TV coverage of NFL--A travesty

[g-funk13]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I read from the great book:

" And the trumpet sounded, and honest, Football loving Americans were not allowed to watch their favorite teams without an onerous commitment to satellite TV. The seas boiled, the fans gnashed their teeth, and the universe rolled up as a scroll. . . "

Is anyone else furious about this? Am I beating a dead horse? Is this America or what?

INSTEAD of being able to watch INDY v. Carolina Sunday, the local Denver CBS affiliate showed infomercials.

Infomercials of vacuums, dude. Clearly this is NOT America.

Why am I paying taxes? What's the point of paying taxes, if I can't watch a good NFL game instead of VACUUM INFOMERCIALS!

Is anyone else experiencing this???

Why should I have to go to some bar, where whorish women breath their filthy breath on me, and some jerk spouts inaccurate statistical data while pretzel crumbs tumble out his pie hole on my sleeve?

My wife doesn't even LIKE football and would rather watch it than INFOMERCIALS!

People, speak out! The injustices must be heard!

[Fried Egg]

This is America. Someone provides a service. If you want it, you have to pay for it. Capitalism in all its glory. If your favorite team is not the local team, then maybe you should look at other options that would let you watch them. I'm not sure what paying taxes has to do with purchasing a football package. "My team" in a certain somewhat major sport is a local team and yet their local rival is almost always on tv but my team isn't.

[g-funk13]

But it doesn't BURN you??

[follyforhire]

I don't understand it from the NFL's perspective. Why only allow Directv (or however you spell/capitalize their name) to sell the Sunday ticket package? I realize they're paying an absolute premium for exclusivity, but why limit that potential customer base?

[Se7inhand]

Watch college ball. It's so much better.

[g-funk13]

I don't understand it from the NFL's perspective. Why only allow Directv (or however you spell/capitalize their name) to sell the Sunday ticket package? I realize they're paying an absolute premium for exclusivity, but why limit that potential customer base?

Exactly. Its such a freaking shame, because the greed has totally overshadowed the football. I never want to hear anyone talk about greedy players again! The media providers are HORRIBLE, and the only injury they have to worry about is spraining a wrist lifting a fat wallet! Check out GREAT ESPN article on this: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?id=3121081

[ChiChiIsMe]

Quit yer bitchin and get Sunday ticket.

[follyforhire]

Quit yer bitchin and get Sunday ticket.

I get that. It's not a ridiculously expensive subscription, I think, considering what you're buying.

But it is (or was the last time I checked) only available on DirecTV. DirecTV is not available in every part of the country, and that unavailability is not limited to isolated, low populated areas. So, there's at least some part of the potential fan/subscriber population who simply have no way to purchase Sunday Ticket. Also, DirecTV does a notoriously poor job of carrying the major networks and, especially, locally affiliated major networks. My understanding is that you have to pay an additional fee to receive any network feeds, and those are usually out of, say, New York, Boston, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, or L.A., which is great if you live in or near one of those markets but not if you don't. Often DirecTV simply cannot add a local network affiliate to a subscription, which means you have to find an additional way to watch local news or local sports broadcasts, e.g. rabbit ears, antenna, local cable subscription, or even a separate satellite package. That is quite unwieldy. The gripe is that with its exclusive deal with DirecTV, the NFL has made it so that some folks simply cannot purchase this subscription, which, along with the crazily strict rules about what games can be broadcast in certain markets, just sucks. Short of that, many folks have to prioritize their football viewing in terms of making a decision on a service provider. Certainly, the DirecTV deal is incredibly lucrative for the NFL, but it's hard to believe that the league is maximizing its profits by so limiting access to its product.

[melraid]

I've been paying the ridiculously high price of NFL ticket for years, so I can watch my beloved Packers. What really burns my rear is that this year, if you want the High Definition broadcasts, you have to pay ANOTHER $100 on top of the $240 you are already paying! They're killing me!

[g-funk13]

I get that. It's not a ridiculously expensive subscription, I think, considering what you're buying.

Not only is it unavailable in rural areas! As many city dwellers know, if you live on the wrong side of the apartment bldg you are screwed (satellite reception). I know two people in my bldg who tried it and had to switch back to cable, because they couldn't count on consistent reception.

I also hear that internet speed is significantly faster with cable than DSL, or whatever satellite people use. I don't have first hand knowledge of this, however. Thank ESPN for coverage, or I would miss half of the touchdowns Peyton throws. For a New Yorker, Time Warner Cable is great (in my opinion). Just that ONE GLARING OMISSION---NFL coverage. NFL coverage still a total bummer. Total bummer.

[Zachwright1]

I've been paying the ridiculously high price of NFL ticket for years, so I can watch my beloved Packers. What really burns my rear is that this year, if you want the High Definition broadcasts, you have to pay ANOTHER $100 on top of the $240 you are already paying! They're killing me!

I dont even pay half that for Digital phone, Cable, and Cable internet together! NFL coverage is ok we don't get every game but we some, and for the ones we dont get we at least have espn.

[iacas]

That's not a monthly cost, you know...

[The Rambler]

Erie PA is between 3 major cities - Cleveland to the West, Pittsburgh to the south, and Buffalo to the East. We are like 1 mile closer to Buffalo than Pittsburgh so we get all the ruddy Bills games instead of: the soon-to-be- breakers-of-the-undefeated-record-of-the-new-england patriots-season, Pittsburgh Steelers

[dngolz]

The real travesty is definitely not the NFL coverage, it is the NHL coverage!!! What happened to the greatest sport second to golf? It gets less ESPN play time than women's college basketball! Maybe I'm a biased Minnesotan but come on!

Go Wild. Stricker's the man

[Zachwright1]

That's not a monthly cost, you know...

Oh ok, is it for a year? That would be a decent price. It would just suck during off season.

[g-funk13]

we get all the ruddy Bills games instead of: the soon-to-be- breakers-of-the-undefeated-record-of-the-new-england patriots-season, Pittsburgh Steelers

Yeah! GOOOOO Steelers! So what is the cost of Satellite TV?? In NYC, My Time Warner Cable is $125.10 per month. That includes Cable internet and DVR (what would I do without MAGIC TV??). I would gladly pay for an NFL channel IF I HAD THE CHOICE! I am very happy with my cable service quality. How does this stack up? I am guessing its more expensive here than elsewhere, but I would be happy to find out otherwise!

[Zachwright1]

I pay $126.xx for phone, cable, cable internet, and dvr, and I just found out its only $6 a month for NFL network. Im definately getting that.

[Titan124]

I know, the amount of football coverage is way too low. The 15 hours a day devoted to it on various networks is not nearly enough! I realize what you are saying, and it sucks, but Football fans hardly have the right to complain about a lack of coverage.

By the way, I have a friend whose family owns the Steelers (Rooney), so I now root against them so I can bug him when they lose :D.