Fans could stream Tigers games locally, starting 2016

Detroit Tigers fans may be able to live stream games locally on a desktop computer or on a mobile or tablet app starting next year.

SportsBusiness Journal is reporting today that MLB is "drafting deal documents" with Fox, with an agreement to air local streaming of live Fox games expected to take place by the 2016 season.

Fox holds local media rights to 15 MLB teams, including the Detroit Tigers, whose games air on Fox Sports Detroit.

As of right now, all local streaming takes place on MLB.com and MLB.TV, with the Toronto Blue Jays the only baseball team streaming live games locally. And because of blackout restrictions, no baseball fan in the state of Michigan can legally stream Tigers games on MLB.TV or MLB.com.

MLB.TV, which allows fans to stream any out-of-market game throughout the regular season, costs up to $24.99 per month for subscribers.

"MLB moved off of its insistence that it host local games through MLB.com, something league executives wanted so they could ensure the quality of the video streams is high," wrote John Ourand and Eric Fisher of SportsBusiness Journal. "But that stance proved the biggest roadblock to a deal, as cable operators would have needed to share subscriber data with the league during the user authentication process, something they were not willing to do."

Should an agreement take place, Tigers fans would likely be able to stream live FSD broadcasts on the FSD website and/or the Fox Sports Go mobile app, as long as they have a cable subscription.

More from Ourand and Fisher:

As part of the deal, MLB is requiring that Fox’s RSNs (Regional Sports Networks) use MLB Advanced Media as the vendor to manage the live streams through its new stand-alone BAM Tech operation. Sources said the requirement, in addition to a rights fee that is around 4 percent of a team’s overall media deal, would cost RSNs in the mid-to-high seven figures per team.

For MLB, the requirement to use BAM Tech will ensure that the streams’ video quality will be secure.

The Tigers' current deal with FSD -- a 10-year, $500-million agreement signed in 2008 -- expires in 2018.

The other 14 MLB teams under Fox include: The Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays.

Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianManzullo.