The LA Dodgers were sold in 2012 by the hated Frank McCourt for $2 Billion. LA rejoiced.
In 2012 and then again in 2013, the new management of the Dodgers spent and spent on payroll to build a better team … at least, that was what LA hoped. The Dodgers now have the highest payroll in baseball.
The team got better. They went to the playoffs in 2013, and made it to the National League Championship, which the beat up team did lose. But the run was exciting, and LA couldn’t wait for 2014, when the team is favored to win the World Series by the oddsmakers in Vegas.
And that is when I learned what this team would cost me.
I’m a Dish Network subscriber. They’ve got the best HD channel line up (IMHO). They’ve got the Pac 12 Network. They’ve got the SEC Network this fall … so I get to follow all of UCLA sports, and all of Mizzou sports.
Wonderful.
But now, I find out, Dish doesn’t carry SportsNet LA – owned by Time Warner Cable – which will carry the Dodgers in 2014.
Dish won’t do a deal with Time Warner Cable (TWC). You see, TWC agreed to pay the Dodgers over $7 Billion over 25 years (yes, almost 4 times the purchase price of the team!) to secure the exclusive TV rights.
According to news accounts, TWC is now asking other cable/satellite companies to pay $4/month for every subscriber in order to secure the rights to SportsNetLA.
Which I would gladly pay. But Dish won’t, apparently. I’m sure there are many, many Dish subscribers in LA that wouldn’t want to pay that much, which I understand.
So I have a choice: take Dish, and watch UCLA and Mizzou. Or, switch to TWC, and miss every UCLA and Mizzou game. And watch the Dodgers. My three favorite teams are the Dodgers, the UCLA Bruins and the Mizzou Tigers. How do I get them from one cable/satellite/online provider? I can’t.
That’s my choice, and that’s what the Dodger deal will cost me.
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