The Associated Press is reporting that iN Demand (no that is not a typo) will offer to match DirecTV’s 7 year $700 million deal for the rights to MLB’s Extra Innings package for out of market games.
The deal had caused controversy previously, arousing the interest of politicians and fans alike, as it would have effectively forced baseball fans (numbering in the hundreds of thousands) who wanted the package to switch to DirecTV, a particuarly nuisance to apartment dwellers, may of whom are unable to do so.
If iN Demand’s offer is accepted, it would keep the package available for subscribers to Time Warner, Comcast, and Cox cable systems.
A major component of the proposed deal, is that the Cable Companies will agree to carry “the Baseball Network,” an enterprise similar to the NFL network, that MLB hopes to launch in 2009.
Expect Bud Selig to handle this with his usual astute acumen and make no comment (Baseball has still not even acknowledged the initial DirecTV deal), thereby fueling rampant speculation and elevating the controversy to even greater heights.
