NFL To Shut Out Thousands Of Patriots Fans Thursday Night

[DToTheJ]

The NFL Network will carry the Thursday night matchup with the Patriots hosting the Jets. It will only be carried on terrestrial stations in Boston and Manchester. With fans outside Boston in the New England region scrambling to find a venue that carries the NFL Network.

Granted, viewership for this game might not be as high as the regular season finale from last season, what with the chance for a historic undefeated season, and of course, some guy named Tom Brady under center, but this week's instance is reminiscent of all the hullaballoo from that otherwise meaningless Week 17 matchup.

Also, an article from the Wall Street Journal states: "Last week at the NFL's direction, ABC Boston affiliate WCVB and its sister station WMUR in Manchester ordered Comcast to black out the Patriots-Jets game for some 300,000 households in New England with cable packages that retransmit those stations on systems outside the Boston-Manchester markets.

Comcast has refused, saying neither the NFL nor Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN demanded such action when the Patriots played the Denver Broncos on ESPN's Monday Night Football."

The full article from the Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122645198415119335.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 

[KML0224]

Well boo-hoo to them. I'm in Connecticut and I won't receive the Jets end of the broadcast either. I guess this means the "generic" Westwood One radio feed on WPOP-AM 1410 of Hartford so I don't have to listen to Gil Santos and Gino Cappiletti. (Sorry, I HATE the Patriots.) I don't get any New York City stations on my cable lineup either, just to be fair.

 

[kyscott]

I think it's ironic that the NFL is trying to cast a wide a net as possible for the fan base. Naming teams after regions such as New England or Tennessee. Yet when it comes to something like money, they want to very narrowly define the teams' "home market". We are starting to see more and more of this as the NFL tries to get greedier with the money and the fans and broadcast outlets start to push back against it. The "New England" Patriots should be seen in New England. These skirmishes are fun to watch.

 

[BRNout]

The last thing I want to do is to give the appearance of taking the NFL's side on this thing (because my sympathies lie with the fans); however, didn't the NFL win their lawsuit against Comcast? I thought that Comcast was supposed to stop placing NFLN on their high-priced sports tier. Or did I misunderstand the ruling? Because it's still blacked out for most of us. I wonder what's happening there.....

If it were offered a la carte, I'd probably spend the extra $3/month and buy it. But, I don't need to spend 10 times that amount to get a bunch of other sports channels that we will never watch. That's a problem with cable in general. By sticking NFLN on that tier (and it wasn't there before), Comcast has guaranteed that almost no one will watch it. Or that they will have to pay a huge premium to do so. Either way, they see it as a win. And, if it worked, they may have started putting other channels onto higher priced tiers. Too bad for them that the added revenue did not materialize. Seeing this as an opportunity to squeeze more pennies out of already overburdened subscribers reflects greed on their part.

My issue with the NFL is that they aren't satisfied with the billions of dollars that they've earned over the years from their lucrative broadcast contracts, so they come up with their own private platform that costs extra. They too are being (very) greedy.

I'd be remiss if I failed to note that each of the above entities is within their legal rights to withhold their product to those who won't pay a premium for it. But, by doing so, they're also showing a disdain for the very people (middle class folks) who made them rich in the first place. Big time thumbs down for each.

Sadly, I see that MLB is starting down that same path - starting next year. It will be interesting to see what shenanigans they come up with for their new channel.

 

[jsu5381m]

I think you can watch NFL Network games on NFL.com now.

 

[ansky212]

In the NYC area the game will be carried on WPIX ch 11.

 

[Robnoxious]

I think you can watch NFL Network games on NFL.com now.

No, that's only for NBC's Sunday Night Football though NFL Network did provide some internet carriage of that Week 17 game last season on NFL.com (they had NFL.Com analysts that would periodically have live look-ins of the game but toward the end they abandoned the cutaways and just kept the game on). I'd consider that a special case since the situation of going undefeated made the game more nationally curious.

I don't get NFL Network or cable tv for that matter and if you know where to look you should have no problem finding the game through the internet tubes. 8)

 

[jal41]

Anyone remember last year.

High profile game...NFL keeps it all to itself...fans outraged...NFL won't relent with cable companies...Congress threatens to intervene...NFL allows game to be simulcast on both NBC and CBS at the last minute.

Just get a couple of Congressmen to threaten legislation or an investigation...and the game will be on broadcast television again.

 

[jerseyfla]

Anyone remember last year.

High profile game...NFL keeps it all to itself...fans outraged...NFL won't relent with cable companies...Congress threatens to intervene...NFL allows game to be simulcast on both NBC and CBS at the last minute.

Just get a couple of Congressmen to threaten legislation or an investigation...and the game will be on broadcast television again.

I highly recommend the viewers in Connecticut who live in the parts that don't get Boston or New York locals on their cable to get a hold of Joe Lieberman, Christopher Dodd, or your local House Rep immediately and maybe you might see the game on WTXX or WCTX tommorrow.

 

[arnoldevns]

The NFL is playing a game of Russian-roulette when they pull stunts like this.

