the content. Or, as we will discover today, they are forced to change their TV service to see games. That is wrong. That is a sign that the system is not working."
In a deal announced March 8, DirectTv Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV) became the only provider where people could access Major League Baseball's Extra Innings package, allowing fans to see nearly every single out-of-market game. Under the new deal, according to Kerry, "Once it moves to DirecTV, that access is going to be reduced by about five-fold."
Boston Red Sox fans will note that this is not the first time Kerry has made headlines for comments on baseball. While on the campaign trail, he announced that his favorite player was "Manny Ortez," apparently some sort of hybrid of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. According to baseball writer Peter Gammons, "A few years back Kerry went on a Boston station with Eddie Andelman and said "my favorite Red Sox player of all time is The Walking Man, Eddie Yost," who never played for the Red Sox."
If Kerry is successful in his crusade for access to out-of-market games for regular fans, he could regain some of his baseball credibility.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-30-2007 @ 7:52PM
Alessandro Machi said...
The difference between John Kerry and George Bush is that Kerry has credibility to lose whereas Bush has already lost his credibility. George Bush loves baseball, yet it's John Kerry who is championing baseball remaining on cable cause. I've watched Mr. Bush let the international Olympic community ban baseball as an Olympic sport, and do nothing about it. I've watched Mr. Bush just stand idly by as Major League Baseball pursues buying all of their on the field product such as uniforms, baseballs and baseball bats from overseas. Now I see Mr. Bush just stand off on the sidelines while John Kerry sensibly points that fans should be able to pay to watch their favorite baseball teams play when we live out of the area. George Bush Junior is every bit as insulated as his father, who once marveled at the scanners being used to price foods at the local supermarket, a technology that has already been around for well over a decade.
I've been a cable subscriber for a long time, now I am forced to change over because Major League baseball has become a greedy monopoly that abuses it's anti-trust status granted by the government. I want a new baseball league where the ballplayers are grateful to have a job and they actually want to wear uniforms and hit baseballs with bats that are actually made in America.
And I want a new president, one that actually wants more than what Wall Street wants.