Congratulations to the NFL and the three Networks for doing what is right for Football fans on this potentially wonderful achievement. New England is the finest team in today's NFL and if, indeed, they are able to achieve this historical record, it will be wonderful for fans everywhere to witness it. Thanks NFL and Networks!

I knew the NFL (and its network) would blink first. Holding your fans hostage, preventing them from consuming your product is no way to run a business. People just don't want to pay extra for NFL games. We've had them for free forever. This isn't a ppv boxing match.

It is sad state of affairs when this has boiled over to the point that it has. Thanks for network tv for making the save but the issue remains the NFLN is still absent from cable TV lineups. True senate & congress involvement made NFLN quake in their boots..One year ago in 2006 it was the fight to get the Rutgers football game on, in 2007 it was to get Patriots run at an undefeated season on..what will the fight be about next year? Im so glad i have satellite..amen all praise to the mighty dish where channels are not absent from the lineup.

Awesome, now the entire country can hear how pathetically God-awful Bryant Gumbel is.

"Brady throws 'THIS SIDE' to Moss, and he 'FIGURES TO HAVE' 'ALMOST' 'WHAT APPEARS TO BE' a first down."

For this caliber of play, too bad a 3rd string team will be in the booth. Why not let NBC and CBS Pros call the game on their respective networks?

Sounds like the NFL has rigged the game so the Pats will win and sold the major networks on the event.

great decision, but can't they do better than Gumbel and Collingsworth?

All Dish Network customers have NFL network in the basic package. Don't blame the league, or NFL Network!! Start blaming the cable companies for trying to make "a buck"!!! it's time for the cable to go. let the new technology work for you

Congrats to the NFL for the telecast of this game had they not done so I fear that fans of all teams would have had a bad taste in thier mouths for the NFL and there products.

Yes, all you Kool-Aide drinking dish-heads. Let the new technology work for you...except in bad weather or sunspots or high winds or...you get the picture (or do you?). Also, I kind of like getting ALL of my local channels as part of my basic cable package. ** Nope...don't work for the cable companies :-) **

No, anonymous pinhead, it's about content. I give a hoot about the transport mechanism; The Tags banked a giant check from Rupert Murdoch and DirecTV for the football package. Enjoy your very high def two or three games every weekend.

I've had a dish for the last 8 years. I've lost signal *once* due to storms/sunspots/UFOs/whatever.

All your channels? Really? Does anyone really watch channel 8? Or the terrible board of education channels? Please. I've happily "given" those up for channels of content that I actually watch.

I always love when someone shoves a stick in the dish vs cable anthill! Really brings out the long-knives. LOL

And, hadboth, which way did you ultimately go?

Who's drinking the Kool-Aid? I've never had satellite interference with DirecTV, but my cable internet goes out all the time! I also get all local channels, in HD, no less!

Everyone who likes to watch sports either has a dish or cant get a dish for whatever reason (trees, condo association etc.) Dish is far superior to cable in content, picture qualtity, customer service. I remember this argument last year when the Nationals were not on anything except the Dish (MASN)

Unfortunately, have cable at the moment due to bad dish sightlines...rats! The only thing I like about cable is the TV-internet-phone pkg I have.

It is an anthill, Hadboth, you're right about that. It's funny how this game has gone from being tough to find to impossible to escape.

I hate to interject politics into this heated cable vs. dish debate - but everybody who benefits from this decision owes a little gratitude to John Kerry who originally highlighted this problem and helped bring about this amazing 3-way broadcast.

While I applaud the decision to provide well deserved access to to the fans who made this boys club abundantly rich, why not go all the way and spare us from the Gumbel/Collinsworth tandem of substandard and biased mediocrity? Let the networks at least feed their own play by play, even if its a radio simulcast.

a) Yes, PU-LEAZE get rid of Gumbel. He is the most boring play-by-play guy EVER (this includes Bob Costas doing anything other than baseball). I watched the Dallas-GB game a few weeks ago it was PAINFUL. The post from LEE had it dead-on.

b) I watched the DAL-GB game on DirecTV. Had it for 10 years. Have looked into cable on more than one occasion. Wouldn't do it!! More variety on DirecTV, all my locals, sheet rain maybe once a year ... oh yea, only one major price hike in 10 years! I'm constantly re-evaluating, but everytime I think about cable, I wind up keeping my dish.

I don't care if Donald Duck does the play by play commentary. I am just glad that I will be able to see the game. It may even convince me to pick up the NFL Network next year.