If they treated the local broadcasts of NFL Network games like ESPN does with Monday Night Football, they would eliminate a ton of the complaints they get for the way they handle their league-owned network.

If they keep this up, congress will feel compelled to act based on the complaints of fans. I don't like what the NFL is doing, but I really don't want congress getting involved.

If congress steps in, anything could happen - including a breakup of the NFL.

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

I think you can watch NFL Network games on NFL.com now.

No, that's only for NBC's Sunday Night Football

No. NFL Network games are being featured there as well.

Cheers

Pat

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

Anyone remember last year.

High profile game...NFL keeps it all to itself...fans outraged...NFL won't relent with cable companies...Congress threatens to intervene...NFL allows game to be simulcast on both NBC and CBS at the last minute.

Just get a couple of Congressmen to threaten legislation or an investigation...and the game will be on broadcast television again.

I highly recommend the viewers in Connecticut who live in the parts that don't get Boston or New York locals on their cable to get a hold of Joe Lieberman, Christopher Dodd, or your local House Rep immediately and maybe you might see the game on WTXX or WCTX tommorrow.

What a joke this is.

First of all, Washington politicians have more important issues to be tackling than meddling with the business of the NFL & its network.

Secondly, the NYJ/NE game is hardly worth the exposure on ONE OTA network, let alone two.

Lastly, about MLB & its network, obviously some people need to be reminded that MLB has THE MOST national outlets in all of professional sports with FOX, ESPN, TBS & the regional FSN outlets. As such, they can afford to go down the same path as the NFL Network.

Besides, what's so wrong with the digital sports packages? If you don't like the ones on cable, then I have but three words for you....

GET A DISH

Trust me, you will see ALL the sports channels out there (YES, SNY, MASN, Altitude, ALL the FSN outlets, STO, MSG, theMTN, you name it). I have DirecTV and I have the Choice Extra & Sports packages and I they are worth EVERY PENNY. And that's ON TOP OF the national outlets of NBA TV, CBS College Sports & ESPNU.

Give it a try. Who knows - You just might actually like it.

Cheers

Pat

 

[Nate Wesley]

I really don't have much sympathy for the NFL or the fans who can't see their teams. You have one nice argument for being greedy on one end, and one near equal argument for being cheap. True fans wouldn't balk at ponying up the money for Field Pass, Sunday Ticket, or the cable/satellite package that clears NFLN. They're a relative bargain compared to actual season tickets.

Of course, the NFL's greed makes them the real weasels in all of this. They get plenty of millions of dough from three of the four major broadcast nets and ESPN. Giving the Thursday-Saturday package to 'themselves' (through NFLN) has been a failure, and it hasn't gotten the well-run channel into more homes as it hoped.

It made better sense for Versus to get this package, or for NFLN and Versus to share it somehow. I'll bet you Comcast's sports channel has fewer carriage gaps by market than NFLN does. At the least, the league placates the nations bigger cable company into playing more fair with your upstart channel.

 

[radiolives]

I think Thursday Night games should be shown on a popular network that everyone has. Say maybe TNT or TBS as at one time I believe TNT did air the NFL. As I believe it is unfair for only the cities where the teams are from get to see.

 

[kyscott]

First of all, Washington politicians have more important issues to be tackling than meddling with the business of the NFL & its network.

Like what? Spending $1.25 trillion on stupid bailouts? I'd actually prefer Congress getting involved. If they are distracted on this, they won't be raising out taxes.

 

[kyscott]

If they keep this up, congress will feel compelled to act based on the complaints of fans. I don't like what the NFL is doing, but I really don't want congress getting involved. If congress steps in, anything could happen - including a breakup of the NFL.

And the NFL would deserve every bit of what the clowns in Congress gives them then.

 

[KML0224]

TNT aired the Sunday night games before ESPN did. By the way, the home market rules also apply with the Monday night games too. Channel 11 has tonight's game in New York and the combo of channel 5 Boston/channel 9 Manchester, NH has it for Boston.

 

[dhett]

Instead of writing to your individual Congressman, how about writing to the NFL instead? Get 100X the letters to one location. Is no one bothered by the thought of the nanny state telling you how to run your business? Nowhere was anyone guaranteed the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of every NFL football game on their television.

Somebody please go read the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution already.

 

[dhett]

Somebody please go read the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution already.

Scratch this - not applicable. But please do read it anyway - federal gov't has usurped too many powers of the states.

 

[KeithE4]

Instead of writing to your individual Congressman, how about writing to the NFL instead? Get 100X the letters to one location. Is no one bothered by the thought of the nanny state telling you how to run your business? Nowhere was anyone guaranteed the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of every NFL football game on their television.

Somebody please go read the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution already.

Congress and the President have been involved in NFL television rights since JFK signed the bill allowing the leagues (NFL and AFL) to sign with single network in 1962. Since professional sports leagues engage in interstate commerce, Congress-critters have the right to regulate professional sports, per Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. They have excersised that right on several occasions.