Team USA has faced an unexpected loss in its last Pool B game against Italy. Manager DeRosa, too, attracted an unhealthy amount of criticism for messing with the lineup. But FOX might just beat him to it. Baseball fan rage is coming from all directions after they changed the broadcasting option for the Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela game.

Aaron Judge and co. face huge uncertainties after they suffered 6-8 at the hands of Team Italy. Their quarterfinal hope is up on the final Pool B game on Wednesday. Now all eyes are on Italy vs. Mexico. Well, maybe not all. Many fans are excited about the DR-Venezuela game, given their WBC rivalry and star-studded rosters. That’s why shifting the games to Tubi hasn’t sat well with a lot of them.

In the original schedule, FOX had their primetime show, ‘The Masked Singer’, on the main channel, while DR vs. Venezuela was to be aired on FS1 and Mexico-Italy on Tubi. Now, with the USA’s future uncertain, FOX has shifted Mexico-Italy to FS1. A recent Instagram post from Talkin’ Basketball states that the Dominican Republic game went to the free streaming platform owned by FOX.

The DR roster draws attention with several MLB superstars. Juan Soto from the Mets is #5 on MLB’s top 100 and is a proven WBC performer. From the Padres, they have Manny Machado with consistent All-Star production. And Vladimir Guerrero Jr., an MLB debutant for the Blue Jays, comes with massive power to look out for.

Venezuela also boasts star power via Ronald Acuña Jr. from the Braves and Jackson Chourio, along with William Contreras from the Brewers. But it’s not just big names. The two teams have an exciting history entering their sixth face-off.

The Dominicans dominated the first four encounters. They won 11-5 and 2-1 in the 2006 WBC, 9-3 in 2013, and 3-0 in 2017. Venezuela reversed its fortunes in the most recent edition. Their 5-1 victory eliminated DR in the pool stage, making the rivalry way more interesting. This is why fans expected the game on a main sports network.

But their expectation often stems from emotion rather than logic. Many presume that the main channel (FOX) means it’s a big event, and FS1 and FS2 are normal sports broadcasts. Hence, they feel the importance of the DR-Venezuela game is downgraded, as streaming-only indicates ‘not that important.’

Fans fume over FOX’s decision as the DR-Venezuela clash lands on Tubi.

“Biggest game of the tournament on Tubi???!!!” wrote one fan. He certainly felt as if the game that decides the top and second seed from Pool C is not given enough importance. The winner will face Korea, a comparatively easier opponent, while the loser will go head-on with the defending champions, Japan.

“Bro, put The Masked Singer on Tubi; no one gives a f—k about that,” read another comment. Sports fans aren’t really concerned about primetime entertainment. This is particularly true when a world championship is in progress. However, streaming ads are often more targeted and valuable than traditional TV ads. It’s more profitable for FOX to shift the game to Tubi rather than shifting a primetime slot.

“Ain’t no one watching sh-t on Tubi, make Ball great again,” one user vented. But putting games on streaming doesn’t mean lower visibility or less prestige for the matchup. Fox Sports 1 has a household distribution of 80-85 million, and that’s only in the U.S. Tubi has over 100M active global users. Besides, FOX is trying to grow its audience for Tubi.

“Fox is a joke,” another fan just straightaway bashed FOX. That emotion isn’t totally odd, given the fact that you’d need a smart device and stable internet instead of standard cable. And that you’d have to go through 2-4 extra steps to watch it on a streaming platform.

“Why not put Venezuela/DR on FS2 at least? I get more Americans will tune in to the Italy/Mexico game, but come on, the former is a clash of titans. You know, Goku vs. Vegeta, Naruto vs. Sasuke, etc.,” a user tried to come up with a solution, offering some pop culture references. But FS2 is not really an option. Nashville vs. Inter Miami is scheduled there. And guess who is expected to be on the roster for Miami?

Lionel Messi.

MLB might be more popular than MLS, but FOX wouldn’t dare snub a game involving the GOAT. It would attract way more global backlash than snubbing DR-Venezuela.

No television broadcaster is ever going to sacrifice primetime entertainment for a pool-level baseball game. FOX, at least, didn’t. But their choice to move a high-caliber match to the streaming platform gained solid criticism from the fans. Whether they will gain more profit is not certain, but they might lose some diehard fans.