While I am excited about seeing the game (though I do happen to get NFL Network in my cable package), I am a little concerned about the broadcast team. It is easy to "love to hate" Bryant Gumbel. He has been so good in so many other mediums, this gig just seems so glaringly wrong for him. But I think his ego, or his contract, must tell him this is not the case. I have found, it is very hard to watch while Gumbel is providing commentary. The whole, "he appears to have the yardage" (which I've actually heard him say many times) seems like an excuse, "just in case" it doesn't occur, and it is sickening to hear this same commentary so repeatedly that you know to expect it. Football has always been a game of inches. So what if the dude didn't get what he "appeared" to get. I do want to see the game, but I am probably going to watch with the volume turned off. This simulcast is a great compromise in this situation, but it really would be preferable to have either a CBS or NBC broadcast team provide the game call and color commentary. Oh well. As the Giants will find out on Sunday, "You can't always get what you want..."

I wish the NFL would take a similar stance during the regular season with their Sunday Ticket broadcast on DirecTV. As a Redskins fan living in Atlanta, even though I pay the full freight for the package, if the Falcons play at home and do not sell out, and the 'skins play at the same time, I will not be able to watch the 'skins game. This just is not fair and I am sure other fans not in their home cities feel the same way, especially in markets where the home team does not sell out.

On a related topic, hey NFL how about pay perview. I would be willing to pay $20 a week to see only the 'skins, why do I have to pay for the whole Ticket when there are only a few other teams I am worried about?

Congrats to all involved in making this game available on free TV, but I will be muting the sound to tune out Gumball and listening the play by play on radio.

It is a shame that it took Senators Leahy and Spectors thinly veiled threat of 'reexamining" the NFLs anti-trust exemption to make this happen.

Is this where everyone practices their pitiful, sarcastic stand-up routines?

Me again..If big cable has insisted to pay NFLN for carriage of their channel, WHY THE F does NFLN care so much where its placed on?? if TWC and Cablevision are willing (so they say) to pay and add it to the sports tier, what is the bug that is up NFLN's a$$ as to where its placed on the tier?

They'd (being cable) would finally have said channel not on digital basic but on their sports tier..Im sure the cable companies could bend over backwards to place it on digital regular after all in this day and age the excuse of there not being space like in analog days isnt gonna cut it..the fault lies with both NFLN and Cable..I have satellite and i'll take my summer sheet rain outages over deaf ears of channel requests to cable anyday!!

Amen to the mighty dish! I will nvr go bck to cable..to those that dont know and curse you because of rain and sunspots and wind?? hahaha maybe fart wind but educate yourself on actually how many real outages one has with satellite..Amen and bless the mighty dish..love that dish of mine i had 2 NFLN parties in my house this year. I think the Cowboys/Packers game made a black and blue that hasnt healed yet.

Forget the NFL 8 games on the NFL Network. Why can't US cable customers get the Sunday Ticket through cable? Interesting that Canadians get the Sunday Ticket on their cable. Hmmm, US football available to all Canadians but only 10% of US homes. Great show NFL, afraid we will turn off the dreck you foist upon us and find a great football game?

The current NFL television contract expires in 2011. I suspect a year or so before that, you will see a huge renegotiation on the part of all affiliated networks and carriers. For fans (and players), this will likely result in yet another huge increase in the salary cap. This means that 'Skins fans can bank on "Mr." Snyder outbidding everyone for Adrian Peterson :-)

Back to my point, I think the DirecTV deal is up for grabs. Anyone overseas can watch the NFL via Yahoo! NFL Game Pass. It's actually not that bad (for watching in a tiny window on your computer). That's the future, and The Commish has said as much.

My prediction is that the networks will do their typical 30% increase in rights fees (though the conferences and packages may shift around again) and that DirecTV will be re-awarded the satellite package.

The fun part will be around Internet broadcast rights. I predict that DirecTV will ALSO bid for the Internet rights fees. They've been experimenting with simulcasting the games over the Internet for existing Sunday Ticket subscribers. They use SlingMedia's Windows Media-based technology to do it, and it's pretty good (though limited to a PC, no Macs can play).

This will be very much in line with DirecTV's stated strategy to begin to fade away from dish-required packages to IPTV. I'm not willing to bet that DirecTV will emerge as the leading carrier in IPTV, but I am willing to bet that their existing relationship with the NFL combined with the acrimony between Comcast/TW and the League will result in DirecTV getting the satellite AND Internet rights.

Most consumers don't care about their carrier unless something goes wrong and you have to wait and wait and wait for customer service. Consumers care about content and devices. Content is squirelly today on the Internet (some good, most bad to God awful to downright obscene). Devices are only now beginning to get cool (TiVo, of course, but also AppleTV and others).

Tangentially..in general, I think 2009-2011 will be exciting years for consumer electronics and content. The current Writer's Strike is going to have a tremendous impact on where the good talent in Hollywood begins to put their energy, and I think Internet-based, ad-driven content, though quirky and mostly silly today, will be pretty well polished in time for the 2009 television season.

And just to stick the knife in the ant-hill...I've been a DirecTV subscriber since 1997, year 3 of NFL Sunday Ticket. I have only had one instance of rain fade in all that time, and only one instance of the dish being blown off the roof (that was mostly my fault for being an idiot, but I digress). I think we can all agree that phone-based customer service usually stinks. But DirecTV customer service is downright outstanding in my experience. I have never once had a problem with them. They rock.

Poor NFL bemoans the fact that 'big cable' will not acquiesce to their demand that the NFLN be carried in the basic-channel package. How dare they complain about lack of customer choice when they (NFL) have monopolistic practices by only allowing DirectTv the Sunday Ticket? Jerry Jones sure is a great spokesman in sticking up for the fan to have more choice (whatta joke). How about breaking the NFL/DirectTv monopoly?? That might also bring the price down. Without exception, Sunday Ticket has gone up in price every year, and now borders pricing themselves out of the reach of the average fan...

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You got that right, Bird Brained. NFL coverage here in Canada is awesome. No blackout rules. NFLN comes with my cable package and even though I could purchase Sunday Ticket from my cable, I usually get at least six different games in HD each Sunday to choose from so I don't even bother to pickup Sunday Ticket. Add in the fact that Dec. 26th is a holiday here, and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

There is a zero percent chance that DirecTV will simply give up exclusivity of NFL Sunday Ticket. They will significantly outbid anyone attempting to broaden distribution of the package. They attribute close to 30% of their entire subscriber base to Sunday Ticket. Further, they have two buying seasons: August (pre-season) and December (Christmas). The entire economics and business model of that company are driven around the NFL.

Now, the problem with DirecTV is that people don't always want to stick crap on their roofs or deal with the dish or whatever. Admittedly, it's annoying. When I bought my condo, I did so when it was a hole in the ground and instructed the builder to put a dish on the roof for me and hardwire it to my unit. Because of the dish status, I'm effectively locked out of moving to a new place unless I also purchase it when it's a hole in the ground. Numerous people have similar stories (urban areas, rural areas with trees blocking them, etc).

As I write above, I'm fairly certain that you WILL get the option to subscribe to DirecTV via IPTV (no dish required), and probably relatively soon. This addresses the equipment problem (which is very much in DirecTV's interest) but not the exclusivity problem outlined in the complaints in this thread (none of which are in DirecTV's interest).

The NFL has an antitrust exemption from Congress. So, they are legally permitted to enter into exclusivity agreements, such as the one with DirecTV. Senator Specter had been threatening to "revisit" it, but then the Democrats won Congress and he lost his chairmanship.

(and, yes, I do get the gist of rick_in_atlanta's post, but just wanted to provide some background facts. Like many people, I honestly don't care who my carrier is, though I love DirecTV. I just want the NFL content, and will find a way to get it no matter where it comes from.)

As for the NFL Network issue...the whole thing has devolved into a "he said, she said" thing, to a point where the facts are so muddled that it's hard to see straight. The NFL wants NFLN to be on everyone's free tier, a la ESPN. But they want to charge the cable carriers a fee as if it were on a paid tier of service. The cable carriers, for obvious reasons, have stated that if they are going to be charged a fee by the NFL, they are going to pass it on to customers by making NFLN part of the paid tier. Thus, the loggerheads.

Personally, I think the NFL is wrong here. But maybe they need the money. After all, they're running a two-bit operation with Gumbel in the booth...

It's an advertising ploy for the NFL Network, like those free viewing nights that HBO used to offer. Unfortunately, using the NFL Network feed will show fans how bad the Network currently is.

Oh, one more thing I should add...

The NFL wants to give everyone all the games. As Sunday Ticket observers will attest, they line up advertisers for all their games, not individual ones. The NFL doesn't make a nickel more or less based on which game you watch.

