Fans Fume As NFL Network, Cable Companies Play Blame Game Posted by Bob at 12/28/06 10:35 AM

I am a lifelong fan of the Washington Redskins. I have watched virtually every game they have played since the early 1970s.

I have stuck with them through thick and thin and it hasn’t always been easy. I have sworn off them more times than I can remember after a heartbreaking loss – particularly a loss to the evil Dallas Cowboys – only to return the following week. The flush I feel after a big win can last well into the following week, as can the gloom from a loss.

I mention all this because I am seriously considering not tuning in to watch my beloved Redskins give the no-good New York Giants a well-deserved whuppin’ this Saturday night.


The game is being produced and distributed by NFL Network, the National Football League’s greedy new cable network, which is currently locked up in a battle with some equally greedy cable companies.

We laid out the details of this extortion contest in a blog entry last week, which you can read here. You can see a pretty good New York Times article on the whole situation by clicking here.

Last week the dispute meant millions of fans of the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings were unable to watch what very well may have been the last home game ever played by legendary Packer Quarterback Brett Favre.

The executives at the NFL Network appear to be counting on the blind love of fans like me for their teams, with an emphasis on the blind part. They are counting on us to berate the cable companies into including the NFL Network in their basic subscription packages. That would mean more viewers for the network, which would it to charge higher advertising rates.

Some of the country’s biggest cable companies, including Time Warner and Charter Communications, have thus far refused to include the NFL Network in their basic packages, arguing that would mean all subscribers would be forced to pay for the network. The cable companies have made the compelling argument that it is unfair to ask non-football fans to pay for programming they will never watch.

That argument would actually be noble was it not for the fact the cable companies want to include the NFL Network in “take-it-all” premium sports packages. That means pro football fans would have to pay for all kinds of programming such as the Golf Channel just to watch the games on NFL Network.

Both sides need to knock off the game playing.

The NFL Network should stop misusing loyal fans who just want to watch the game to muscle its way onto basic cable.

In turn, the cable companies should offer the NFL Network as a stand-alone option, not part of an expensive, take-it-or-leave-it package.

We have set up a web site where you can send your thoughts about all this to the Federal Communications Commission, should you so desire.

All you Giants fans might want to do this during the game Saturday night. It will be a lot more fun than watching my Redskins mop the field with your Giants.

comments (5)

1 Posted by nicholas miller at 01/10/07 06:30 PM

It's called a free-market. The market will work it all out. If you don't want to pay for the all inclusive cable/sat package...then don't! Nobody is holding a gun to your head to buy this package so you can watch your beloved team. If there is high demand for anything with scarce supply then there will be high profit margins. Get over it. Go to your local pub/bar/restaurant/friends house showing the channel for free to watch it. Cry-baby.

2 Posted by RD at 01/19/07 11:16 AM

I agree with you on most points except one.
GO Giants...Go Big Blue...Go Giants!!!

3 Posted by Brian at 02/05/07 06:39 PM

The most serious fans have already switched to satellite, and the NFL, as producer of this popular product, holds all the cards.

These cable companies seem to think they're Ma Bell, circa 1955.

The holdout cable companies are already offering deals & rates unthinkable since the advent of broadband. It's working perfectly. Cable is losing its stranglehold, somehow forgetting that the NFL is a money tree.

4 Posted by Aranah Burley at 05/31/07 04:44 PM

It is so stupid to say 'they will be giving us a channel (NFL) that no one wants to watch' when speaking of the people who do not watch football. Well, hell, what about all 20 of the dumb channels that my husband and I have that we NEVER watch, cartoon channel included!? There are channels on our TV we have never flipped to, so come on you greedy cable companies and do the right thing. After all, there are other options.

5 Posted by Paul T at 11/20/07 03:14 PM

This feels like the baseball strikes and lockouts from years ago. Each side's financial egos are out of proportion to the worth or their product offering. It's basically two groups arguing over MY money. Bottom line is if you charge too much I'm gone (NFL or no NFL). It's called discretionary spending and I'll decide on what entertainment I want (NFL, NBA, Comedy, or a Movie). I don't NEED to watch TV, but the cable industry and NFL NEEDS me to watch.
Let them argue and blame each other. The more they do the more people like me become disinterested. It took me 5 years to even start casually watching baseball again (and usually only the playoffs). In the end it is the consumer who holds all the cards (i.e. money).

Each side could care less about compliants, they do care when someone cancels their subscription.