Operators are lowering the price of the Major League Baseball (MLB) Extra Innings package nearly across the board, following the decision by Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and DirecTV (NYSE: T) in January to settle a class-action suit filed by disgruntled pay-TV-subscribing baseball fans.
According to TV Predictions, which has followed the proceedings closely, DirecTV will offer the sports programming package for $173.94 cents this season, a steep discount from the $197.94 it charged last year.
Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH), meahwhile, will offer Extra Innings at an even lower $165 a month, while Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) will undercut the satellite company by four cents at $164.96 a month.
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is the only major pay-TV operator to stick with MLB's suggested retail price of $199.99 a month.
In January, Comcast and DirecTV joined Major League Baseball in settling a class-action suit filed by fans fed up with the way regional sports networks (RSNs) limit viewing access to their favorite teams.
Under the agreement, Major League Baseball will provide for the next five years an $84.99 version of its MLB.TV package that allows customers with concurrent pay-TV service to see every one of their favorite major league team's baseball games.
DirecTV and Comcast also agreed to certain price conditions on the Extra Innings product.
The New York federal court outcome mirrored a similar settlement made by the National Hockey League last year. It primarily impacts fans of teams that operate out of their market.
For more:
- read this TV Predictions story
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