Now, the networks, and, specifically, the networks' local affiliates, do care. When you're watching a game on, say, Channel 5 in DC, you're going to get "station breaks" with local ads. Those local ads are sold by the local affiliate (WTTG in my case) and the revenue is kept by the local affiliate (though, I'm not sure if they have to share a portion with the parent network...could be, I don't know).

So, you see, the local affiliates care a lot about which game you see. The local Toyota dealership isn't going to advertise on WTTG during Redskins games if they know that they're not going to maximize local impressions on that ad (or, more likely, they'll insist on paying less). Indeed, even if you subscribe to Sunday Ticket, your local game is blacked out on Sunday Ticket and you have to tune to your local station to watch it, just so you see those local ads.

I heard a credible rumor that this "Sunday Ticket blackout" restriction ends after next season.

I didn't think there was a network I could hate more than MASN... until NFL Network came along.

While we're on a rant, another anti-competitive practice is that DirectTv requires you to maintain at least a basic-channel satellite package to gain access to Sunday Ticket. I've had a dish for years, but now only use it for Sunday Ticket (I guess I'm grandfathered). I recently considered DirectTv as a total alternative to cable, but DirectTv told me that if I do that, and at a later time decided to leave them I could no longer get Sunday Ticket by itself..
Senator Spector, please take a look at DirectTv's anti-competitive business practices...

There's plenty of mediocre NFL TV play-by-play men who:
a)stumble over their words and player IDs,
b) incorrectly guess which player or team has been penalized (instead of just shutting up for a few seconds and letting the ref to reveal it.
c) bore viewers with irrelevant anecdotes, hackneyed cliches and pointless name-dropping.
d)forget they're NOT the color analyst - and freely inject THEIR opinion about coaching decisions or player performances during games and
e) are just plain terrible, period.
So, why does Bryant Gumbel seem to be the only one who ripped and derided by fans and TV critics (too many of whom, I suspect, are letting their personal distaste for Gumbel run amok)?
He's not the best NFL play-by-play guy, by far. But I'm amused by all the posters who seem to believe that there's the vast resevoir of top-tier, high-quality NFL announcers out there, PERIOD

If you're a regular on Redskins Insider, you know that we rip ALL the play-by-play and color guys.

Except Tim Ryan. We love him.

:-)

"anti-competitive" implies "illegal" to me (though I understand the gist of what you are saying). What DirecTV is doing is specifically authorized under the NFL's antitrust exemption.

They have a great product which is priced appropriately in my mind. It's not "cheap" by any means, but satellite TV and the NFL are not exactly necessities in life.

Sunday Ticket is $269/season, I believe. SuperFan is another $200/season (for HD games and, in my opinion, the most important feature of Sunday Ticket: Red Zone Channel). $500/season for the full meal deal is fully reasonable for a luxury entertainment item. I would only object to the pricing if it ever became the case that your local team's games ever required payment to anyone.

The "basic tier" of DirecTV is $29.95 (the dish, equipment, and installation are free if you negotiate moderately well at Best Buy). The exactly comparable "Expanded Basic Tier" of my local cable company is $39.95.

I knew the NFL (and its network) would blink first. Holding your fans hostage, preventing them from consuming your product is no way to run a business. People just don't want to pay extra for NFL games. We've had them for free forever. This isn't a ppv boxing match.

Posted by: pat | December 26, 2007 05:28 PM

Not even, so why did the other teams that were only broadcast on the NFL network get robbed!!????

PATS SUCK!!

>>> "People just don't want to pay extra for NFL games"

This is a patently false assertion. There are over 2 million people willing to pay $250-$500 for NFL Sunday Ticket. It's the country's most popular sport and if the price were lower, I suspect there would be tens of millions of households willing to pay extra for access to all NFL games.

Gregg Easterbrook has a good assessment of the situation:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/071030

As he writes, it will be very much in the League's interest to open up access to Sunday Ticket (lowering the price, but increasing access to the roughly 175M cable homes...it doesn't take a math major to figure out the economics there).

But I don't know that the acrimony between the League and cable carriers will prevent that. DirecTV will fight tooth and nail to keep exclusivity of Sunday Ticket because their business depends on it, and they will become the NFL's leverage against the cable carriers, just as they were in 2002 and 2004.

As far as American businesses go, you don't get much more powerful than the NFL and the cable/satellite/telco carriers. It should be a fascinating negotiation.

