# So now MLB Extra Innings has a Superfan Package for HD



## patsfan123 (Jul 12, 2006)

Anybody heard what the pricing is going to be?

I saw the package listed on the DirecTV website (under sports subscriptions), but for some reason I can not post a link here.

I'm pretty disappointed it is only 10 games (if that) per week in HD. Maybe hoping for more was unrealistic, but I was hoping to be able to get most Red Sox games in HD (since I live in enemy territory in NY, this was my best hope).


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## gpg (Oct 3, 2000)

When I called to ask, I was told $39.


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

gpg said:


> When I called to ask, I was told $39.


that is on TOP of what you would pay for the Extra Innings package?


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## patsfan123 (Jul 12, 2006)

> that is on TOP of what you would pay for the Extra Innings package?


I'm sure. Actually, I would be happy to pay more if it included all the games.


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## gpg (Oct 3, 2000)

Yes, the $39 is in addition to the regular MLBEI price.


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## AVPhan (Oct 20, 2004)

patsfan123 said:


> I'm sure. Actually, I would be happy to pay more if it included all the games.


How about Saturday Games ? I'll pay more for all games including Saturday ones.


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## AVPhan (Oct 20, 2004)

MLBEI SuperFans

Only two channels, Up to 10 games per week. No mentioning of Saturday Fox games (I am in the area that Fox affiliate never broadcast Fox' game of the week).


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## Paperboy2003 (Mar 30, 2004)

had to know it was coming .....10 games a week is fairly lame though. I don't think anyone should sign up before know if this is going to be MPEG 2 or 4....


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## Paperboy2003 (Mar 30, 2004)

AVPhan said:


> How about Saturday Games ? I'll pay more for all games including Saturday ones.


These games are still controlled by Fox, so I doubt there will be anything exclusive to EI that's different from the way it's been in recent years.


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## robbins (Aug 23, 2005)

I don't quite get MLBEI. There is always at least a few games on every single night of the season on cable TV so the only thing I could see this package being good for is someone following their favorite out of market team?


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

robbins said:


> I don't quite get MLBEI. There is always at least a few games on every single night of the season on cable TV so the only thing I could see this package being good for is someone following their favorite out of market team?


it's for 2 types of people I believe

1 - relocated fans, as you said, and as the OP is (Sox fan out of NESN range)
2 - Fans who want to watch certain games, they WANT to was the A's play the Tigers on Tuesday night, but no regular station is carrying it.


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## AVPhan (Oct 20, 2004)

relocated FAN: That's me right here.
And Worse, I am in Tallahassee, FL and Affiliate here never (or hardly ever) broadcast baseball game on Saturdays.
I even tried MLB.tv hoping to get Saturday games, but it subjects to same blackout rule.


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## gpg (Oct 3, 2000)

Superfan will be MPEG2 this year because the requirements say a 3- or 5-lnb dish is needed. My guess is that this will be the last year that MPEG2 will be used.


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## scottjf8 (Nov 11, 2001)

Relocated AL Champs Tigers fan here.


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## bidger (Mar 30, 2001)

MikeMar said:


> it's for 2 types of people I believe
> 
> 1 - relocated fans, as you said, and as the OP is (Sox fan out of NESN range)
> 2 - Fans who want to watch certain games, they WANT to was the A's play the Tigers on Tuesday night, but no regular station is carrying it.


Tsk, tsk, Mike. You've forgotten a third type: those who participate in Fantasy Leagues.


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## lionsfan (Aug 7, 2004)

scottjf8 said:


> Relocated AL Champs Tigers fan here.


Ditto


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## silverstreak (Dec 10, 2004)

There was usually at least 1 HD MLB game each day last year, I think in the 80s or 90s channels. I know I watched a couple of *World Champion Cardinals* games in HD last year.


