Senators threaten NFL - Yes!

[ClevTrev]

I thought baseball was the only sport that had anti-trust exemption. I think they need to be clear the NFL enjoys anti-trust consideration not exemption.

Good point, and that's why I phrased it "anti-trust" allowances in the case of the NFL, as there is no true profit sharing among teams like MLB. There is a profit sharing agreement with NFL properties that includes merchandise, etc.

Bottom line is that many are jumping to the conclusion that the NFL is the evil partner in this mess. My point is that the Cable Companies control customers programming options, and are unwilling to work with the NFL because of known elasticities of demand typical of the NFL fan. The cable companies know that an NFL broadcast is more valuable to certain fans who might be willing to pay for it. The NFL won't allow them to broadcast it unless they put it in their basic service (non premium) offerings at no additional charge, and the Cables are refusing to do this.

In their infinite wisdom (ha!), the senators should be putting the pressure on the Cable Companies as well.

 

[Charlotte Pats Fan]

Thanks, but my grasp on the situation is perfectly lucid.

My only personal concern in the situation is that the Thursday night thing is going to put a lot of strain on player's health. Period.

As far as pin the tail on the guilty party, there is plenty to go around. I am sure those rich owners feel like they can boss around cable companies, but they probably don't like dem apples when it comes from the gov't.

And of course leave it up to fans to pick sides, as if it sucks that the gov't is getting involved, but it is okay when the NFL is suing cable companies over what cable companies want to do with their own business.

I don't have a horse in this race.

I mean no disrespect but I think you do have a horse in this race. Twice now you have made reference to the "rich owners". Do you think the Cable Companies aren't "Rich"?

 

[Rawky77]

Not for nothing but most games every week are not viewable by 40 percent of the viewing audience.

There are what 22 to 30 games broadcast every week tell me how many can you see on any given Sunday without special high priced access like Sunday ticket?

Think about it, there are only two networks broadcasting on Sunday and they have to show regional action during the 1pm telecast which limits the viewing audience to way less then 40 percent of the market.

That leaves only 4 games per week viewable by more then 40 percent of the viewing market without special added cost access, Sunday Night, if you have cable , Monday Night and the late games at 4pm which may actually reach 40 percent of the viewable market due to the limited number of 4 pm games broadcasting to larger regional audiences.

This rest of the games are confined to smaller regional markets which make up less then 40 percent of the national viewer ship.

The NFL is bringing us games we otherwise could not see on a National basis even if one has to see them on the NFLN for without NFLN these games would most likely have been lumped together with the smaller regional airings at 1pm or 4 pm and thus many of us would not see them anyway.

This really is a bunch of crap as far as i am concerned, nothing but the established media getting their shills in congress to play their tune and attempt to do in an emerging competitive network.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

The Government, particularly Schurmer, is over-stepping its legal bounds here. First and foremost, I can guarantee you that the NFL doesn't make nearly the money the Cable Companies make. Secondly, the cable companies charge EVERYONE for HD programming regardless of whether or not they actually have it. OH... You didn't know that? Hmm.. That's why there was a 15% increase last year in cable prices (on avg.)

There is NO REASON why the Cable companies can't set up NFLN in their "basic" package with the option to OPT out. Its the "ala carte" system. And, unlike the casble companies BS claims, they wouldn't have to raise the rates of ALL their customers.

OH...you would be surprised what I know.

The cable scam is a completely seperate issue. The reason I don't give money to cable companies is because they don't let me pick my programming. So I go to a friend's house if I am going to miss a game, not the end of the world. Unlike a lot of people, I tell ESPN to f#ck off by not sending them money in the first place. I have the money, but chose to spend it elsewhere.

Which, of course, has nothing to do with the NFL's decision to start putting games on Thrusday night, so they can make more money. At the expense of the player's health and with potential playoff implications for those teams that get really screwy schedules.

Saturday through Monday is still pretty much the weekend, Thrusday is mid-week. Not enough time to rest players.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

I mean no disrespect but I think you do have a horse in this race. Twice now you have made reference to the "rich owners". Do you think the Cable Companies aren't "Rich"?

Two seperate issues. There is a reason I removed my cable service a while back, and haven't thought about ESPN since. And that is the cable companies suck.

That has nothing at all to do with the fact that NFL owners have decided that growing their product means sending teams to foreign countries and playing games at odd times during the week. Enough is enough.

Try getting some full time officials to grow the product, so people don't think the game is rigged or at least badly officiated.

 

[DaBruinz]

OH...you would be surprised what I know.

The cable scam is a completely seperate issue. The reason I don't give money to cable companies is because they don't let me pick my programming. So I go to a friend's house if I am going to miss a game, not the end of the world. Unlike a lot of people, I tell ESPN to f#ck off by not sending them money in the first place. I have the money, but chose to spend it elsewhere.

Which, of course, has nothing to do with the NFL's decision to start putting games on Thrusday night, so they can make more money. At the expense of the player's health and with potential playoff implications for those teams that get really screwy schedules.

Saturday through Monday is still pretty much the weekend, Thrusday is mid-week. Not enough time to rest players.