As a long time New England Patriots fan I was royally pissed that I could not see this game on my Charter Cable subscription. With the Patriots looking at the chance of a perfect season it pissed me off even more to have it blacked out in my home.

I don't care how this deal was worked out, my five girls and I will be watching and cheering our favorite NFL team in the comfort of our home. GO PAT's!

Papamoka

can you say "New Coke"? Just like Coca Cola's ingenious ploy back in the 1980s to draw attention to their brand by introducing New Coke, the NFL has done a fabulous job of monopolizing the media by "refusing" to air the game on network TV and then acquiescing in the 11th hour. Congrats to the NFL.

I would have said at first the Giants would rest many starters, but the news that both CBS and NBC will be carrying the simulcast of the game makes me wonder now.

With all that national attention, maybe Coughlin - and the players too - will feel compelled to try and knock NE off.

Obviously I don't like the Giants, but I would LOVE to see them beat the Pats.

OK, I want a refund on my cable now. My rates are conceivably higher for this. NFL Network is a rip off to be honest.

Let me get this straight: CBS scrapped the network premiere of a movie about Ed Murrow for a pickup of a football telecast?

The NFL blinked. Period. It could be a good precedent.

As to the game audio; this football fan does not need it or hear it. But I do listen to Al and (coach) John.

Well done, Patriots: stand tall (from a 'Boys fan).

P Diddy...

I am a Mac user and use the Sling Box. What are you talking about?

Roje: I have no dislike of Bryant Gumbel. He does a fine job on human interest pieces. But when a play-by-play man distracts you and reduces your enjoyment of the game, he needs to be called out. By no means is he the only one, just the WORST one. Honestly, I would rather listen to some of the "Homer" calls on the radio than his shrill tome.

I don't know who is worse -- Gumbel or George Michael and Wilbon when they called preseason games. Absolutely horrendous!

next time, mr. maske, check out the new york times before you write your story.
there you will find the real reason the nfl decided to give the game to nbc and cbs, one of which you appear totally ignorant: congressional pressure that threatened pro football's exemption from
anti-trust laws. no, it wasn't out of the goodness of the nfl's pure little heart, designed to help its loyal fans, as your quote from the nfl official indicates.
better luck next time. it sometimes helps for a reporter to do some reporting.

Oh well, now that all of America will be watching...the Giants will have to keep their starters in as long as the Patriots have their starters playing.

The Giants can no longer afford to rest their key players for the playoffs.

Should have been that way all along.

If I were a Giant player, I would want to compete against the best... and they have the best in the Pats. Thank you NFL.

>>> "P Diddy... I am a Mac user and use the Sling Box. What are you talking about?

I wasn't clear. I own a Mac, I own a Slingbox, and I use both. It's fantastic. Coolest technology since TiVo.

DirecTV uses SlingMedia's technology, embedded within a browser. Currently, they only support IE7, which, of course, is Windows only. DirecTV's "feature" is that if you're a Sunday Ticket subscriber already, they let you view any game over the Internet. It's way cool. But it's PC only. No Macs supported.

>>> "Oh well, now that all of America will be watching...the Giants will have to keep their starters in as long as the Patriots have their starters playing."

Another silly and naive assertion. The Giants will do everything necessary to get into position to win their first playoff game. This game is meaningless, and they know it. They are hurting everywhere right now, and they need to get into shape to play Tampa Bay in Tampa Bay. There is no way they risk the important game for the meaningless game. Anyone who has ever watched football knows this.

In the last two weeks, they've lost their running back and top playmaker (Shockey). You're telling me they're going to play all their starters because they're simulcast on two other networks? Please. Have you seen Tom Coughlin? The guy couldn't care less about his image. He needs to win at least one playoff game to save his job.

>>> "there you will find the real reason the nfl decided to give the game to nbc and cbs, one of which you appear totally ignorant: congressional pressure that threatened pro football's exemption from "

And the hearings are scheduled for when, exactly? Give me a break.

The NY Times' article was hearsay and conjecture. Senator Specter was interested in this in 2006 because Comcast is headquartered in his state. Duh. No one else in Congress cares.

The NFL is exempt from anti-trust. It would take 51 members of the Senate, 218 members of the House, and 1 President to overturn it. They are safe, trust me.

