WCVB in court today over simulcast

[QuiGon]

Hey, if the NFL lost its exemption, we could start a franchise among ourselves, and when the NFL teams refused to play us, we could sue them for collusion.

And ya know what happened to the last organization that sued the NFL for collusion..? They won. One dollar.

 

[OtisCampbell]

The NFL ticket package doesn't affect the Over the Air broadcast of NFL games at all. The local teams are still shown on thier respective local channels over the air and they are blacked out locally on the ticket. I don't see how the contracts with the over the air companies would affect the NFL marketing the ticket to the other cable companies at all. I don't remember exactly what the article I read said on this subject, and I'm way to lazy to go looking for it, but I seem to recall the reasoning in continuing the exclusive contract with Directv was a direct result of the cable companies not wanting to comply with the NFL's directives on how it is carried.

You could be right, but I thought I read that football drives the ratings of the local stations in the fall and they claim that the ratings could be diluted if fans watched out of market games instead of the local ones. Of course, there is a lot of hot air being blown by everyone connected with the business, so its hard to know who to believe sometimes.

 

[pats1]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nflnetworkflap&prov=ap&type=lgns

Local TV stations in Boston, New York talking to NFL about contractual issues
By RACHEL COHEN, AP Sports Writer
December 27, 2007

NEW YORK (AP) -- Three local TV stations thought they had one of the NFL's biggest games all to themselves. When the potentially historic Patriots-Giants matchup landed on their competitors, too, they accused the league of violating their contracts.

The NFL and the stations were "working through contractual issues" on Thursday, league spokesman Greg Aiello said.

 

[upstater1]

And ya know what happened to the last organization that sued the NFL for collusion..? They won. One dollar.

That's right!

But they DID win.

 

[Charlotte Pats Fan]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nflnetworkflap&prov=ap&type=lgns

I see CBS and NBC didn't miss a chance to stick it to the NFL.

The game would not be blacked out on CBS and NBC in the Boston and New York areas.

"We inquired about that, but CBS and NBC said it didn't work for them; they needed to clear the game nationally or it didn't work," Aiello said.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

I doubt investors are watching Super Bowl commercials for ideas about investing their money.

it was just a point, but i think the investors are actually at the game.

 

[PATSNUTme]

It's not all games. It's one game. Just like the networks aren't bound to show every political debate, just the main presidential ones.

The NFL is also absolutely bound bound to show a big majority of its games for free. Once it moves to pay-per-view, it loses it's anti-trust exemption. The NFL realizes this, and even the spokesman this week acknowledged it.

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 passed by Teddy Roosevelt went into effect to prevent groups such as the NFL from acting as monopolies. Effectively, if the Senators used the provisions of the bill against the NFL, they would force the NFL to break up into competing corporations, each team making its own sponsorship deal, and new teams seeking to start franchises would also have that opportunity.

The Sports Broadcast Act of 1961 is the one that establishes that groups such as the NFL that wish to retain their exemption must serve the public interest. The burden of proof for violating this criteria is not that hard to meet. It simply has to be shown that there is a public interest "rationale" that is being violated.

Here is where you are wrong. Football games are NOT in the "public interest". The public may be interested but "public interest" does not mean sporting events.

Besides anyone can start a new football league. It's been tried 4 times that I know of. Three of those leagues have failed and one merged with the NFL. You don't have the "right" to succeed.

 

[IcyPatriot]

"Manny Ortez" ... tells you all you need to know about this one.

 

[upstater1]

Here is where you are wrong. Football games are NOT in the "public interest". The public may be interested but "public interest" does not mean sporting events.

Besides anyone can start a new football league. It's been tried 4 times that I know of. Three of those leagues have failed and one merged with the NFL. You don't have the "right" to succeed.

Read the act. You have to show a "public interest rationale." You think it's only New England Democrats such as Leahy and Kerry who are willing to provide that rationale? No, it's also Republicans such as Specter and McCain who were also on that committee when the GOP controlled congress, and they too were willing to provide that rationale. I'm not making this political. I'm just pointing out that our Senators will try to reach that threshold.

I don't believe the NFL will want to test them either. Why? Because the only reason exemptions are given in the first place is when private/corporate entities can prove that they provide a benefit to the public interest. If, as you argue, football games are not in the public interest, then the NFL should be stripped of its antitrust exemption. That's how it works.

As for other leagues competing with the NFL, the NFL is not like baseball which has a blanket antitrust exemption across every phase of its operations. The NFL's antitrust exemption applies only to TV and broadcast rights.

 

[fair catch fryar]

Good job by the Government Threaten the NFL with congressional hearings and than Eff up the free market by penalizing the people who did the right thing (WCVB ,etc) But it's all good for the lazy, whiners they get to watch the Pats for free.

