[redsrbetter]

I am a huge baseball fan and I am at an absolute loss as to what I can do to watch a game while traveling the country for work.

I own a Blackberry Storm. My carrier is Verizon. I am an annual subscriber to mlb.tv. I have read through so many thoughts on this site about the ways we are able to watch baseball on the go. Well, I have things blocking every avenue of approach for me. Surely I am not the only one finding this impossible.

The problems?

*The Blackberry Storm does not support a flash player where I can use my mlb.tv subscription on it.

*The best option for Blackberry owners is the MLB at bat app. This application does not support live streaming of the games. I do have XM satellite radio and the ability to listen to the games, but audio is not what I am looking for. And my XM almost makes the MLB at bat app obsolete.

*I also have a laptop for use during my travels, but all air cards are limited to 5 gigs. This allows me to watch approximately 3 hours of baseball a month. It takes 3 hours to complete 1 game. Air cards are a rip off for baseball fans!

*I would get an iPhone, but Verizon does not use them. I only have Verizon because AT&T does not work in my hometown whereas Verizon's coverage has rarely failed me.

*An iPod touch sounds intriguing, but you have to have a wifi connection for mlb.tv to work. And I am not sure if it is reliable yet either. But since I am always in small towns accross America, it will be hard pressed for me to find a wifi hot spot. If anyone knows if an iPod touch can stream a baseball game live without buffering every 5 seconds, please let me know.

*Using tetherberry is an option, but only to get around the aircard. After research; it seems as though Verizon has an upper hand on this and still is able to figure out who is using it and I am far too worried about get ridiculous charges for internet use. Tetherberry charges $50 for a flat rate. Air card is $60/month. Tetherberry is a lot better option and has almost the same capability. Yet, Verizon still figured out how to limit its use to 5 gigs. So, I am still unable to stream my baseball games with tetherberry.

After reading this, would you say that someone like me is doomed? It's as if I am so close I can taste it, but really have only been lead on the entire time. I have many options, yet these companies have not become compatible to my needs yet. Even though I am paying $60 a month for the air card, $30 a month for the 3G Blackberry browser, another $100 a month for Verizon phone coverage, $40 a month for home internet, over $1000 for the laptop, $120 for the mlb.tv subscription, after all this, I still can't use any of this for the number one reason for me to want it.

Please anyone help! I will pay someone for good advice. There has to be something I am missing.

[JSanders]

You also need to know that your "unlimited" Verizon BlackBerry Data plan is actually limited to (I think) 5gb/month. So, you're in the same boat there, if you could stream the video to your Storm, you'd likely be over the "unlimited" limit.

[Soxfan04]

Wirelessly posted

What about a sling box? Not sure if that is any less data intensive or not. I know they have a blackberry app. I have not tried it though.

[redsrbetter]

Originally Posted by JSanders

You also need to know that your "unlimited" Verizon BlackBerry Data plan is actually limited to (I think) 5gb/month. So, you're in the same boat there, if you could stream the video to your Storm, you'd likely be over the "unlimited" limit.

Do we have proof of this? My bill says "unlimited" for the data plan. I am sure my youtube use on my blackberry is over 5 gigs per month alone. Verizon likes to say that you are crazy if you can use over 5 gigs a month. But as I said above; watching one three hour game of baseball will get you your 5 gigs.

Thank you for the info. Has anyone been charged for going over 5 gigs of use on their blackberry? I would like to know how to monitor my usage on the blackberry as well. Thanks again JSanders!

[redsrbetter]

Originally Posted by Soxfan04

Wirelessly posted

What about a sling box? Not sure if that is any less data intensive or not. I know they have a blackberry app. I have not tried it though.

I haven't purchased a slingbox because I want to be able to watch all baseball games whenever I want. Local cable does not allow me to do this, whereas mlb.tv does.

It would be easy to say that I am just going to have to watch the local baseball team on the slingbox, but I own a baseball website and it is important for me to catch as much live baseball as possible.

Perhaps purchasing a slingbox and utilizing direct TV and their MLB Extra Innings package would work. But unfortunately, I cannot get satellite television where I live.

Thanks for the thoughts wirelessly.

[JSanders]

I haven't looked... but are you certain the mlb.com doesn't offer a mobile or wap version of their site without Flash (so few smartphones have Flash)? Ask, they might.

[redsrbetter]

Originally Posted by JSanders

I haven't looked... but are you certain the mlb.com doesn't offer a mobile or wap version of their site without Flash (so few smartphones have Flash)? Ask, they might.

the iPhone is compatible with mlb.tv. They are the only phone with compatibility. Unfortunately, Verizon does not carry a phone compatible with mlb.tv.

[JSanders]

But the iPhone doesn't do Flash either.
So there must be a way around it.

[redsrbetter]

Actually the mlb.tv uses silverlight instead of flash. Anyways here is what mlb.com has to say about the phone capabilities.

Blackberry and Android: Get At Bat 2010 for real-time scores, LIVE audio, in-game highlights and more

iPhone: At Bat 2010 for LIVE audio, access for MLB.TV subscribers, in-game video highlights, pitch-by-pitch live data and more.

Notice how the iPhone has the mlb.tv, but the other two do not. This makes verizon holders behind the curve so to speak. Keeps us limited.

(I need more posts in order to post a link for that)

[JSanders]

I don't really have a good solution.

Check back... someone might.