Senator Specter was doing his usual grandstanding, vacuous airhead schtick because a) Comcast executives and the Comcast PAC gave him the second-highest combined total of political donations of anyone else in his state (source: opensecrets.org) and b) the NFL would give him the television airtime he so desperately craves (source: common sense).

Cindy cited the only credible facts available in this blog entry. Everything else is tin foil hat, alien UFO BS.

>>> "The NFL blinked. Period. It could be a good precedent."

No, they didn't blink. They did a smart thing. They circumvented the MSOs (cable carriers) to carry their programming. They'll inundate the broadcast with commercials for all sorts of NFLN programs. Frankly, none of them are worth watching (except the pre-draft and NFL Combine coverage with Mike Mayock, which is way, way, way, way beyond exceptional).

The game itself is irrelevant (except to Pats fans). Most people won't watch (Saturday isn't exactly a big TV night). People will wake up on Sunday and watch Chris Berman, Curt Menefee, or James Brown tell them what happened.

It's a great marketing opportunity for the NFL. And, as we all know, there are few entities better than the NFL equipped to use a marketing vehicle such as this.

Don't forget the fundamental economics of television. More people watching = more eyeballs = more money to charge advertisers. It takes an average of 3 ad impressions to make an impact on a prospect. Get ready for NFLN ads all...game...long.

The simulcast partners could opt to forgo the audio feed, right? Sparing their viewers the Gumbel Problem and winning back a bit of goodwill.

They could even have some fun with it. One of them could simply play the ambient stadium noise without any commentary. Another approach would be having a deejay spin records befitting the competitors... middling Springsteen and Bon Jovi songs for the Jints, a mix of "The Imperial March (Vader's Theme)" and some epic, ominous Wagner for the Pats.

It would be interesting to find out who would win the ratings war if both CBS and NBC would have their regular play by play/colour commentator team doing the game. My money goes on Madden/Michaels, even if I enjoy Nantz/Simms equally. Actually I would need two tv sets to be able to watch both networks simultaneously.

The NFL was making their money gate proceeds, endorsements etc. and on advertisements during the games. So weren't they making enough money? Why to we have to pay to watch what has already been paid for?

Also, as an occasional football watcher, why should I have to pay for a while package, instead of a partial package? I don't think I should be paying for games I am not watching.

When I pay for a ticket to a game, I don't have to sit through advertising at every break. So if I have to pay for a "ticket" to watch a game on my TV, why should I have to be bombarded by the multimillion dollar ads the NFL Network is jamming down our throats. The NFL is double dipping...

Where is Madden when you need him?

This is all about greed. The NFL thinking that people would Pay-per-view for football and the cable/dish networks thinking that they could get something for nothing. I'm sure when it all works out the fans will end up paying more one way or another.

...and good announcers, no less! Not the hairless elf interrupting Mike Tirico.Bravo!

Lee: I get your point regarding Gumbel - you state it well. Like I said, Gumbel IS pretty shaky. But I'm shocked at how many mediocre play-by-play guys are out there, overall.

It ain't called the No Fun League for nuthin'!

Bemoaning the NFL's ability to make a profit is missing the point. The NFL has every right to maximize revenue, particularly with a fan base that has an insatiable appetite for its product (how else can you explain the popularity of the Combine...a bunch of beer-drinking dudes watching other dudes run around in shorts and t-shirts? Huh?)

Like I said, I have no objection to this so long as the local team's games remain free and over the air. Even when a team's games are broadcast on ESPN or NFLN, the games are simulcast free, OTA by a local affiliate.

The greater point is that the NFL is attempting to control both the product (the games) and the message (broadcast of the games, news coverage of the games, etc). They've already blocked out local news affiliates from using video footage greater than 30 seconds. They've already severely limited access to print, online, and television journalists. They've already begun to produce in-house "news" features about the teams (e.g., "Redskins TV").

Now, the NFL is hardly "important" in our lives and with the technical exception of Green Bay, the NFL is not a publicly traded company. They have every right to do what they're doing. In some cases, it's even pretty darn good (Webcasting press conferences in their entirety, etc).

The thing that I fear is that if the general public gets conditioned to accept its most popular sports diversion controlling both its "product" and its news commentary on said product, then it's only a few conceivable steps to accepting the same in areas where things really matter (i.e., publicly traded companies and the government, itself).

If you're going to be up in arms about anything, choose the thing that's important.

Hawk's comments above are nothing but cable industry FUD.