Actually, the cable scam is at the HEART of the issue and I don't understand how you cannot make that connection. Especially if you are actually doing as you claim by not paying for cable and such.


While I agree that the NFL showing games on Thursdays screws with the player's health, that is not the issue being discussed. What is being discussed is the issue of squabbling between the NFL and the Cable Companies (such as Comcrap and Time Warner) over them carrying the NFLN as part of the basic package.

And, no, I wouldn't be surprised by what you didn't know but claimed to.

 

[spacecrime]

I shouldn't have to leave my house to watch my home team, where I been watching them for over 30 years.

You're right. You shouldn't have to raise a friggin' finger to do a thing. You are entitled to everything, free and without effort.

I had a dish but I had to pay for it. Screw that. I'm one of the new bandwagon Pats fans that will only watch the Pats if I don't have to spend a cent. I have no right to even be on this board or even talk about the Pats because I'm a sorry ass Bandwagon lost soul.

You had a couple typos in your post, so I fixed it for you.

 

[Patters]

Yes, let's get the government out of the equation. There should be no anti-trust exemptions for sports. They should be treated like every other industry. Get the government out of sports, and let the free market sort out the mess. (Even Adam Smith recognized that for the free market to function you could not have monopolies.)

 

[DaBruinz]

Two seperate issues. There is a reason I removed my cable service a while back, and haven't thought about ESPN since. And that is the cable companies suck.

That has nothing at all to do with the fact that NFL owners have decided that growing their product means sending teams to foreign countries and playing games at odd times during the week. Enough is enough.

Try getting some full time officials to grow the product, so people don't think the game is rigged or at least badly officiated.

Would you please stop trying to derail the thread? The issues you've mentioned, while legitimate, are NOT the issues being discussed. They are seperate issues and should be discussed in their own seperate threads since they are also very legitimate subjects. But they are INTERNAL subjects and have no bearing on the discussion at hand sinice they are issues between the NFL and NFLPA.

 

[Water Boy]

Sine economics is my business let me educate you a bit. Anti-trust law is to maintain the free market, not destroy it. Exemptions are not good and anti-trust law is not enforced nearly enough.

This was a bad/misleading post by me. I understand that the NFL's antitrust exemption is not "free-market economics". I support the exemption because Its helped make the NFL the most successful sports league in the world.

In terms of the NFL vs the cable companies - I think there is room to let the free market play out here. I dropped cable and got the dish to get NFLN.

 

[DaBruinz]

Yes, let's get the government out of the equation. There should be no anti-trust exemptions for sports. They should be treated like every other industry. Get the government out of sports, and let the free market sort out the mess. (Even Adam Smith recognized that for the free market to function you could not have monopolies.)

WOW.. Patters ventures out of his hidey hole to actually participate in a Football thread.. Oh wait.. there is "politics" involved. That's the real reason he's here.

So, Patters, please let everyone know when you have your own though because this was mentioned previously. You parroting someone else doesn't bring anything to the conversation. Especially since, as someone else pointed out, there are not actually any true anti-trust exemptions for the NFL. Only allowances.

Patters, tell us, what would be the BIGGEST result of the NFL losing its allowances? Do you think it would be the dilution of talent to the point where there is an inferior product being presented? Would anyone ACTUALLY watch an inferior product like that?

Lets look back at the history of the NFL. How many OTHER leagues have attempted to get a foothold through out the years. Heck, there have been 2 since the 80's. and 3 since the 60's. The NFL and AFL ended up merging. The USFL folded because it couldn't compete with the NFL. The XFL folded because it offered an inferior product. It remains to be seen whether Mark Cuban's league gets off the ground and whether that league will be able to draw the type of talent that it will need to compete with the NFL.

 

[godef]

socialism at its worst

It is the NFL that is socialism. How is it socialism when the league tries to force rank and file Americans to pay for it's NFL network whether they watch football or not. And please, none of the "we also pay for CNN", etc, because the NFL wants to charge the cables double what CNN charges. They want to charge the cables a premium price but force they cables to keep their network in a non-premium oackage.

The NFL are the bad guys, and if the government should decide to get off its lazy butt and do something about it, that's good!

 

[frankiesfly]

WHO THE HELL ARE YOU telling him he can't be a Pats fan and live in Charlotte? First and foremost, there are MANY MANY MORE Pats fans living outside New England than there were 10 years ago. I am one of them you sorry arse piece of garbage. And I've been following the Pats since 1982 when I lived in New England. How the hell do you know he didn't to Charlotte from New England?

Its POG fans like yourself who don't deserve to be on this board or talking Patriots. YOU are the sorry arse, Frankie.

Look out everyone it's Mr. Know it all. Da big bad Briuin. Who is probably the biggest Flamer on this board. Ef u you kweer know it all wannabe GM BB owner of the Patriots. Kiss my ass. Seriously if we took a vote I would bet 99.9% of the people here think the same thing. You bandwagoner. What the Bandwagon thing bothered you. You must be one huh to get so offended. You are a total loser, who really doesn't know much about anything but to come to a board and try to manipulate people and question their intelegence. See what the lack of poosie did to ya, or are so old know you been shooting pool with your rope. We don't need you out of town wanna be's who watched a total of 10 Pats games their whole life to come here and act like the Pats GM. You disgust me. I piss on people like you every day. Like I'm pissing right in your face. Later LOSER!!!!!

