A month after MLB voiced its displeasure about ESPN’s lackluster promotion of baseball, the league’s own streaming service, MLB TV, suffered a multi-hour outage on Opening Day.
Starting around the 3:07 p.m. ET first pitch of the game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, fans trying to watch any game on MLB TV via web browser or apps received error messages. The technical problems during one of the biggest days of the season caused backlash on social media, with complaints quickly racking up thousands of likes.
Many people mentioned the lost opportunity to connect with a younger streaming audience in the afternoon before March Madness Sweet 16 games began Thursday night.
A total of eight afternoon games were affected (Twins vs. Cardinals was in a rain delay and thus not a problem for would-be viewers). The issue persisted until about 5 p.m. ET, when many fans said they were able to access their desired streams.
“[We] experienced a technical issue earlier and we are restoring service for fans,” wrote an MLB official in an email at 5:05 p.m. on Thursday.
ESPN’s online stream of New York Yankees vs. Milwaukee Brewers was never hindered by the issues, as it was shown through ESPN-owned and -licensed services.
MLB was an early pioneer in streaming technology, developing MLB Advanced Media in the early 2000s to create the league’s online presence and begin broadcasting games digitally. The technology, eventually known as BAMTech, also powered streaming for the NHL and HBO. Disney bought BAMTech over a series of transactions in the past decade, including a $1.58 billion payment for a 42% stake in 2017. MLB TV and Disney’s streaming technology are now fully separate.
MLB’s media rights future has been the topic of significant discussion in recent weeks after ESPN opted out of its agreement in February. The opt-out means ESPN’s current rights will expire following this season.
There has not been any resolution as to who will pick up the rights, though Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch recently expressed interest in the network picking up more games.
(This story has been corrected to remove a reference to MLB and Disney Streaming sharing technology.)
