Willson Contreras wasted no time dominating the St. Louis Cardinals, his former team on April 12, when his first inning, two-run homer brought the Boston Red Sox out to an early lead. Unfortunately, fans watching the broadcast on NESN only saw part of the hit.
Throughout Contreras' at-bat and a bit beforehand, NESN was limited to one camera angle due to technical difficulties. The only camera that remained operational was the one directly in front of the Red Sox's dugout — Boston fans saw a side angle of Contreras' home run, some footage of him rounding the bases and celebrating in the dugout, but no ball flight was captured.
Sox fans' experience looked even worse after a trip to Twitter. In honor of the Masters, the Pittsburgh Pirates' broadcast on SportsNet Pittsburgh had a gorgeous, scenic, Masters-inspried intro to their game at Wrigley Field. SportsNet Pittsburgh is a sister station to NESN, and it's gorgeous production on a day NESN's technical issues hamstrung it's own broadcast was salt in the wound.
Eventually, NESN borrowed the Cardinals' footage but kept Dave O'Brien and Will Middlebrooks on the call, and the rest of the April 12 game went off without a hitch. Red Sox fans aren't likely to let NESN off easy on this gaffe, however.
Red Sox fans upset after NESN experiences technical difficulties early in April 12 game against Cardinals
NESN has already experienced some controversy at the beginning of the season when it debuted its new scorebug and graphics package. Most fans are seemingly high on the new look for the station, but the scorebug was the sticking point. The upper-left graphic was huge on Opening Day, with different ads that moved from below the bug to the right side, altering the shape throughout the game.
The sorebug seems to have been shrunk to a reasonable size since Opening Day's chatter, but fans are still dissatisfied with their viewing experience. NESN can be rather difficult to watch without cable, particularly for fans who live out of market. NESN's subscription service, NESN 360, only works in the New England market (all six New England states, excluding Fairfield County, CT) and it costs either $30/month or $239.99/year, which is by no means cheap. A subscription to MLB.TV gives fans access to all out-of-market games, which doesn't help most New England residents.
The Red Sox are one of the most lucrative teams in MLB, and one of an ever-dwindling few in a market big enough to have its own local broadcast station air its games. But NESN still struggles to keep up with other big market stations, such as the New York area's YES Network and SNY. NESN's new graphics package have inched it closer to competition with other top-tier local networks, but its technical issues and production still need work.
A subscription to NESN 360 is expensive and those who pay for it deserve the best possible viewing experience. Technical difficulties come for all of us at one point or another, but NESN seemingly battles them multiple times per season, and fans across New England feel it can do better.