On Sports Media | MLB sets cable deal deadline

The Major League Baseball season will begin on Sunday, but the future of how out-of-market games will be carried via satellite and cable faces a crucial deadline tomorrow.

Major League Baseball recently cut a deal with DirecTV as the exclusive provider of the Extra Innings package of out-of-market games. These games were available last year on satellite and cable.

DirecTV reportedly signed an exclusive seven-year, $700 million deal. In addition to providing Extra Innings, it will also be a partner and carry the MLB Channel on 80 percent of its basic tier when the 24-hour baseball channel makes its debut in 2009. That means the MLB Channel can figure to reach more than 15 million homes where DirecTV is seen.

At the time of the announcement, MLB officials told people from Echo Star's Dish Network and iN Demand - a consortium owned by Comcast, Time Warner and Cox Cable - that each could also carry Extra Innings if they matched the offer of DirecTV.

Dish and iN Demand have until 11:59 p.m. tomorrow to come to an agreement. According to Sports Business Daily, Dish Network could be joining the deal. But one of the provisions would be that it be given equity in the MLB Channel. DirecTV has reportedly been given 20 percent equity in the MLB Channel.

An iN Demand source said that if DirecTV and Dish Network received equity, it should be presented the same offer.

Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.) called for a hearing on the agreement before the Senate Commerce Committee last Tuesday.

"A major sticking point in the negotiations was MLB's insistence that cable could only carry Extra Innings if it also agreed to deliver the Baseball Channel to millions of customers regardless of whether they wanted to view and pay for the channel," iN Demand chief executive officer Robert Jacobson said during Tuesday's testimony.

"In late February, we made a proposal to MLB that ensured MLB would be guaranteed $100 million annually for Extra Innings and committed that iN Demand's owners would distribute the Baseball Channel to 15 million homes at MLB's requested price per subscriber - all on a non-exclusive basis. MLB never called us back."