shmessy

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"They (Patriots) may be the greatest team ever" - Chris Mortenson, January 18, 2005 on espn.com

SamBam39

very interesting.

these are the waters goodell and kraft are playing in, along with global marketing, while scott and bill pile up the lombardi's.

kraft is so ahead of the game in business all the time.

should be interesting to see how it all plays out over time.

ljuneau

Quite an honest perspective. Too bad we can't read articles like this from U.S. media.

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“If you have been voting for politicians who promise to give you goodies at someone else's expense, then you have no right to complain when they take your money and give it to someone else, including themselves.” ~ Thomas Sowell

pheenix11

"More questions arose, such as why US cable subscribers need to pay for so many expensive channels they do not want, why they cannot have à la carte pricing, why certain satellite programming is not made available on cable and so on. It will be surprising if next autumn's coincidence of football season and election season does not produce a candidate eager to tackle these issues."


You know considering that all the candidates will screw you one way or another, I'd probably vote for someone who would force Sunday Ticket to be available on cable.

I mean all the other BS they talk about, I will never see any of it, this would actually be something I could tangibly get a benefit out of.

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DCPatriot

A la carte pricing. Talk about opening pandora's box...both the NFL and the cable companies should beware the law of unintended consequences.

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"My favorite ring will always be the next one" - Tom Brady

Patsfanin Philly

>>>>It was a terrible mistake. Whether or not New England retains a distinct regional culture, it is unquestionably a distinct US sports market - and it is the only one with 12 senators in it.
>>>
In all the talk of the NFLN, that's one point I hadn't seen anywhere but it is pretty relevant. In addition, Sen. Spector is the senator from a state with two teams (pitt, Phil.) that had rabid fans....

PatsWickedPissah

"More questions arose, such as why US cable subscribers need to pay for so many expensive channels they do not want, why they cannot have à la carte pricing, why certain satellite programming is not made available on cable and so on. It will be surprising if next autumn's coincidence of football season and election season does not produce a candidate eager to tackle these issues."

A prime example of the Law of Unintended Consequences. Funny if the NFL network debacle led to a massive cable industry restructuring with a la carte pricing. Given the ability to do video on demand cable companies cannot claim (with a straight face) that it is not technically possible.

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RIP Vince Flynn. Condolences to family and friends.

ClevTrev

Interesting that FT could get to the core issue when so many in the US media put it into a "sports" category which translates into "pay me no mind." The crux of this issue has always been the power the Cables wield when they determine which programs get carried AND produce much of the very programming they carry for free on the basic tier. Produce their own programming, sell commercial time, and then broadcast for free to ensure advertisers maximum bang for the buck. Guess which programs they end up favoring?

Conflict of interest is a major understatement. With many crying "monopoly" in relation to the NFL (when it's obvious those who put the NFL in this category don't understand the term), the Cables hold the cards here as long as they can hold the consumers (fans) hostage by forcing them to buy a premium service with no substitutes to view the game.

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ironwasp

The FT is able to get to the story because it is dispassionate, and to all intents and purposes this is its type of story. For its readers how the internal markets work is very important and it has the reporters and commentators to get to the nub of the issue. For the Globe, the Herald and even the NYT they start with the assumption that all their readers care about is whether or not they can watch the game. I suspect (and I spent 7 years at the FT) the FT assumes its readers don't care, and are more interested in who makes money out of what.

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PatsWickedPissah

Excellent. That was the best, direct and most informative writing I'd seen on the topic. They have no emotional axe to grind.

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RIP Vince Flynn. Condolences to family and friends.