If you’re not going to create a low-cost streaming service for the out-of-market and in-market fan then put the games back on regular television, Mr. Angelos. Orioles fans have had quite enough of not being able to tune into baseball on terrestrial television in Baltimore’s market or if they’re out of market, via a streaming service.
Hey fans, do you remember when regular terrestrial television like WMAR-TV, WBAL-TV, WJZ-TV and WNUV-TV had rights to broadcasting Orioles games? Remember those days when you could turn on channel 13 or 54 and say: Oh look the Orioles game is on!
The average fan remembers…
In 2018, many people prepared to watch the Orioles Opening Day game on WJZ only to find out that they had to tune to MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) on pay cable television. It did not sit well with regular fans who had no cable services and streaming wasn’t even an option. Whereas some teams at the time still had contractual obligations and agreements with terrestrial television channels, the Angelos family opted against allowing free viewing through WJZ-TV or WNUV-TV. There was massive outrage from fans as it was the first time in 54 years that no games would be on terrestrial television.
Opening Day is a special game that should be viewed by everyone on regular television and not for the fans who have paid television service via cable/satellite services. Fans are raring to go for the new season in hopes for a potential World Series championship but since that time in 2018, Mr. Angelos has denied the modern fan both terrestrial television options (WJZ or WNUV) and a streaming service. Now it is: You have to get a cable service subscription to watch our games and if not? Pay for a ticket and come to the stadium.
Not everyone can pay for a high-cost ticket for Opening Day at the stadium. Orioles have some of the most expensive concession prices in the league which is kind of typical of Maryland’s motto: “You want it, we can tax it.”
John P. Angelos has become the late Bill Wirtz, the former owner the Chicago Blackhawks. Wirtz was a stubborn, frugal, penny-pinching owner who cared nothing for the fans because he demanded that fans pay to watch games if they were fans. Oh yeah, did you know that Bill Wirtz was the same man who denied Baltimore a hockey franchise just because he owned a decrepit piece of crap arena in St. Louis? What a carpetbagger.
At the end of the 1991 season, Wirtz yanked games from being shown on regular television because he believed that it was completely unfair to season ticket holders. However, he blundered when he came up with a solution that did not sit well with fans. How was it unfair? Not everyone can afford to go to a major league game!
Wirtz came up with a service called “Hawkvision” which ran from 1992 – 1995 for $29.95/month, fans could watch all the Blackhawks games to their heart’s content. Fans were absolutely appalled by Bill Wirtz’s move and the his family’s stubborn and penny-pinching ways. Rocky Wirtz, his son, brought back contracts but only pay television services after he told superstation WGN-TV to take a hike. He also constructively cut a huge revenue stream which pays for player contracts as Hawkvision did not bring in the number of subscribers needed for a profit
Mr. Angelos continues to refuse to modernize today’s television and internet services by implementing a streaming service for MASN. He prefers you either come to the ballpark or pay for a high-priced cable sports package to watch the games. His belief: Streaming service be damned.
I hate to tell you this, Mr. Angelos, but fans today are done with the high (and getting higher) cost of cable and satellite services as the trend of cord cutting continues. We are seeing the downfall of regional sports networks and the continuing stymying of fans with mundane blackout policies (which to me is completely unfair to the consumer). But we fans know that in no way, shape, or form is John P. Angelos going to allow any sort of sports watching on his docket without some sort of payment for the entertainment.
MASN still has no streaming service for fans and there is no rush from John P. Angelos and this is completely dastardly and sickening of Orioles ownership to keep fans from watching the games out of market and in market. MASN could allow for low-cost seasonal, monthly, or per game streaming service charge but the Angelos family does not want to do that because he feels that cable services are the only way to go right now.
I hate to say this, Mr. Angelos, but fans are cutting the cord and telling cable services and companies to take a hike. Nobody wants to pay $180-$240 per month just to watch a few select channels that they like the most. Streaming has become the best low-cost alternative to cable right now.
Mr. Angelos, you’ve angered fans already by lying to them. You have not signed a new lease for Oriole Park at Camden Yards yet when you promised it for after the all-star break, you took away games from being on terrestrial television, and you have yet to create a MASN streaming service for in-market and out-of-market fans. I mean, you could easily put the games on WNUV because their programming could use a kick in the pants. But again, you don’t want to do that because no one should be able to view a baseball game for free on television.
Do us all a favor, get a streaming service for MASN, put some games on WNUV, and we will be happy. Orioles have long been a family-oriented franchise that puts the fans first but since 1998, ownership has put their money-hungry thoughts and profits first and the fans last.
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