Why The MLB Needs To Get Rid Of The Blackout Rule

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

We’ve all been there before, where we turn on our TV or computer and are happy to watch a baseball game. It’s almost game time, and you’re excited for the game, until one really stupid rule had to ruin it for you. That rule, is the blackout rule. You don’t get to watch the game because not enough people were able to make it to the game at the actual ballpark. It’s frustrating, and if you’re a passionate fan like myself, that just ruined your day. It was frustrating this past season, not just for me, not just for A’s fans, but for all baseball fans. I say it’s time we put an end to it.

Why should we have to miss a game at home because not enough people made it to the game? Not every team has the pockets and big markets of New York or LA, but that doesn’t make the rest of the teams any less important. Not all teams can get enough people to a game on a Wednesday night. I understand that the rule is to encourage attendance, but it doesn’t work. People don’t sit there and think “I better go to the game to fill up the ballpark so that others can watch at home!” or  “I better go to the game today since it might get blacked out!” Fans go to games when they can regardless of the blackout rule. They go to games when they can, when it’s convenient for them. The blackout rule is irrelevant.

Also, most teams have fans outside of their city, like our Oakland A’s. Oakland has fans all over California, not all of them live close to Oakland, yet the blackout zone reaches out up through northern California and into Nevada. You think an A’s fan in Reno can just drop what they’re doing to go to a game? Yet they can’t watch because they’re in a blackout zone and they’re too far to go to the game. I don’t think putting an end to the rule is too much to ask. The blackout rule punishes fans that hardly ever get to go to games anyways, fans that get to go to maybe one or two games. I myself would buy MLB.TV to watch our A’s play, but too many games would be blacked out. The same goes for all baseball fans everywhere. We just want to watch baseball, and the blackout rule is getting in the way of that. If you got rid of the rule, people would still go to games, they don’t base their decision to go to a game on the rule, they go when they can. And if the rule was gone, there would be an increase in MLB.TV sales.

More money, more viewers, and more fans. The MLB could have this, if they simply get rid of the blackout rule. To tell them that, you can sign the petition by clicking on the link below. Spread the word, not just A’s fans but all baseball fans. Let’s get rid of the rule and enjoy more baseball!

https://www.change.org/petitions/allan-h-bud-selig-put-an-end-to-the-blackout-rule