Why is an all-30-team streaming service not possible for MLB? Opportunities and obstacles explored

For MLB fans, finding out that they are unable to watch their team in action due to a local broadcasting blackout is among the worst feelings possible. Baseball's blackouts have long been an issue, however, given the advances in technology, as well as society's lack of patience, the broadcasting error has moved to the forefront of baseball Twitter.

"I’m almost 600 miles from San Francisco… Why does MLB Tv blackout 6 different teams in Vegas?!" - @SuperBookUnit

As frustration among baseball fans continues to mount, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has also expressed his displeasure with the high number of blackouts happening across the country.

Manfred spoke candidly to Evan Drellich of The Athletic, addressing the blackouts, the current cable broadcasting contracts, and the future of distribution when it comes to baseball.

"The problem is we granted exclusivity in places where the cable distributors never actually distributed the product," Manfred said. "Those people are just out of luck right now."

"For the love of God, can someone explain MLB blackout rules to me? Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington and Cincinatti are all blackouts in NC. All of these places are 6+ hours from me and my cable company doesn’t offer any of the local channels that carry these teams." - @yankeefan6901

The commissioner gave a startling example to the attendees of a luncheon hosted by the Paley Media Council about the distribution area of the St. Louis Cardinals. As one of the larger areas in baseball, Manfred revealed that only 15% of home in St. Louis have access to baseball.

"Fifteen. It's because of cord cutting and the fact that operators like Diamond have not even gotten full distribution within the traditional cable bundle," Manfred explained.

A look at the MLB's obstacles if they were to try an create a package that contained all 300 teams

While the idea of a package that includes all 30 MLB teams is ideal in theory, the league would need to overcome two important obstacles: the existing contracts, and the loss of revenue that comes from cable deals.

Even if Major League Baseball wants to consolidate its broadcasting rights, there are contracts with cable companies that need to expire or be bought out.

Another issue would be the loss of revenue that is generated from these contracts.

"The tougher challenge is the replication of the revenue," Manfred explained. "It's a great business model when a whole bunch of people pay for something they don't really care if they have or not."