Column: When it comes to Dodgers’ TV blackout, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is the latest to swing and miss
Just when blacked-out Dodgers fans thought they couldn’t feel any more abandoned, now baseball’s official caretaker has turned his back on them.
Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball’s commissioner, has basically and breathtakingly said the Dodgers TV debacle is none of his business.
Given an opportunity to take a swing at an issue directly affecting millions of consumers in his sport’s second-largest market, baseball’s biggest slugger lamely never even took the bat off his shoulder Tuesday during his annual All-Star game news conference.
Answering a question about the four-year blackout from The Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin, Manfred said three things that may inspire Dodgers fans throw a brick through their darkened TVs.
First, he said, “It’s not my job to tell a club to renegotiate its television agreements.”
It’s not his job to make sure his sport is readily accessible to its entire fan base? It’s not his job to maximize a team’s exposure in a crowded marketplace where brand erosion is already occurring? He doesn’t care that even this week, amid All-Star game festivities featuring six Dodgers from the best team in baseball, more people in Los Angeles were talking about Lonzo Ball than Cody Bellinger?
Strike one.
Then, Manfred added, “As I have said repeatedly, I don’t have a seat at that table.”
Excuse me? You don’t have a seat at a table where the future of your sport in Los Angeles is being discussed? Sir, you not only own that table, you own the entire house!
Did former commissioner Bud Selig relinquish his seat at the table when he yanked the Dodgers from Frank McCourt? Did NBA Commissioner Adam Silver avoid the table when he pried the Clippers from Donald Sterling?
The Dodgers television problem obviously doesn’t rise to anywhere near the ethical and moral crimes committed by the two worst owners in the history of Los Angeles sports. But it’s an issue directly causing the brand erosion of a Los Angeles and MLB institution, and the commissioner not only belongs at that table, but it’s his responsibility to be at the head of that table.
Strike two.
Finally, Manfred said, “First of all, Dodger fans can in fact see the games if they become Charter Spectrum subscribers.”
Shaikin quickly corrected him, noting that fans on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and in southern Orange County do not have access to Charter Spectrum.
As for millions of other people who have access but are unwilling to switch cable companies, is is really fair to cavalierly ask them to endure a logistical and economic hassle? These days, changing TV providers often means also changing Internet and phone service, and maybe Manfred is privileged enough to do that without a sweat, but he’s surely the exception.
Strike three.
Given his dismissive tone, it was surprising Manfred didn’t encourage fans to take shadowy Internet shortcuts and fool MLB into thinking you live in New Jersey in order to watch the Dodgers. Lots of fans out there are doing that, but again, it is fair to force someone to cheat the system to watch a baseball game?
At the end of the day, Manfred works for the Dodgers, just like he works for the 29 other major league teams. He doesn’t work for the fans. His priority is not the fans. Never forget that. In refusing to do anything that might cost the Dodgers money, he is simply answering to his bosses.
First of all, Dodger fans can in fact see the games if they become Charter Spectrum subscribers.
— MLB Comissioner Rob Manfred
But would it be that hard for Manfred to at least take a swing at this? He knows the Dodgers, he knows Charter, he knows DirecTV. He could get them into a room and end the finger-pointing and facilitate something, anything.
Certainly there are worries that his involvement would set a bad precedent for other club TV deals in a shrinking cable market, but it’s hard to see how a 4-year blackout in the second-largest media market is good precedent for anything.
The effects of this TV nightmare have gone far beyond a television set. The blackout has eroded Dodgers interest to the point of costing one deserving Dodger, Corey Seager, an All-Star starting spot while forcing a massive voting campaign to ensure that another deserving Dodger, Justin Turner, even made the team.
The blackout actually creeped into the Dodgers clubhouse, where Kenley Jansen, a truly good guy, felt compelled to blame the fans for lack of support even though the Dodgers lead the league in attendance. Jansen’s heart was in the right place; he just didn’t account for all those blacked-out fans who have rarely seen his team play.
With the majority of Los Angeles missing out on a potentially historic Dodgers season, the TV stalemate is getting worse by the win streak. And now those Dodgers fans holding out for a savior have been shunned yet again, this time by the judge of the highest baseball court in the land.
Instead of acting like a commissioner, Rob Manfred seems content to be an empty chair.
Get more of Bill Plaschke’s work and follow him on Twitter @BillPlaschke
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