I'm a little confused by this statement. Could you please clarify who exactly the "lazy whiners are that get to watch the Pats for free?" By the sounds of it, it sounds like you're calling everyone that didn't have the ability to watch the game before the NFL's decision to simulcast the "lazy whiners?"

 

[DaBruinz]

I'd love to hear your version of the Mortgage Crisis. What do you believe to be the truth?

There is no crisis. There is just a bunch of idiots who didn't understand what an adjustable rate mortgage would do. And there are a bunch of idiots at the banks that over-extended themselves giving out millions of dollars in loans which they knew would be defaulted on and they figured they could easiler re-sell the property. What they didn't know is that, by doing so, they'd hurt the economy in the long run because they are losing money hand over fist on the foreclosures.

 

[DaBruinz]

Socialism isn't stupid at all. Go donate to ron paul some more and caress your copy of the constitution you bought in philly for 2 dollars.

True socialism is VERY stupid. Why don't you move to China if you want socialism?

 

[DaBruinz]

I don't believe the NFL is willing to expand the Sunday Ticket beyond Direct TV - their deals with the broadcast networks preclude it. They will not offer it to cable or the other satellite provider. I know Dish Network would gladly take it on the same terms.

This is false. DirecTV offered up $700 million a year to broadcast NFL Direct Ticket. Dish Network wasn't even half that number.

The NFL DID put it out for bid to all the cable companies. Again, none of them could/would match what DirecTV offered.

 

[DaBruinz]

Please tell me how they are free?

They are free to the people in the local areas as regulated by the FCC.

I pay for direct tv, then i have to pay extra for HD

I ordered the Sunday Ticket(2nd yr in a row) then I bought an HD tv in week 3. I had to pay an extra 100 to get Sunday ticket in HD.

That is your CHOICE. You don't HAVE to pay for DirecTV and you don't HAVE to live outside the broadcast area of the local games

Now for NBC, CBS, Fox games they are not commercial free. Every single citizen pays for the NFL partly by buying those advertising products. Beer anyone? I'm forced to watch 100 Peyton commercials.

Everyone pays for ALL the advertising when they buy products. It doesn't matter if its while watching football or anything else. However, NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC and the WB can be found without having cable or direcTV in most areas.

If the games were commercial free it would be a different story.

No it wouldn't. Please show me where it says that the games have to be commercial free to be considered FREE of charge?

 

[DaBruinz]

huh? his contention is that it is free tv and there really isn't such a thing as free tv. virtually every product(unless you buy all generic) has a portion allocated to advertising.

what kind of car do you drive?

wow.. talk about taking this to the asinine level.

Yes, you INDIRECTLY pay to watch TV. But you do not DIRECTLY pay for it. Just like you don't directly pay for the roads, unless you are on a TOLL road. Its paid for, indrectly, through the taxes on fuel and through your property, income and sales taxes.

Its called Capitalism.

 

[BTTA]

True socialism is VERY stupid. Why don't you move to China if you want socialism?

China isn't a socialist country, nor is any other country in the world.

 

[DaBruinz]

China isn't a socialist country, nor is any other country in the world.

Really? No country in the world is socialist? I'm going to love to hear the explanation on that one.

 

[Charlotte Pats Fan]

I'm a little confused by this statement. Could you please clarify who exactly the "lazy whiners are that get to watch the Pats for free?" By the sounds of it, it sounds like you're calling everyone that didn't have the ability to watch the game before the NFL's decision to simulcast the "lazy whiners?"

How do you think Kerry and Leahy became aware of this issue? Politicians for the most part don't do anything without Public Opionion in their favor. There were enough complaints from the "lazy whiners' to justify in their minds their threats to the NFL. I am under the impression that while only 40% of the cable systems carry the NFL network if a non-lazy whiner really wanted the NFLN they could actually purchase a satellite which would cover the entire USA including Alaska and Hi and it has the NFLN.

 

[EasyMac]

How do you think Kerry and Leahy became aware of this issue? Politicians for the most part don't do anything without Public Opionion in their favor. There were enough complaints from the "lazy whiners' to justify in their minds their threats to the NFL. I am under the impression that while only 40% of the cable systems carry the NFL network if a non-lazy whiner really wanted the NFLN they could actually purchase a satellite which would cover the entire USA including Alaska and Hi and it has the NFLN.

So choosing to not have NFLN makes me a lazy whiner? I don't think so. I did no whining... instead I found someone who was "smart" enough to PAY and invited myself to their house for the game.

But now I get to stay home!

 

[Charlotte Pats Fan]

So choosing to not have NFLN makes me a lazy whiner? I don't think so. I did no whining... instead I found someone who was "smart" enough to PAY and invited myself to their house for the game.
But now I get to stay home!

I would guess that excludes you from being a "lazy whiner" but it does make you an "intruding freeloader" JK