Week 17 NFL Network game

[ironwasp]

You all need to move to the UK, and can come and watch it at my house. Will be nice to have some company for a change watching NFL. The game will be shown live on satellite television here - or if it is not (and those schedules are yet to be published, it will be available along with every other non-televised game of the weekend on the Yahoo! NFL Game pass, a brilliant system that is not available in the US.) It's one of the vagaries of the system that Pats fans in the UK, Germany or wherever can see games live that Pats fans in Texas and New Jersey cannot.

Of course the downside is that you'll have to sit up between 1.15am and 4.30am to do so. You can't have everything, I guess.

 

[nukin]

I live in Delaware... planning on watching the game at my favorite bar at the university of delaware :bricks:

 

[pwes]

I'll be watching the game at home in Kentucky. I honestly think it is a shame that most of the country might miss the perfect regular season game. However if this team somehow loses between now and then it won't matter. It'll just be another game to the rest of the country. I doubt they'd move the game even if they had the chance. Some fans may be desperate enough to subscribe to the network just to see it thus making them more money in the process.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

I'm in CA and plan on watching the game at the bar I usually catch the Pats.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Philadelphia, Pa. I'm fortunate enough to have DirecTV and the NFL Network. If I'm not mistaken isn't the Cowboys-Packers game also on NFLN? That would be a huge draw to a national audience....
I wonder if the NFL isn't waiting to see the reaction before instituting a long term plan to put all games on pay cable and away from free tv.......

 

[patchick]

Here's a point to ponder for the NFL:

When I was a kid, the Red Sox were my first love and the Patriots came second. I watched the Sox as often as my parents would let me. But that started to change when I was in high school -- year by year baseball receded and football took over until you find me here today, years later: a moderator on a Pats board who never watches baseball.

What happened in high school to set me on this path to righteousness?

NESN.

Red Sox games moved to pay cable -- first just half of them, eventually all. My parents weren't about to shell out for it. I was heartbroken at first, but eventually just got more and more distanced from the team. So yoo-hoo, NFL! Your product is the ONLY thing I watch on television! I'm not willing to shell out more than my $9.95/wk for ultra-basic cable. But take a look at all the Patriots gear my kids and I are sporting and you'll discover we're pretty valuable customers. Don't send us packing.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Seacoast NH

Too far from Boston for OTA but Comcast carries NFL network but in an extra $ tier. I will not pay another dime to Comcast. NFLN charges extra for their network and the cable boys mark it up and pass it on. We need cable a la carte, but that's another topic.

My options are (1) noisy Sports Bar with calories from too much faty food and drink I don't need in my ripped bod, (2) Drive to daughter's house in MA and watch OTA, (3) Listen to Gil & Geno on the Patriots Radio Network. I may just listen to the game, reminiscing about the old days when most Pats home games were blacked out. Of course back then I'd walk up on game day and pay face value at most for a ticket.

-phil, fomerly from Sudbury MA...Smerlas country

 

[elandadem]

I live in Albuquerque, NM and have Comcast. I will have to watch the game at a friend's house. I see no end in sight to this ridiculous conundrum. The NFL and the cable companies are in a contest to see who has the biggest and shiniest brass ones. Each side cannot lose. I won't refuse to watch the NFL (especially the Pats) and I won't cancel my cable (because DSL in my neighborhood is tediously slow), so they both have me over the proverbial barrel.

The last thing I want, however, is for the government to get involved - who knows what they would come up with (e.g. "The FCC hereby decrees that: Henceforth every man must verifiably watch 4 hours per week of 'The View'. There will be a quiz before access to each NFL game is permitted.")

 

[SoCal Bong]

Our Patriots Fan Club here in Orange County, CA go to a sports for every game but the turnout doubles when the game is not on TV.

I switched to DirecTV two years ago primarily because NFL Network is included but do not subscribe to NFL Ticket since we watch every game at the sports bar.

 

[Water Boy]

Worcester,MA
Charter Cable
NFLN is not available to me because my cable company wanted to charge its customers a fee above and beyond the premium channel tier that they offer, I believe it was 9.95/mth and the NFLN didnt want them to so they pulled it from charters broadcasting options.

I'm in Belchertown which is also serviced by Charter. Needless to say, I switched to Direct TV before the start of the season.

 

[Live Pats or Die]

Southern NH. Have Comcast and am paying for NFLN. Got it free for the first year, then Comcast changed the plan.

What Comcast and other cable companies are doing is a joke. They say that they don't want all of their non-NFL fans to have to pay for a channel that they don't want to view. Yet my cable lineup is literally 90% filled with channels I never watch. I guarantee that Comcast is paying a per-subscriber fee to at least some of those companies (CNBC, e.g.). Their argument doesn't hold water.

For the NFL, this is a best-case scenario. What better way to get subscribers - even begrudgingly - than to be broadcasting what might be the biggest regular season game ever. They will probably buffer it with the best programming they have available as well (America's Game, etc.).

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

Hi there,

this is Tim Lemke and I am a sports business reporter with The Washington Times in D.C.

sorry to crash your board, but I am hoping to speak with some Pats fans about the league's decision to schedule the team's final game on the NFL Network. As you may know, the NFL Network isn't available to many cable subscribers, so there is the potential that the Pats final game won't be seen by a lot of fans, even if the team is looking to finish 16-0.

If you live in the Boston area, you'll get the game on over the air television. But if you live outside that market, you may be out of luck. I'd love to talk to some out-of-market Pats fans to get their thoughts on how they plan to watch the game if it's not available on their cable system. I'd also love to get some opinion on whether you think the league should move the game off of NFL Network to another broadcaster so the game can be seen nationally.

If you want to weigh in, I can be reached directly today at 202/636-3150 or tlemke [at] washingtontimes.com

Thanks for your time.
-Tim

I live in Florida and get the NFLN, but if I did not, I would do what I used to do back in the days of Rod Rust and the 1-15 Pats of 1990, who were never - and I mean NEVER - on TV, except when they played the Dolphins down here.

I would load up a couple of stogies and head north to Delray Beach to a little ocean-side joint called "Boston's on the Beach", the ONLY real place for Sox, Celtics, Pats fans to gather around here.

They have a replica Green Monster with the scoreboard stuck on the 1967 Impossible Dream team's final game vs. Minnesota that put the Sox in the World Series. They have Pats, Celtics, Bruins, BC and New England sports memorabilia all over the joint.

Highly unsubstantiated rumor (based on the lemming that told it to me!) has it Myra Kraft once brought the Lombardi from the Rams Super Bowl there and put it on the bar and let the patrons take pictures with it, etc. Myra loves antiques and shops for them frequently along Worth Avenue in Palm Beach.

This is the best pub in SoFla to find good old crusty Bostonians to shoot the she-ite with you watch the game.

And they play Dropkick's start to finish every Sunday!

"Shipping Up To Boston", baby!

A classic joint!

Armen Da Pats Fan

(Heck, I might go anyway!)

 

[Mikman]

I live in Belgium and will watch the game on NASN. It costs me 15 Euro/m though.

Pretty strange NFL Network can be watched in most European countries but not in big parts of the US.

 

[Real World]

Tim, the NFL Network can bl** us all. Those greedy, selfish, corporate MF'ers won't get a dime from me.

 

[Seymour93]

I'm in Texas obviously. I have DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket because I don't want to miss one Patriots game. It's also nice to have Sunday Ticket when the Pats aren't playing because you're able to flip around through a host of games. I have no problem with Sunday Ticket and I would recommend any Pats fan living outside of NE to get it.

As for the NFL Network (it comes with the basic package on DirecTV), I don't watch it much besides when it comes draft time because I think their draft coverage is far superior to ESPN's. I believe the owners created it because they want to control as much of the media coverage around their sport as possible. No doubt it screws the common fan, who doesn't have DirecTV or a cable provider with NFLN, however for those NFL fans who have DirecTV it could be a blessing for them as NFLN does have some excellent original programming such as NFL Replay, NFL Classics (which even airs Super Bowls in their original formats), and the aformentioned draft coverage.

The problem with moving the Pats-Giants game or the Packers-Cowboys game off NFLN is it jeopardizes the carefully negotiated half-billion and billion dollar contracts the league has with CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN. If you were to move the game to whichever network, then that network who got the game would basically get it for free since they did not pay for it in the contracts. This would ensue with complaints from the other networks who were unfortunate in not receiving a free, high profile, primetime game. The only games that can be moved are the "flex" games which are originally scheduled for 1:00 or 4:00 and they are moved to Sunday Night. There's no other way to move the NFLN game unless the owners meet and vote to change the rules. I believe the next owners' meeting is in the spring.

The first network contract expires in 2011. Now once the next round of negotiating comes, I hope the league scraps the NFLN games. I'm not in favor of screwing over that many fans just to promote a network that is basically avaliable only on satellite. Leave the NFLN for junkies who want that extra bit of coverage. But until 2011, there is nothing anyone can do.

 

[NEPatriot]

I'm pissed. I'm working in San Diego and due to the neighborhood that I live in, I'm forced to subscribe to Time Warmer which won't carry the NFL network. I've written Time Warner several times, with just a form response. Hopefully, one of the local bars will have the last game.

 

[captain stone]

Both Hershey PA (our permanent residence) and Baltimore MD (our temporary residence) are Comcast territory. To receive the tier that includes the NFLN, we would have to pay an extra $45/mo. No thanks.

If the NEP are 15-0, and the Giants game has not been moved to basic cable or over-the air, then I will drive from Baltimore to Alexandria VA, and watch history in the making at Murphy's in Old Town. Unless we're in MA for the holidays.

 

[mgteich]

Southern NH
Comcast - yes
NFLN - yes

My wife and I do watch some of the other channels in the tier with NFLN. I would subscribe even if it was the only channel in the tier. NFLN is a fine product. In any case, I don't think I have a right to every game in every sport for free.

-----------------------
I will be moving South in a year or so. We will switch to Direct TV.

 

[ALP]

I live around Orlando, in FL.

I moved down here about 2 years ago from Boston Area. I hate how I will miss this game, completely hate it.

I will NEVER however switch to NFLN, not even if its to see my Patriots be the first team in NFL history to go 16-0. I will NOT do it.

My plans? I have no idea. I guess I'll just go to someplace where they have the games on and watch there, b/c otherwise I will not watch the game, and I cannot allow that. I will defenetely NOT miss the game, and will NOT buy NFLN. I dont know ANYONE who has NFLN, so I will just go to a public area, use up gas, extra time, with the incovinience, and watch my beloved Patriots there.

And NFLN can go to hell. {You have permission to use that last line if you really want to by the way}

 

[vapatsfan]

I live in VA, so I purchased DirecTV and the Ticket for this reason. Usually, it helps to get 8-10 Pats game that wouldn't be on down here, although this year it feels like I could have watched every game without the ticket except week 17. It is worth the purchase, though, and I'll be able to watch the NYG game from the comfort of my couch.