As for the "whole package" vs. "partial package" issue on Sunday Ticket...this is entirely conceivable. I do think that if Sunday Ticket ever does go into mainstream cable, you will see "full season", "one week only", and "follow my team only" packages. DirecTV subscribers are, as they call it, "Super Fans". The general cable audience may be more casual fans, and the NFL will almost certainly maximize its revenue by building tiered offerings for everyone. (BTW, the problem with "follow my team only" is that some folks may feel gipped when their team's games are on national TV and free OTA)

I don't think you'll see Sunday Ticket on cable unless the cable industry gives the NFL close to 100% of the subscription revenue. The MSOs (cable carriers) are hardly progressive business people. They are old school, stodgy, intractable jerks, for the most part.

I'll bet you dollars to donuts that the NFL will demand 100% of subscription revenue from Sunday Ticket, and will cede "locally inserted" ad revenue to the MSOs. The NFL wins on subscription revenue, the MSOs win on local ad revenue. Consumers win by being able to get the product which they have demonstrated an insatiable demand for.

The problem is that the MSOs will never, ever, ever agree to this, mostly because they are collectively a bunch of morons, and also because in dealing with them, they like to be the "big dog" in any negotiation. In the entertainment business, there are only a handful of entities bigger than the NFL. And, in the cable industry overall, the MSOs are becoming increasingly irrelevant in a world that will soon be overtaken by IPTV. The NFL has no reason to negotiate with the MSOs because a) their product is in such high demand, b) the MSOs are slowly dying anyway, and c) their DirecTV leverage.

(BTW, I am not affiliated with any of the entities mentioned in this thread. I just happen to have spent a portion of my career negotiating with MSOs, and another portion of my career in the entertainment business in LA)

Re: Gumbel and Collinsworth. I am amazed that anyone would watch professional football with the sound on. The game is not that complicated and except for John Madden, and Phil Simms the "announcers" are pathetic. I suggest HDTV with no sound for pure enjoyment.

I agree with Michael Wilbon- be a MAN-GET A DISH!
Many of us already have NFL Network and were never worried about watching this game. Do people actually believe congress should get involved with negotiations between a sports league and cable tv companies?
It's silly.
I mean, Comcast Sportsnet-Philly is STILL not available to satellite customers here in Pennsylvania because they don't want the comptition to their cable empire- so if you want the Phillies, Sixers and Flyers you MUST have cable.
So much for the cable company as "victim".

Mr. Maske:

Can you please explain, in your NFL Insider column, why the NFL is exempt from federal antitrust legislation? Sounds kind of fishy to me.

They are all trying to squeeze an extra dollar out of us, the NFL Network and the cable companies. I actually get the NFL Network with Cox and it probably isn't worth the money I spend to get the "tier" it comes with and the 100 other channels I will never watch that come with the basic package. I will watch it, but I will have the volume turned off since Gumbel is terrible at play by play. In fact, I am not sure what makes Nantz, Buck, Gumbel, and their colleagues so "great" in the first place. I don't know one person who enjoys them calling a game.

There are plenty of resources on the Internet that will explain the NFL's antitrust exemption and its history. MLB has one as well.

Perhaps the most fun story in the whole saga of the exemption concerns the USFL. There was a great book titled "The $1 League" that goes into the whole mess in detail. Sadly, it appears to be out of print now and going for upwards of $125 on the auction sites (ironic, considering that the USFL was awarded $1 in damages by Federal Judge David Doty. The USFL appealed and were subsequently awarded another $1).

I did not ask you pdiddyhole

Missing from the article is the fact that the NFL was also pressured by history's lowest-rated Congress, specifically senile Patrick Leahy, to simulcast the game. This is what the mindset of the Dem Disaster is, at a time when Pakistan is in turmoil, and Pakistan has nukes.

Good news, though. The world will now hear what a drag Bryant Gumbel is as a sports announcer, and perhaps the resulting furor will send him packing.

i've had dish for 3 years and its gone out twice for maybe a total of 30 minutes b/c of interference. and we get our local channels (i don't really know why since we never watch the local news, but that's neither here nor there).
if you want to watch an NFL network, buy a dish or go to a bar. i don't know why you'd want to subject yourself to their broadcast, because it's terrible and i'm not just talking about Gumbel. I'm talking about the shots/production/graphics. Collinsworth is pretty decent.

I did not ask you pdiddyhole

Posted by: conspiracy theory | December 27, 2007 11:59 AM

Be careful how you answer Diddy. This guy has got "I know you are but what am I?" locked and loaded.

