Rebuilding Rob

As WordPress continues to recycle old prompts, I pulled another prompt from The Coffee Monsterz Co to respond to today

What subscription service or premium fee is 100% worth it to you?

To answer this prompt, I have to go back several years to when I was living in South Carolina.

A Tiger in the Lowcountry

As a lifelong, devoted Detroit Tigers fan living in the “Lowcountry,” I often felt like I was alone on an ocean. Sometimes I felt like the only person wearing an authentic Tigers dugout jacket south of the Mason-Dixon line—which might not have been far from the truth.

The 2004 Digital Lifeline

At the time, MLB.com offered (and continues to offer) an out-of-market streaming package, similar to the “Extra Innings” package available on cable and satellite. Known as MLB.TV, it’s now available on everything from smartphones to Roku boxes.

But back in 2004, my only option was to stream games through my desktop computer—or a very powerful laptop if I happened to have one with a high-end video card. Today, of course, “there’s an app for that,” just like there is for everything else. To their credit, MLB has been light-years ahead of the other three major North American sports leagues regarding internet streaming. My eight years in South Carolina were made significantly easier because I could watch Tigers broadcasts—complete with the announcers and graphics from what was then Fox Sports Detroit—right from my computer.

The “Out-of-Market” Essential

The service was $19.99 a month back then. It looks like the price has climbed to about $29.99 today, though I haven’t been in the market for it in over a decade. While there was an option to pay $100 or $130 upfront for the season, it was more economically feasible for me to stick to those smaller monthly payments.

I cannot recommend this service enough, provided you understand it is strictly for “out-of-market” fans. In Charleston, the “local” games provided by cable were usually the Atlanta Braves, despite Atlanta being five hours away. I know some people try to use this to circumvent cable and watch their home teams, but MLB uses your IP address to track your location. Whenever I would travel back to Michigan to visit family, the Tigers games would be blacked out on my app. But as a transplanted fan, MLB.TV was an absolute godsend. It made my summers down South so much more manageable.

A Modern Workaround

It’s funny this prompt came up today; I just saw a post explaining that subscribers might be “double-dipped” on fees now that ESPN is more involved with the service. Apparently, there’s a workaround: when you subscribe, you get a free month of ESPN+. If you cancel that add-on before the month is up, you’ll only be charged for the baseball package going forward.

Even though I’m back in the Detroit area and don’t need the package anymore, if I ever found myself living out-of-market again, MLB.TV would be 100% worth the cost.

What about you? Is there a subscription service or premium fee that you consider a total game-changer? Whether it’s for a hobby, your career, or just staying connected to home, let’s talk about it in the comments

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like 👍, comment, and subscribe below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media and check out my recent posts!

• The Out-of-Market Lifeline: Why MLB.TV Was My 100% Worth It Service
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The article “The Out-of-Market Lifeline: Why MLB.TV Was My 100% Worth It Service” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.