Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- YouTube TV blacked out the Mets vs Braves game late into the matchup.
- Subscribers were left confused as to why they weren’t allowed to finish watching the game.
- It appears the game was meant to be an exclusive and the MLB may not have reported it properly.
MLB fans are not new to the concept of a game being blacked out — not aired — in their territory. But many YouTube TV subscribers were taken by surprise when the game they were watching suddenly switched to being blacked out without warning. We now know why YouTube TV viewers were left in the dark wondering about the final result of the game.
Yesterday, the Mets and the Braves squared off in a matchup that would help set the field for the playoffs, determining who gets the final two National League wild card spots. The game was listed as available to watch on YouTube TV and remained so up until the end of the eighth inning. When it was time to go into the ninth inning, subscribers found themselves blocked from viewing the end of the game.
According to a moderator on Reddit, it appears the game was always meant to be an exclusive for SportsNet New York (SNY). As to why YouTube TV didn’t just let its subscribers watch the final inning after this mistake, it seems the fault falls on the MLB more than the streaming service. The moderator adds that “YouTube TV doesn’t set blackouts” and that the MLB didn’t properly report the blackout, which led to the delay of it being implemented.
Another commenter says that after reaching out to ESPN customer support, they were informed that MLB had enforced the blackout. They were also told that the reason why the game didn’t show up as blocked in the ESPN app had to do with an issue on MLB’s part.
So, in short, it seems the MLB made a mistake and accidentally allowed fans to watch an SNY-exclusive game. In turn, YouTube TV had to abide by MLB’s enforcement of the blackout, even though the game was almost over.
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