Much like the NFL did a year ago, Major League Baseball has decided to set its own restrictions for online usage of baseball video and photograph content.
— News sites can’t post more than 120 seconds a day of audio or video from league facilities, with game highlights restricted only to rights holders that have a separate rights deal with MLB Advanced Media.
— This 120 seconds can’t be a live feed, and the rule does not apply to the news outlet’s own analysis or reporting, commonly known as “talking head” material. Formal press conferences are exempted from the 120-second rule.
— Sites can’t post more than seven photos from any game online.
— Audio/video content created at MLB ballparks cannot stay up on a news site for more than 72 hours.
— All applicants for a press credential must provide advance written notice of intent to transmit any non-text material.
This might not seem like a big deal to fans, but it is. MLB only wants you to go to MLB sites to view video. Why? Because they want to be the only ones to profit off it. They want to funnel fans into MLB-licensed sites only, and essentially eliminate blogs and even local online newspapers from having decent video/picture content.
Sure, we can still get video from sites like MLB.com, but would it be entertaining? Do you think MLB.com is going to show a manager blow up in a post-game interview? Hell no, it’s going to be all pre-manufactured propaganda that will make the league look good. They want to control what we view online.
