Q. I know all about the big fight over SportsNet LA with DIRECTV and everyone else. But is there any way at all to watch the Dodgers through streaming? Certainly it’s available somewhere online, right? — Bev, Los Angeles.
SportsNet LA, the TV home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is not available on any cable or satellite TV service in the LA market except for Charter Spectrum, which has the management rights to the channel.
Update: SportsNet LA is now available via streaming. Click here to learn more.
The pay TV services say Charter is demanding excessive fees to carry the channel, an allegation denied by the cable operator. There seems to be no end to the dispute which has now gone on for four years.
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So, what can you if you don’t subscribe to Charter?
Not much.
The live streaming services, such as DIRECTV Now, Sling TV, Hulu and PlayStation Vue, also don’t carry SportsNet LA. While they have not commented publicly on the channel, it’s likely the price tag for carriage is too steep for them, too.
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(Charter also does not allow its own LA-based subscribers to stream the Dodgers in-market. The only other two teams not available via in-market streaming are the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles, which are carried by MASN.)
No pay TV coverage except for Charter. No coverage by the live streamers.
Bev, if you don’t have Charter, you only have one alternative.
Cheat the system. (Sad to say.)
SportsNet LA is available via streaming on the MLB.TV package, which costs $112.99 for the entire season of out-of-market games. But, of course, SportsNet LA is in your market, not out, so you couldn’t watch the Dodgers on MLB.TV. The games would be blacked out.
However, there is a way for blackout victims in the LA market to watch the Dodgers on MLB.TV
The answer is three little letters: VPN.
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, a software that you can download that will enable you to use an IP address different from your own. For instance, if you live in Detroit, you could insert an IP address supplied by the VPN company that would say you live in Denmark.
You probably don’t need me to tell you what’s next. If you live in the LA area, you could use your VPN to say you live overseas. Then, you could subscribe to the MLB.TV online package and watch SportsNet LA because the the IP address wouldn’t say Los Angeles. (Normally, MLB.TV is required to blackout the in-market game because the regional channel has the exclusive rights. But in this case, MLB.TV wouldn’t know you live in that market.)
The use of a VPN to avoid sports blackouts certainly is an ethical test, and perhaps even a legal one, although it’s never been challenged in court. MLB.TV professes to oppose VPNs, including language buried deep in its terms of use for MLB.com that says anyone who attempts to “circumvent” a MLB.TV blackout restriction could lose his subscription and possibly be “:subject to legal action.”
But the league actually refers to its use in MLB.TV’s FAQ section for its blackout policy. The league explains how a game could be blacked out in a home because of a VPN.
“If you are accessing the Internet through a VPN connection, you might be getting a blackout message because the host IP address for the VPN is within the restricted range of the game that you are trying to access,” the site says. (For example,if your VPN uses a St. Louis IP, you couldn’t watch the Cardinals.)
MLB.TV’s FAQ adds that you should try dismantling the VPN and then see if your out-of-market game is still blacked out. But it doesn’t take the opportunity here to say that VPN use is prohibited, which could be interpreted as a wink and a nod that you can. (More people likely read the plan’s FAQ than the lengthy ‘terms of use.’)
Some fans have speculated that MLB looks the other way because more people will subscribe to MLB.TV, which means more revenue for the league. Considering that MLB.TV has not engaged in a public war on VPN use, as Netflix has, that speculation is not easily dismissed. If the league truly wanted to stop VPNs, it would seem that a more aggressive attack, including highly publicized legal challenges, would be necessary.
Many Dodgers fans have publicly admitted to local publications that they are using VPNs to watch their team. The league has not initiated any known legal cases against them. When asked about VPNs by the Los Angeles Times, MLB officials simply pointed to the ‘terms of use’ language and said they didn’t take the violations lightly.
That will hardly stop a die-hard fan who’s desperate to watch his or her team.
Which VPN should you use if you decide to go that route? Unlocator is a popular choice at $4.95 a month and it offers a 14-day free trial. Unlocator can work with various computer platforms and streaming devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV. (So, yes, you could watch the games on your television.)
Bev, I can’t recommend that you use the VPN to watch your favorite team. You will have to make your own decision based on your belief system. You might not think it’s right, but some people are doing it.
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I don’t see how Spectrum or the Dodgers are making any money if the channel isn’t on either satellite company or any of the other major cable operators in the LA Dodger market.
I’m surprised they haven’t gone bankrupt yet, like what happened to Comcast Sports Houston, which was taken over by AT&T.
I wonder if Fox, Comcast or AT&T could step in and offer up some money to take over some of the debt they have?
My issue is not the games since I have MLBTV, but in the programs on SportsnetLA that I can’t see as a remote Dodger fan. I’d pay big money for their access, access to pre-games, post games and daily coverage. Once the game is over MLB/Directv cuts the feed.
Spectrum announced a new Apple TV app to be rolled out in Autumn 2018, allowing subscribers to dispense with their cable box. Will this be different than their current streaming service, allowing Dodger games to be accessed without a cable box?
I subscribe to MLB.com and subscribe to two VPNs. I use an Amazon Firestick. If I go to the MLB app and delete the data, then go to the VPN and delete the data…log onto the VPN and set it to London, then sign into the MLB app. I can get the games…MOST of the time.
When I put my zip code in to decide what an “in-market” game is for the LA Dodgers, it seems like anything west of Bangor Maine is “In-market”.
I have no compunction in this workaround. After all, I DO subscribe. With the MLB app, the game is available 90 minutes after it’s finished.
Since about a month after Time Warner gained exclusive rights. I had a friend who had Time Warner get a second box and I connected a slingbox. The initial cost was a few hundred dollars, and I pay my friend for the second box, about $13/month. I bought the Slingbox app for my devices, including my phone at $15 per purchase. Now for about four years, I have been able to watch the Dodgers anytime anywhere. I can even stream it to my Roku at home to my big TV. Hope that helps.
Can you watch it “LIVE”?? if so … how is that possible as Sling has no MLB . TV option and a box you rent from your friend is only workable if the owner/friend subscribes to Sportnet. Pls explain. I have Roku which carries MLB tv app but you have to wait 90 minutes after a game finishes … BOO!!!! — I want to see it live without having to beg a friend to lend me a box off their Spectrum/time warner cable packaging… which doesn’t make sense unless you are illegally tapped into someones cable box outside your home??