Broadcast blackout of the Nationals and Orioles for Virginia is finally over. It’s Opening Day and I’m ready for the new season.
Up until this season, subscriptions to Major League Baseball’s TV network of league-wide games for Virginia baseball fans excluded the Washington Nationals, which is Virginia’s local team market. The Baltimore Orioles were also excluded as a local market, which I never agreed with. Richmond residents have to drive through the Nationals’ market to enter the Orioles’.
The solution was to have a cable package that included the sports tier which offered the local broadcasts of the two teams. But this is a new era where streaming is widely popular and fewer and fewer consumers are buying cable subscriptions in favor of more and more streaming services. Netflix and Peacock are streaming live baseball games this year. How we watch TV has certainly changed.
MLB has caught up. We can stream, for a decent price. NationalsTV, obviously for the Washington Nationals, and MASN+, for the Baltimore Orioles, are available in Virginia straight-up. No need to also have a cable subscription or a phony address in Cleveland (and that second option doesn’t work, by-the-way).
But which team to choose?
There is only so much time and costs can be restrictive, so there is little need, at least for me, to have both. So who’s up and who’s riding the pine for this season?
The Nationals are supposed to be my team. But things are never easy. There used to be two different pro leagues, American and National, playing two slightly different styles of ball. I preferred the National League. But those differences are gone and the two leagues are now identical. So the National League Nationals and American League Orioles start-off with a scoreless tie to begin this match-up. Let’s move to the next inning.
The train schedule has unfortunately changed. Driving a car all the way up to Baltimore or competing with DC traffic make both trips undesirable. Richmond residents could ride the rails to either Baltimore or Washington for a day game and return that same evening, but not this season. The new schedule eliminates an up-and-back trip on the same day. Too bad. Those were enjoyable outings. An alternative this season is a bus to Union Station in DC. That would work. A bus to Baltimore doesn’t line up as well. So with the trains out, Baltimore being farther than DC, and with DC’s Metro system still functioning as always, the opportunities to go to Baltimore are few while trips to DC are still very doable. That gives the Orioles a few runs over the Nationals in this streaming score.
The venue is an important factor. Orioles Park at Camden Yards is a great ballpark. Truly one of the best in all the majors. Eutaw Street is impressive, the warehouse looks great as a backdrop, and the atmosphere is laidback and easy-going. Nationals’ stadium, whatever it is officially called, doesn’t have the same vibe. The fans aren’t showing up this year, so the empty seats are a little depressing to see on TV. Those empty seats are also readily available and cheap. Venue advantage is a grand slam for the Orioles. The O’s have taken a noticeable lead.
Next up is winning. There is no “i” in team but there is an “i” in win and two in championship, so what shall I do? The Nationals are competing for not finishing in last place. They have a tough start to this season with the Cubs, Phillies, and Dodgers as their first three opponents. Ouch. That’ll give any team a bad start. The Orioles, on the other hand, are good and should compete with the Yankees for first place in the American League East. Would I be a frontrunner, a bandwagoner, a disloyal fan if I picked the O’s over the Nats because of projected win total? Eh. I like both teams. The Orioles definitely get the nod here and I’m ok with that.
Looks like the Orioles won my head-to-head TV streaming subscription breakdown by a lot. I’ll sign-up for MASN+. The Nationals we’ll have to wait until next season. Let’s go O’s!