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The rise of cord-cutting has led to many sports teams giving fans the option to subscribe to a streaming service that allows them to watch games without cable. That includes the Orioles, who recently unveiled a platform that’s supposed to cost $89.99 a year but caused a bit of a headache for fans who discovered they were charged a hundred times that amount.
The internet has revolutionized the way sports fans get their fix, and while traditional television has become increasingly irrelevant in a day and age where streaming has made on-demand viewing all the rage, cable companies have been able to leverage their position as the exclusive provider of most games in order to retain subscribers.
However, it’s hard to imagine that’s going to be the case for much longer thanks to the many teams that have started to cater to supporters by giving them the chance to conveniently (and legally) stream games online with a dedicated service they can access in exchange for a monthly (or yearly) subscription fee.
Earlier this week, the Baltimore Orioles got in on the action by launching MASN+, a platform that gives fans the opportunity to watch games without a cable subscription if they fork over $19.99 a month or $89.99 per year.
It makes more sense to go for the annual option if you plan on watching for the rest of the season when you consider the subscription pays for itself after the fifth month, and plenty of fans decided to do exactly that.
However, as many people in the Orioles subreddit pointed out, someone neglected to put a very important decimal point into the system that charges users, as multiple fans said they’d actually been charged $8,999 after their bank reached out to confirm the purchase.
It appears the problem has been solved, but that’s certainly an inauspicious start for a team that has also gotten off to one this season.