An Update on DirecTV and MLB Exclusive Deal

It seems that we don't have to wait to see whether or not Arlen Specter is as big a baseball fan as he is a football fan. The AP (through ESPN) is reporting that Sen. John Kerry is going to raise concerns about the proposed deal between Major League Baseball and DirecTV which would make DirecTV the sole provider of MLB's Extra Innings package, which allows fans to watch virtaully any out-of-market game for a fixed yearly fee:

"I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices,"
Kerry said in a statement. "In this day and age, consumers should have more
choices -- not fewer. I'd like to know how this serves the public -- a deal that
will force fans to subscribe to DirecTV in order to tune in to their favorite
players. A Red Sox fan ought to be able to watch their team without having to
switch to DirecTV."

In regards to the "more choices" comment, I went looking to see what Sen. Kerry's free trade (which lead to "more choices") positions were; I remember him sounding very anti-trade in the last election. He may have come off that way during debates with President Bush, but it seems that, for a Democrat, Sen. Kerry does have relatively strong "more choices" (i.e. free trade) tendencies. Of course, regardless of anyone's positions on free trade, I think we can all agree that "A Red Sox fan ought to be able to watch their team without having to switch to DirecTV."