 

[DaBruinz]

In terms of the NFL vs the cable companies - I think there is room to let the free market play out here. I dropped cable and got the dish to get NFLN.

I believe you are correct. There is PLENTY of room to let the free market play out here.. The problem is that its the CONSUMERS who need to step up and demand that their provider make the changes needed. NOT the government. And its the consumers who need to step and and demand a better product from the NFL (in terms of how games are offered). And its the PLAYERS who need to step up and demand the league change its scheduling practices regarding Thursday games. That is why they have a CBA.

Personally, If a team is going to be forced to play a Thursday game, then it should replace one of their Sunday games. So, in essence, they'd have a long week before and a long week after instead of a real BYE week where they'd have 2 weeks off.

For instance, if the Pats were playing tonight, they would NOT have played this past sunday and would not play this coming sunday.

 

[Patters]

WOW.. Patters ventures out of his hidey hole to actually participate in a Football thread.. Oh wait.. there is "politics" involved. That's the real reason he's here.

Actually I participate in this forum fairly often; it's just you don't post things that interest me. As far as the rest of your post, I'm merely agreeing with those who don't want government involved in the NFL. I think I made my point, and you probably understood it.

 

[godef]

Remind me again why the government has a right to tell the NFL how to run its business?

Oh yeah, that's right...they don't.

Are you kidding me? You have no clue! Understand that the NFL is not business as usual, that it is run as a socialist system, i.e. spreading the TV $$$ evenly to all teams... that is NOT a free market. Yet the govenrment recognizes thats this is required to maintain a competitive league and not destroy the product, so it allows it to go on, but only on the condition that we the people have reasonable access to the game. I could go on, but bottom line is, the government DOES have a right to tell the NFL how to run its business!

Now, you remind me why the NFL has a right to tell cable companies how to run its business.

 

[ljuneau]

It is the NFL that is socialism. How is it socialism when the league tries to force rank and file Americans to pay for it's NFL network whether they watch football or not. And please, none of the "we also pay for CNN", etc, because the NFL wants to charge the cables double what CNN charges. They want to charge the cables a premium price but force they cables to keep their network in a non-premium oackage.

The NFL are the bad guys, and if the government should decide to get off its lazy butt and do something about it, that's good!

Let the NFL charge whatever they want. The free-market system will take care of it's own. You're making the NFL look like the bad guy at the moment, when actually both the NFL and the cable companies are to blame.

Keep government out of this!!! Whenever the government gets involved everyone gets screwed. Our government is slowly turning this nation to a socialist state. It's not a republican or democratic issue, rather a government getting too large and obtaining too much control. Congress needs to concentrate on more important issues, not the NFL Network.

 

[DaBruinz]

Look out everyone it's Mr. Know it all. Da big bad Briuin. Who is probably the biggest Flamer on this board. Ef u you kweer know it all wannabe GM BB owner of the Patriots. Kiss my ass. Seriously if we took a vote I would bet 99.9% of the people here think the same thing. You bandwagoner. What the Bandwagon thing bothered you. You must be one huh to get so offended. You are a total loser, who really doesn't know much about anything but to come to a board and try to manipulate people and question their intelegence. See what the lack of poosie did to ya, or are so old know you been shooting pool with your rope. We don't need you out of town wanna be's who watched a total of 10 Pats games their whole life to come here and act like the Pats GM. You disgust me. I piss on people like you every day. Like I'm pissing right in your face. Later LOSER!!!!!

*ROFLMAO* WOW Frankie... You really told me. NOT. In fact, you just called EVERY SINGLE PATS FAN who happened to move outside of New England, yet still follows the team, that they are BANDWAGON FANS. You just called all the Pats fans who live over-seas losers and Bandwagoners as well. I'm sorry, but they are truer fans than you are. How friggin stupid are you? YOU are the disgusting one here.

Except for 2 seasons when I lived in Germany and had no access to the games, I've watched every Pats game that wasn't blacked out since 1982 . I can and DO question the intelligence of a piece of garbage like yourself who is the one who CLEARLY doens't know SH!T and is the type of fan that REAL FANS despise.

Frankie, you went out of your way to blatantly attack another fan and then you throw your little temper tantrum because you get called out on it. That shows the kind of person YOU are.

 

[ljuneau]

the government DOES have a right to tell the NFL how to run its business!

Now, you remind me why the NFL has a right to tell cable companies how to run its business.

God bless America! With this type of attitude, our government will be controlling every aspect of our lives. What you are describing is, from a historical perspective, how Nazi Germany was born.

 

[DaBruinz]

Actually I participate in this forum fairly often; it's just you don't post things that interest me. As far as the rest of your post, I'm merely agreeing with those who don't want government involved in the NFL. I think I made my point, and you probably understood it.

That's just it. You only parroted someone else. You didn't actually make a point. That's why I asked you questions. As usual, though, you duck them. Keep up the good work.