I love the idea of MLB.tv. Baseball games at my fingertips? I can watch a game that happened a month ago? No commercials? Either team’s announcers? Skip around from inning to inning? Those are all great things. The price and the fact that I would have to enjoy the games on my computer have always made me shy away. Where I am at now I only have my laptop and that really isn’t my first choice for watching stuff.
Recently, I found out that the PS3 has an MLB.tv app that allows you to access your MLB.tv features while using the console. My initial reaction was that I would get it once I returned to living in California, because it would be the very best way to watch most Phillies games. (Aside from games against the Dodgers or Angels, I guess.) At that time I figured I would be back this summer. But, now that circumstances are forcing me to stay in Philadelphia longer than I originally thought I have been heavily considering signing up for MLB.tv now to have while I am here. Sure, I won’t be able to watch the Phillies live. But, I will be able to enjoy ever other MLB team, and watch Phillies games 90 minutes after they are over. (Which is more than I can do now, since I don’t have Comcast which carries a large portion of their games.) But, it really is more of an extravagance than it would be in California. Not that it would be a necessity there, but at least I could justify it by saying it is the only way I could watch any Phillies games.
How does everyone else like the service? Anything I should add to my considerations? Any reasons I should just forget about the whole thing? Any reasons I should get it right now?
I have mlb.tv and the PS3 app, and I am loving them. There was a problem a couple of weeks ago when it wasn’t working for a day, but no problems since then. The app could use some improvement - you can jump to the beginning of any inning, but other than that there is no easy way to move around. It could use a 30-second skip button like Tivo has.
Bottom line - I think it is a good way to spend $120
I have it as well. I signed up for the cheaper package, so I think I’m missing some features. For instance, I only get the home team announcers, but I’m wondering if I get the more expensive package I can listen to either home or away. Being able to listen to Vin Scully for every Dodgers game seems like it would be worth it, depending on how much more expensive it is.
And I don’t see any way to pause in the middle of a live broadcast, in case I want to take a break and come back to a game. Maybe I’m just not seeing that feature, I don’t know.
ETA: Having looked at the subscription page, it does look like it costs an extra $20 to be able to pause/rewind live games, and choice of home or away broadcast.
All in all, I’d say it’s worth it – and the premium package probably would make it even better, but I only have the basic at the moment.
I’m not a baseball fan, but I’ve looked at the deal a bit and all I can say is that if they offered this for soccer, especially English Premier League, I’d be ALL over it. I’m hoping they do something for the world cup (the one time of the every four years where I actually regret not having cable tv)
I think it is worth it. For me, it works out well since baseball has games that tend to start at all different times. I’m off on Wednesday so I can often catch a day game, then a 4 PM game and then a 7PM game (Arizona time). I like the archives so I can go back and watch the no hitters and perfect games. I also like being able to jump to another game quickly if a game becomes a blowout or gets delayed by weather.
This is the 3rd year I’ve had it. At the beginning of the seasons, there are always bugs. This year I’ve noticed sound cutting out completely.
Also, check what teams are blacked out. In Arizona, it is only the Diamondbacks, but in the whole state of Texas, the Rangers and Astros are blacked out. Even in El Paso, which is closer to Phoenix than to Dallas or Houston!
I wanted to bump this year old thread for a new baseball season.
Thanks for all of the tips everyone. I ordered MLB.tv last year. And, loved it the whole year. Even after the season was over I got to rewatch some games I loved, and during the season I really enjoyed coming home and being able to watch the game, even if the events had already transpired. On top of that it was a treat to be able to listen to every broadcaster in the league for other team’s games.
A new version of the PS3 app is out. The new app features are awesome!
a) Audio Feed: Sounds of the park. No announcers
b) Events: You can see a list of events that have happened during the game. Filter out the events you don’t want to see. And, then jump through the game. Creating your own highlight reel. Or, you can just jump back and see who did what, without leaving the portion of the game you are on.
c) Stats: Get the stats of the game and click on each player for a little baseball card of them with their career stats.
I loved it last year. And, these improvements have pretty much sold me on signing up again this year for it.
I tried viewing it on Apple tv last night and it looked horrible. Hopefully just some new app bugs. I know I probably can’t expect HD quality when watching on Apple TV, but hopefully I can at least get SD quality. It still works fine on my laptop where I’ll be watching the majority of games.
I’ll definitely have to check out the new PS3 app as the season goes on. Dalej42 turned me on to MLB.TV last season, and I’ve never looked back.
I raved about mlb.tv above, but for the last 6 weeks or so of the season it was unwatchable - for some reason the mlb servers were giving me glacial bandwidth most of the time, even though I was able to get good bandwidth to other servers (i.e., the problem wasn’t at my end). That makes me a bit reluctant to get it this year, but I probably will cave.
Is it HD at all with the PS3?
I would love love love to get this. I signed up for this when I first bought my house and eschewed cable TV.
Within minutes I realized what “blackout” meant 
I don’t understand why MLB wouldn’t rather have my $120 directly instead of getting 12 cents or whatever they would get from SportsTime Ohio if I became a cable subscriber.
That’s (should be) the broadcast quality of the feed for ST games, not the apple TV. There is a disclaimer about the feed quality somewhere on the MLB site. The regular season games will be in HD.
I’ve been tempted multiple times, but have not bought it. I’m a Twins fan, and living in MN means I wouldn’t be able to watch the games. I have bought the MLB At Bat app for iPhone and iPad, and that’s really nice, but not the same thing as having the game.
As an update, MLB.TV now works fine on Apple tv. In fact, I can watch a game on Apple TV and another game on my laptop by logging into mlb.tv and I have only my own subscription. The picture quality on Apple tv is almost HD, it is a step up from SD, but not quite HD. It’s fine for following a game.