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Any self respecting baseball fan knows each game out of a 162 game season is very important.  Every die-hard fan tries their utmost to catch as much of the game as possible.  Now unfortunately, people move away from their town where their team plays, so they may not be able to catch the game often.  Fortunately for them, MLB has rejuvenated their online video service with many special features including live streaming games.  While I can’t say I’ve actually watched a lot of games through MLB.TV, I’ve watched a few and I have to say, I am very pleased.

What exactly is MLB.TV?

To put it simply, MLB.TV is a service than runs on a monthly, or yearly subscription, with a price that isn’t all that expensive considering all their features.  In previous years, the service has been relatively simple—just stream the game the viewer wants to see.  However, in the offseason, a division of MLB, MLB Advanced Media, worked hard to revamp the service to include many new and exciting features.  I wholeheartedly believe that the future of online video streaming, especially for sports, will include many of these fantastic features.

The features

Within MLB.TV’s Premium service, you have access to live game highlights,  live game radio feed options, HD quality picture, DVR functionality (meaning you can rewind and pause the live game), watch up to 4 games at once, picture-in-picture, and player tracker (which is great for following Fantasy players).  Previously, you could only get these features on a HDTV, but the fact that it is now available online for nearly every team; that is truly remarkable and it just goes to show how far technology has come.  In addition, MLB Advanced Media even has plans to create an iPhone app and allow for live streaming coverage.  As soon as the 3.0 software comes out, MLB plans to unveil their At Bat app with live streaming and such. 

By reaching out to all major technology venues, like Internet and cell phone, MLB is making a strong case to show that they are the sport to beat in terms of technology. 

The Price

It is very easy these days to catch everything you would normally view on TV, on the Internet and your computer.  As a result, it is very possible to drop your TV and cable service altogether and stick to what you can view online.  With that in mind, the price of MLB.TV isn’t too expensive.  For all the Premium features I listed above, a yearly subscription would run you about $109.95 (which covers 162 games from April-October), while the monthly deal $19.95.  Now, without all those advanced features I talked about above, it costs $79.95 yearly, and $14.95 monthly. 

Despite the current plight of the economy, MLB.TV has more subscribers than last year, and they can probably thank that to the exceptional new features the Premium service has to offer.  With a fast, crisp Internet service, users can expect streaming quality to be comparable to normal TV quality.

Will the revamp be worthwhile?

Since this is the inaugural season of the MLB.TV Premium service, it is hard to say whether it will be more successful than MLB.TV in previous years.  To give some perspective on how MLB.TV did last year, and where it should stand at the end of the season, consider this.  Last year, it had over 500,000 subscribers and “generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue.”  Even though the economy is going to make it tough for some potential users, MLB has dropped the price of the MLB.TV service by 10 dollars, so they do recognize the problem.  I do believe that all true baseball fans will find some way to purchase a subscription and try to save money elsewhere. 

For all other sport fans who would like to see their respective leagues create something similar to MLB.TV, fear not.  NHL has already rolled out a video service, called thePORTAL, they plan to use for the Stanley cup coverage.  While the features are not as extensive as MLB.TV, I imagine that many sports will follow suit and launch their own video services, as it is quite a profitable business.

Check it out [MLB.TV] Read [BusinessInsider] Read [BusinessInsider]