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

bidger said:


> Tsk, tsk, Mike. You've forgotten a third type: those who participate in Fantasy Leagues.


haha yeah true. There are a bunch of crazies out there that would do that  

(I actually wouldn't since I am in the Sox market)


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## Cudahy (Mar 21, 2001)

Forty dollars to get, maybe, 1 or 2 games a week in HD by the team you follow?
Now that's a ripoff. They should at least make it available to subscribers of the other HD channels.


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## Cmmsh (Jan 2, 2007)

40 bucks for even two games per week extra in HD is less than $1 per week. What is the big deal? Sounds like a great offer to me ... besides being able to have eight games on one screen at a time. If you're a real baseball fan, you watch games, whether they're your team or not. Especially if it's in HD. Hell, I watch the Discovery channel in HD just b/c it's in HD. And I could care less about dinosaurs or a sunrise in Montana or how the tribesmen live in western Africa.


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## bonscott87 (Oct 3, 2000)

gpg said:


> Superfan will be MPEG2 this year because the requirements say a 3- or 5-lnb dish is needed. My guess is that this will be the last year that MPEG2 will be used.


Correct. There is no way to do it in MPEG4 until the new sats go up. Next year they said all games will be in HD which definitely means MPEG4 only for next year.


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## lornehosman (Apr 30, 2002)

bonscott87 said:


> Correct. There is no way to do it in MPEG4 until the new sats go up. Next year they said all games will be in HD which definitely means MPEG4 only for next year.


By "all games", of course, you mean all games they're allowed to broadcast...
My guess is, even with unlimited bandwidth, there will only be about 20 games a week. I hope I'm wrong...
We already know that the Phillies, and much of the White Sox and Cubs won't be on HD. The Phillies-not-on-MLBEI is well documented; the Chicago teams, when they went to bed with Comcast, made sure their games would be available on DirectTV, but there was no deal for HD broadcasts, so you can bet Comcast would charge DirectTV a mint for carriage.
Of course, once Superstation WGN goes HD, part of that issue will go away.
There are probably others, but those are the ones I know of for sure.


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## bonscott87 (Oct 3, 2000)

lornehosman said:


> By "all games", of course, you mean all games they're allowed to broadcast...


Sure, that goes without saying. If the game isn't in HD they can't carry it.

Sunday Ticket Superfan they carry every HD game that is in HD. Same thing.


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## Lord Vader (Aug 30, 2004)

Superfan means you pay $39 more to get two HD games each week with the new E.I. package when last year, you could always see a couple of HD games *anyway * on the E.I. package via your local channel or network broadcast. Now you get to pay $39 for the privilege of having to go through Superfan to accomplish this.


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## gpg (Oct 3, 2000)

lornehosman said:


> By "all games", of course, you mean all games they're allowed to broadcast...
> My guess is, even with unlimited bandwidth, there will only be about 20 games a week. I hope I'm wrong...
> We already know that the Phillies, and much of the White Sox and Cubs won't be on HD. The Phillies-not-on-MLBEI is well documented; the Chicago teams, when they went to bed with Comcast, made sure their games would be available on DirectTV, but there was no deal for HD broadcasts, so you can bet Comcast would charge DirectTV a mint for carriage.
> Of course, once Superstation WGN goes HD, part of that issue will go away.
> There are probably others, but those are the ones I know of for sure.


We need someone from Chicago to confirm this, but IIRC, Comcast Chicago HD broadcasts of the White Sox and Cubs were made available through DirecTV last summer via MPEG4. I see no reason why that wouldn't continue. The Padres, whose games are offered only via Cox, are in the same catagory as the Phillies. Cablevision denies DirecTV HD versions of MSG and FSNY, but those RSNs no longer offer baseball coverage.


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## bonscott87 (Oct 3, 2000)

Lord Vader said:


> Superfan means you pay $39 more to get two HD games each week with the new E.I. package when last year, you could always see a couple of HD games *anyway * on the E.I. package via your local channel or network broadcast. Now you get to pay $39 for the privilege of having to go through Superfan to accomplish this.


