Archaic MLB Blackouts are Ruining Baseball for Iowa Fans
Iowa is the great melting pot when it comes to sports fandom. Without a major sports team of our own, people root for a plethora of teams. For football, you'll see Bears, Chiefs, Vikings, and Packers fan, for the most part. For basketball, Michael Jordan fever still exists, and the love for the Bulls is real out here.
Baseball is an entirely different beast. You're likely to find a mix of Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, Royals, Twins, and Brewers fans in any given Iowa city. However, maybe you're a fan in name only, to no fault of your own. Trying to watch any of those baseball teams in the state of Iowa is damn-near impossible thanks to Major League Baseball's unfair and archaic blackout rules.
What is a TV Blackout?:
For context, in sports, a "blackout" refers to a TV station electing not to air a specific match in a certain media market. The reasons for why such a game would not be televised vary. Most blackout policies protect local broadcasters (predominately regional sports networks, in this day-and-age) from competition by other networks that carry different teams. They too exist to try and encourage fan attendance.
A look at the MLB blackout map (which shows what states don't air specific teams) and you can see how screwed Iowans are. Most states are one solid color, denoting the inability to watch one specific team. Iowa is a rainbow of madness. Iowa currently has the most blackouts: the Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, Royals, Twins, and Brewers are all blacked out in the state.
Despite Blackouts, You Still Can't Watch (for Free):
The paradox of this is despite the blackouts being in place, local broadcasts aren't necessarily available. No local broadcaster in Iowa has the rights to Cubs and White Sox games. You need Marquee Sports Network or Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) to watch those respective teams. However, those are "regional sports broadcasters." They serve Chicagoland audiences. Not Iowans.
Say you want to watch the Brewers. The fact that a blackout is in place suggests a local broadcast affiliate has the rights to Brewers games. Iowans cannot get FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, so those games are off limits too.
People are Going the Illegal Route:
With no over-the-air MLB options for Iowans, what else are they do besides look to piracy? The internet has democratized accessibility, so of course people are going the route of finding websites that stream their favorite teams.
JD the Iowa Investigator on TikTok summarized this problem more neatly and succinctly than I can. This is because he actually went through hell-and-back to try and watch his beloved St. Louis Cardinals.
Some Lawmakers Have Our Backs:
Apparently, back in 2023, a pair of bipartisan Iowa House lawmakers tried to ban MLB TV blackouts in the state. Despite the valiant effort from a Democrat from Sioux City and a Republican from Wilton, who tried to further House File 577 by leveraging their case all the way to the MLB, there have been no updates nor resolve for Iowa baseball fans.
Like so many bills that would help so many Americans, this one seems dead in the water.
Read more about the lack of fairness when it comes to Iowa baseball viewers on WHO 13 Des Moines' website.
LOOK: MLB history from the year you were born
Gallery Credit: Seth Berkman
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