Patriots/Giants game to be simulcast on NBC/CBS

[Reds Fanatic]

Apparently Congress has scared the NFL because the Saturday night game originally only to be on the NFL network will now be simulcast on NBC and CBS.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3169075

NEW YORK -- The New England Patriots' shot at history Saturday night will be available for every household in the country with a television after months of wrangling.

The game against the New York Giants, in which the Patriots could become the first NFL team to go 16-0 in the regular season, was originally scheduled to be shown only on the NFL Network, which is available in fewer than 40 percent of the nation's homes with TVs.

The league announced Wednesday that the NFL Network feed will be simulcast on NBC and CBS. It's a major concession by league officials, who repeatedly said they would not show the game anywhere but the NFL Network. The NFL had faced mounting pressure from lawmakers in recent weeks to make the game available to more viewers.

Local TV affiliates in the Boston, Manchester, N.H., and New York areas who were already set to simulcast the game under NFL policy will still air it.

The NFL has feuded with major cable companies, who have declined to carry the network as part of basic packages.

"We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans," commissioner Roger Goodell said. "What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever."

This will be the first three-network simulcast in NFL history and the first simulcast of any kind of an NFL game since the first Super Bowl in 1967, when CBS and NBC both televised the first meeting of the champions of the newly merged National Football League and American Football League

[redsfan1966]

This is a great play by the NFL to promo the NFL Network for '08.....but unfortunately does this mean we all will be subjected to Bryant Gumbel???

[WMR]

Good. The NFL is trying their damnedest to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Congress needs to knock them down a couple pegs. I wish they'd next force them to offer Sunday Ticket to subscribers outside of DirecTV.

[guttle11]

Why does it need to be simulcast on TWO networks? It makes absolutely no sense.

[RedsManRick]

Woohoo. Money for everybody!

[Caveat Emperor]

Why does it need to be simulcast on TWO networks? It makes absolutely no sense.

Given the prolonged nature of the writers strike, I imagine both networks consider a night of free programing featuring two major east-coast market teams a gift from the gods above.

[blumj]

Why does it need to be simulcast on TWO networks? It makes absolutely no sense.

I'm guessing it's probably because both networks figured they'd do better with the game than whatever crappy rerun they had scheduled.

[sonny]

I think so it would still give one of the local affiliates to broadcast its scheduled game, while allowing the viewr to check out the Pats on the other channel.

[Chip R]

Why does it need to be simulcast on TWO networks? It makes absolutely no sense.

I think because it's an interconference game.

[GaiusBallstar]

I think because it's an interconference game.

No, that would mean Fox would be one of the two, not NBC.

[cumberlandreds]

No, that would mean Fox would be one of the two, not NBC.

I wonder why FOX didn't get a piece of the pie? With the writers strike I'm sure they would have liked some of this action.

[Cyclone792]

I wonder why FOX didn't get a piece of the pie? With the writers strike I'm sure they would have liked some of this action.

My educated guess for the following ...

1) NBC has some sort of flexible scheduling clause, and this clause likely enabled them to grab a piece of the pie for the Saturday night game. I have no idea if this has any bearing on the Colts/Titans game scheduled for Sunday night on NBC though.

2) CBS has rights to games in which an AFC team is the road team, and New England is the road team in this matchup so this is likely what enabled them to grab a piece of the pie.

If the Giants/Patriots game was in New England, then I'm guessing FOX would had rights to the game rather than CBS.

[blumj]

Imagine being the NY and Boston stations who had exclusive local rights to this game? Ouch.

[Yachtzee]

Good. The NFL is trying their damnedest to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Congress needs to knock them down a couple pegs. I wish they'd next force them to offer Sunday Ticket to subscribers outside of DirecTV.

Actually, I think a big part of the reason for the limited reach of Sunday Ticket is actually caused by FOX and CBS not wanting the masses to be able to watch any game they want. CBS in particular gets large kickbacks from local affiliates for local advertising shown during games. If people could watch any game they wanted on cable, fans would no longer be beholden to the local affiliates for their football and local ad rates would suffer, cutting into the revenues of CBS and FOX. You can blame the NFL if you want, but there are other forces in play keeping Sunday Ticket off cable. It doesn't help that the cable companies and the NFL are at war over the NFL Network. If they could reach an agreement on that, then I think the chances of Sunday Ticket coming to cable after the contracts with FOX and CBS expire would be pretty good.

Ideally, Sunday Ticket and NFL network should be available to anyone who wants to pay for it. For one product, you have powerful companies willing to pay to keep it from you. For the other product, you have the league and powerful companies fighting over who should get the bulk of the revenue from that product. There are no innocent parties in these fights, so Congress has no incentive to provide a windfall to one group, cable companies, when they repeatedly engage in antitrust and anti-consumer policies on their own. They can bluster about seeking the best interest of football fans, but really, football fans are so far down on the list of people who need protection in our society that it's really nothing more than bluster.

[Dom Heffner]

but unfortunately does this mean we all will be subjected to Bryant Gumbel???

"Maroney for 3 yards."

"Brandon Jacobs for 4, 5, maybe 6 yards." (which is it?)

He is awful. His play by play is as simple and literal as that.