Superfan has nothing to do with whatever you get from your locals or RSN. Superfan HD games are *in addition* to whatever else you normally get. If you don't want those then you don't have to get Superfan.

Just like Sunday Ticket Superfan, if the only HD games I care about are on my local stations then I wouldn't get Superfan.


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## bonscott87 (Oct 3, 2000)

gpg said:


> We need someone from Chicago to confirm this, but IIRC, Comcast Chicago HD broadcasts of the White Sox and Cubs were made available through DirecTV last summer via MPEG4. I see no reason why that wouldn't continue. The Padres, whose games are offered only via Cox, are in the same catagory as the Phillies. Cablevision denies DirecTV HD versions of MSG and FSNY, but those RSNs no longer offer baseball coverage.


And Comcast Chicago is actually one of the few 24x7 HD RSNs on DirecTV right now. Being Comcast doesn't mean it's not on DirecTV, just in those couple markets like Philly where Comcast Philly isn't distributed via sat and thus Comcast can withhold the station from Dish and DirecTV due to a loophole in the law.


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## Lord Vader (Aug 30, 2004)

bonscott87 said:


> Superfan has nothing to do with whatever you get from your locals or RSN. Superfan HD games are *in addition* to whatever else you normally get. If you don't want those then you don't have to get Superfan.
> 
> Just like Sunday Ticket Superfan, if the only HD games I care about are on my local stations then I wouldn't get Superfan.


See the thread on this on TCF's sister site, DBSTalk.com, and you will see what I meant, which was correct. We are now having to pay for HD feeds we used to get gratis.


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## silverstreak (Dec 10, 2004)

I was getting one or two HD baseball games a night last season in the 90s. Now this year, we have to pay to get those two games a night?


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## Lord Vader (Aug 30, 2004)

According to the folks at DBSTalk.com, yes. Those now become part of the Superfan package.


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## Cudahy (Mar 21, 2001)

So EI subscribers that got a couple games a week in HD last year now won't get any?
This is the improved availablity of Directv getting exclusive coverage?


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## bonscott87 (Oct 3, 2000)

Lord Vader said:


> See the thread on this on TCF's sister site, DBSTalk.com, and you will see what I meant, which was correct. We are now having to pay for HD feeds we used to get gratis.


If you're talking about the feeds that appeared on channel 95, sure. But if your local CW station is showing the game or it's on your Fox Sports RSN, that isn't in any way effected by EI. You get what you get with your package.

So say I was in Detroit. Most Tigers games are on FSN-Detroit and in HD as well. I can get those games in HD no matter if I have EI or not.

Remember, EI is just like Sunday Ticket...it's for *out of market* games.


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## scottjf8 (Nov 11, 2001)

bonscott87 said:


> If you're talking about the feeds that appeared on channel 95, sure. But if your local CW station is showing the game or it's on your Fox Sports RSN, that isn't in any way effected by EI. You get what you get with your package.
> 
> So say I was in Detroit. Most Tigers games are on FSN-Detroit and in HD as well. I can get those games in HD no matter if I have EI or not.
> 
> Remember, EI is just like Sunday Ticket...it's for *out of market* games.


What about me - I'm in Dallas but want to see Tigers in HD... think there will be some games? I'm trying to justify getting EI + HD


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## bonscott87 (Oct 3, 2000)

scottjf8 said:


> What about me - I'm in Dallas but want to see Tigers in HD... think there will be some games? I'm trying to justify getting EI + HD


I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Like they said, 2 games a night on average, about 10 a week. They don't have the bandwidth for any more. There would be no guarantee of what teams you'll see.

Kinda like the AFC in the NFL. CBS only does 3 games a week in HD. Crapshoot if your team will be in HD or not.

For me, if I was a general baseball fan I'd probably get it. If I was only interested in one team and I was out of market then you'll have to decide how many games you might get would be worth $39 bucks. If you only get 20 Tigers games all season in HD, would it be worth the $2 per game you pay for it? Perhaps think about it that way.

