MLB Playoffs Move to Cable

The New York Sun reports:

Baseball fans that don't have cable TV better have enjoyed that exciting Mets vs. Cardinals series, because this year's League Championship Series playoffs may have been the last to be seen in their entirety on over-the-air TV. Starting next season, most of Major League Baseball's championship games will be seen on cable, on Turner Sports' TBS network.

The World Series appears to be safe through 2013, when the existing series of TV deals with FOX, TBS, and ESPN expires. But there is something wrong with the way the Major League Baseball's commissioner, Bud Selig, and the president of Turner Sports, David Levy, presented this deal to the public.

Both gushed about the enormous amount of money TBS is paying MLB in a way that is sure to draw the attention of the Federal Communications Commission, Congress, and various groups who want changes in the way cable TV is funded. Selig was blunt when he said of the deal, "Frankly, the economics were what we wanted." Levy chipped in about Turner's having the cash to walk away with one of baseball's crown jewel events.

This is the beginning a trend.Baseball wants its' hardcore base of fans to pay up.