Why did the NFL fold so quickly to allow the simulcast of tonight's game between the Giants and Patriots? Look to the Senate and pressure from Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter to open hearings on the NFL's exemption to Anti-Trust laws as a first step.
John Kerry was another vocal supporter of opening the game to all Americans on broadcast TV and threatened to open hearings in the Commerce Committee to...
I will ask the Senate Commerce Committee to hold hearings on how the emergence of premium sports channels are impacting the consumer," The Massachusetts Democrat added that he would "consider what legislative measures may be necessary to ensure that consumers are more than bystanders in this process."
Any mention of removing a leagues’ exemption to Anti-Trust laws and these guys fold like a blind sided QB.
The NFL network had this historic game all to its own at the beginning of the season and much like the recent Thursday night games, only those households with the "NFL Package" would be able to tune in. That all changed when the Patriots were set to win an historic 16 games in the regular season. The NFL refused network offers to televise the game to a wider audience and the noise in the world from sports fans across the country could be heard as high as the corridors of the Capitol.
The real fight is between the NFL and cable companies who want the NFL package but refuse to allow it on their "basic" cable offerings. The cable companies would prefer to have the NFL on their premiere listing for additional monthly charges. Who do you side with? Well for me it’s neither. I’m for competition and I mean competition from both sides, the sports franchises, NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. who have a monopoly and tout their prowess and play cities against each other for publicly funded sports complexes and then gouge citizens at the box office and the cable companies who hold a monopoly through their franchise offerings based on the 1996 cable "deregulation" legislation.
I hold the cable companies, and more importantly congress, for a pure geographic franchise monopoly. Why can’t I choose from Time Warner or Cox or Comcast or Ma-Pa Cable who will provide me with the programming I’m looking for and that meets my needs. As I’m writing this, I’m probably more pissed at the cable companies rather than the NFL right now. But have another team force another city to build them another stadium and I’ll probably change my mind.
I'm pumped that I'll be able to watch the game tonight but I'd like to see the Democratic congress take up the issue of cable deregulation and anti-trust exemptions NOW! This issue won't go away anytime soon and with the FCC's recent vote to allow newspapers to purchase other media, it's going to get worse.
With all that, I’m picking the Patriots to go 16-0 and beat the spread. What's your take?