If I were to bet, seeing as the Tigers went to the world series, and play the yanks a bit and if they are any good this year, I'd say it's a good bet to get 20 games in HD all year if not more. But again, who knows.

Also keep in mind that EI Superfan also includes other things like the Strike Zone channel and a mix channel. Up to you if that factors into your decision or not.


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## stiffi (Jun 14, 2006)

AVPhan said:


> MLBEI SuperFans
> 
> Only two channels, Up to 10 games per week. No mentioning of Saturday Fox games (I am in the area that Fox affiliate never broadcast Fox' game of the week).


I'm sure most of the HD limitations are a function of the way MLB games are broadcast. In a lot of regions, the teams broadcast their own games. Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees. Not all of the networks for those teams have HD equipment yet. I am certain the Orioles and Nationals will not be in HD this year on MASN, because of the equipment not being ready.

It's not like football where only a few networks broadcast all the games.

Wait, maybe it is. If I remember correctly, CBS only had 3-5 HD games per week in 2006-7


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

So this means that Yankee fans or Red Sox fans or fans in any other market where there are games on the RSN broadcast in HD don't even get the HD broadcasts if they don't get Superfan ?!?


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## bonscott87 (Oct 3, 2000)

jfh3 said:


> So this means that Yankee fans or Red Sox fans or fans in any other market where there are games on the RSN broadcast in HD don't even get the HD broadcasts if they don't get Superfan ?!?


Why do you think that?

If you live in Boston and get NESN in HD you'll get those Sox games in HD as you always have.
If you live in New York and get YES in HD then you'll get the Yanks in HD.
If you live in Detroit and get FSN-Detroit in HD then you'll get Tigers in HD.

There is no need for EI or Superfan.

I don't get why this is so confusing. Nothing has changed with EI. It's for *out of market* games. SD or HD. You just need Superfan for the *out of market* HD games.
In your own market you don't need EI or Superfan for any of it.

Just like I don't get Center Ice but I get every Red Wings game because it's on my local RSN channel.
Or if I live in Chicago and the only team I care about are the Bears then I don't need Sunday Ticket to see the Bears. I only need Sunday Ticket if I care about games not on my local stations.

You only care to get EI if you want to watch games not already available on your local channels and your local RSN.


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## citivolus (Jul 3, 2002)

I think what complicates this is that DirecTV is broadcasting RSN's in HD via MPEG-4, while it appears that for this year at least the MLB-EI HD broadcasts will be in MPEG-2. So, if I'm in NY, theoretically I can watch the Yankees on YES-HD via the new MPEG-4 broadcast, but what will be shown for MLB-EI Superfan subscribers (if the Yankee game is one of the HD games chosen that week)? I presume it'll be a MPEG-2 version as well.

Now my question is...I have an "old" HR10-250 receiver and I don't have the MLB-EI Superfan pack. Assuming what I said above is correct, will I be able to watch this MPEG-2 broadcast of the Yankees in HD (as last year with channel 95/96), or will DirecTV block me out since I don't have EI, even though the game is broadcast on my local RSN in HD (but I don't have the equipment to receive it)?


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## Cudahy (Mar 21, 2001)

I'm guessing that at least 5 of the "up to 10 games a week" will be Yankee games. Yankee fans living outside of New York will subscribe to this but very few fans of other teams have any reason to.


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## citivolus (Jul 3, 2002)

question is, will DirecTV block the HD games broadcast in MPEG-2 (MLB-EI) for those customers in the corresponding DMA, since it is assumed they are getting those games on the corrseponding RSN (albeit in MPEG-4)?

said another way:
I don't subscribe to MLB-EI
I am in the NY DMA
my RSN is YES Network
I have an MPEG-2 receiver (HR10-250), so I can't receive HD versions of YES

I assume DirecTV will broadcast some Yankees games in HD on channel 95/96 as part of the MLB EI Superfan (HD) package in MPEG2

question is, will I be able to receive them again this year or will DirecTV block me out because of the new MLB-EI Superfan package?


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