Out-of-market Sports Package - Rationale For Sports Packages

Rationale For Sports Packages

While such a thing may not appear necessary to the average fan who lives in the market of their team, many circumstances may be in place that generate the desire to view teams out of market. Some include:

• Moving from the market of their favorite team. While that team could be viewed on national broadcasts or when the team plays the local one, those opportunities are few and far between.
• Simply being a fan of an out of market team
• Better competition, such as in the case of college football and basketball. For example, wanting to watch a few of the most competitive or most interesting national games each week, in addition to one's home team's games.
• More opportunity to watch one sport, such as when a home team may not have a game to play, or creating one's own doubleheader; watching an early game, then a late game.
• Rivalries, having the desire to watch a rival team's games, or games of teams in the same conference or division as one's favorite teams, which may not be regularly available in one's market.
• Living in an area without an in-market team at the highest level in a sport, which usually means availability only of nationally televised games. Though these will often show a regional game, it may be the "most interesting" regional game, resulting in many missed games even when following the geographically closest team.
• Involvement in a Fantasy sports league. A sports fan who is "managing" a fantasy team may have the desire to watch the performance of players in several games that are being played simultaneously and thus has the ability to switch back and forth between games.
• Blackouts. Most major sports leagues have a blackout policy that prevents viewers of a particular television channel (usually a regional sports network) from seeing games on that channel outside of a certain geographic area (specifically to direct out of town viewers to the package).