Who cares about this stinkin' game anyway? The Pats only need it for cosmetic reasons, and the Giants don't need it at all. Would anybody care about the 14-0 Dolphins if they weren't the 17-0 Dolphins as well? Save your energy for the Pats final game(s), which will be available for all to watch (Gumble-)free.

I'd like to have congress look into this NFL Network BS, since the NFL is a trust in violation of Sherman Antitrust Act, its just another way for the NFL to gouge its fans beyond the $400/seat prices to see their games in person...

I have Direct TV. I get 25 MORE channels then the local cable. The picture is clearer. I do get the local channels as well. I have had Direct TV for 3 years and have lost the picture twice. Once in a 10 inch snow storm and once in a 3 inch thunderstorm. Both times it was out less then an hour. My cable went out at least once a month for over an hour in the many years I had that overpriced crap. Direct TV - cheaper, clearer picture, more channels, fewer problems. Why would anyone still have cable?? And no, I do not work for Direct TV.

The NFL, its owners, and the NFL Network should shove their product up to where the sun don't shine.

I have given up supporting the NFL and its greedy owners. I use to be a long time fan who not only supported the NFL, but bought alot of their merchandise. It is not enough for these owners and players to make millions of dollars, but they also have the citizens pay for erecting their millionaire playgrounds. What do they give back? Not much!

As of this season the NFL is no longer welcomed into my house and they can go to hell.

I don't get all the hate for Gumbel/Collingsworth. Have you people ever really listened to Aikman, Moose Johnston, Don Criqui, Dick Stockton, et al? They're all pretty piss poor commentators, spending little-to-no time researching the teams and absolutely trashing some players and teams based on innuendo and half-truth depending on which way the "popularity wind" is blowing or on who is a current "media darling" and are often very bad at hiding preconceived biases against certain teams and players.

Terrell Owens is a good example, suddenly he is anything but the jerk he truly is now that he is on the Cowboys, the former team of Aikman and Moose Johnston (didn't T.O. intentionally disrespect the Cowboys emblem at midfield during a nationally televised game?). Now he is wonderful until he publicly reveals his true jerk self.

These announcers are also mealy mouthed about the performance of the teams during the game then show mass love and sucking up for the team with the lead or who they think will win then they quickly switch allegiance when the other team pulls out the game. At least keep it real and have the announcer(s) say they blew the call of the game expecting the other team to not pull it out. And the way they cover up for bad officiating on obviously blown or missed calls is laughable. Don't fart in my face and tell me it's roses. Or do most networks and announcers think most football watching Americans are so soft in the head that they don't know when they are having smoke blown up their posteriors?

Just call the game the way it's being played, don't jump on this band wagon or that, just give me the straight up call without coloring it. I have eyes, ears and a functioning brain don't insult my intelligence with a lot of superfluous BS. Is it possible that one of the three networks airing this game can show it with no commentators/play-by-play announcers? Would it help if I said please? How about pretty please with sugar on top?

To bobt25: I don't disagree with you that there are piss-poor commentators on national TV. But have you actually heard Gumbel? Like the guy earlier said, he takes away from the game, and has zero talent for play-by-play. I wish I could hear Gary Thorne, Jon Miller, Mel Proctor, and any number of hockey announcers call NFL games.

BTW, don't lump ColliNSworth (not ColliNGSworth) with Gumbel. Although coming across as sometimes arrogant, Cris does a fine job.

you know,we can give a sh*t less about your contract disputing,we are the fans(ya know the ones who go to the games buy the shirts and so on!),some of us are not rich and can't afford cable and Sat TV,Give us a break,Pretty soon you will have no one paying for TV and we will all go to Illegal FTA Boxes,Take that NFL,or better still,you seen what happen to hockey Attendance,want that to happen with football?

I do get NFL network...and love it. I have to turn the volume down though---I HATE Bryant Gumbel's play by play. He is awful!!!He incorrectly calls the plays and penalties and he is always saying the same phrases..."checking in" "lets call it the 40 yard line" (when its the 35) "we got ourselves a ball game". He is pathetic, I do not see NFL network's patronage going up because of simulcasting this game using him as the bait. People will get to see how horrible and PAINFUL it is to listen to him and just opt out. If NFL wants new customers....get new announcers. TURN down the volume---it helps alot.

Everyone has an opinion, but what does it really mean? Not a Damn thing. Life goes on.