NFL Network - Guess The NFL Could Care Less About The Fans
ctsoxfan
Posts: 6,246 ✭✭
in Sports Talk
It's pretty hard to make the cable companies look like good guys, but the NFL is doing it. If the NFL gets their way you'll be paying money every month to watch a few live games on their network.
I am glad the cable companies are not giving in and paying the NFL, but while this goes on, fans keep missing games - like the Atlanta / Dallas game last night. Most of the other games were duds anyway (and the rest are, from what I can see), but I would have liked to have watched this one.
I am glad the cable companies are not giving in and paying the NFL, but while this goes on, fans keep missing games - like the Atlanta / Dallas game last night. Most of the other games were duds anyway (and the rest are, from what I can see), but I would have liked to have watched this one.
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Unfortunately, I have a dish and I was forced to watch the NFL Network. Last night, while the Falcons and Cowboys were duking it out, it might have looked like I was getting my moneys worth and enjoying the game, but deep down inside, I was really really sad for being taken advantage of by the evil NFL.
GO MARLINS! Home of the best fans in baseball!!
<< <i>Paying 50 cents a month to watch football 24 hours a day, including the live games is just outrageous in my opinion. I think we fans have to take a stand against this sort of greed. I mean, 50 cents a month? That's almost 2 cents a day! I know I watch the NFL Network more than just about any other channel, but that's besides the point! I don't think it's fair that I have to pay an extra $6 a year to watch the NFL when I am already forced to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars a year for channels I never watch on my cable or dish provider.
Unfortunately, I have a dish and I was forced to watch the NFL Network. Last night, while the Falcons and Cowboys were duking it out, it might have looked like I was getting my moneys worth and enjoying the game, but deep down inside, I was really really sad for being taken advantage of by the evil NFL.
<< <i>Paying 50 cents a month to watch football 24 hours a day, including the live games is just outrageous in my opinion. I think we fans have to take a stand against this sort of greed. I mean, 50 cents a month? That's almost 2 cents a day! I know I watch the NFL Network more than just about any other channel, but that's besides the point! I don't think it's fair that I have to pay an extra $6 a year to watch the NFL when I am already forced to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars a year for channels I never watch on my cable or dish provider.
Unfortunately, I have a dish and I was forced to watch the NFL Network. Last night, while the Falcons and Cowboys were duking it out, it might have looked like I was getting my moneys worth and enjoying the game, but deep down inside, I was really really sad for being taken advantage of by the evil NFL.
I just want to watch football - but I don't think it's 50 cents a month that they want. Here's what Time Warner Cable has to say:
Time Warner Cable wants to carry the NFL Network on our cable systems and be fair to all of our customers – those who are football fans and those who are not. Therefore:
The price must be fair for the value of the NFL Network
The NFL Network is demanding to be paid $137 million for 8 games.
The NFL Network wants all Time Warner Cable customers to pay a price that is greater than some of the most popular cable networks.
The NFL Network is not one of the top 25 cable networks, according to independent cable ratings systems.
We would like to include the NFL Network in a sports package, along with NBA-TV, Tennis Channel, CSTV (College Sports Television), the Fox Sports digital networks, Fuel, the Outdoor Channel and other specialty sports programming networks.
This would allow all of our customers to get the NFL Network if they wanted to without requiring all customers to pay for this expensive programming. We think that is fair for sports fans and for those who are not.
Time Warner Cable offers a digital sports package in most markets.
There's more here - NFL Get Real
They have a point, IMO - and it's not often I would think of saying that about cable companies.
Comcast might have it on digital but I don't have that and quite frankly don't want to pay for it just so I can watch 8 extra games
a season (not interested in movies on digital either, just don't have the time watch movies anyway).
So..... unless it shows up in the basic tier I will have to miss the games or hang out at a sports bar that has it.
I would gladly exchange the golf channel (ugh) which I do have for the NFL network.
Bosox1976
Anyway, here's the NFL Network's view.
•Over 170 cable companies as well as Dish Network and DIRECTV offer NFL Network without charging extra for it. If they can carry the channel and do not pass along costs, your cable provider can too.
• NFL Network is not trying to charge consumers money; in fact we are working hard for just the opposite.
•We have been working hard to ensure these games are presented as part of your basic cable lineup like popular channels MTV, TNT, USA and ESPN without ANY additional costs being passed along to you.
YOUR CABLE COMPANY WANTS TO CHARGE YOU MORE MONEY
•Your cable company wants to put NFL Network on a specialty premium package and charge you up to $10 a month or $120 a year extra to see it.
•NFL Network asks the cable company for less than ONE movie ticket per year per subscriber to carry our channel.
•Your cable company is looking to charge you up to 24 times more than what they pay for NFL Network!
•This is why we have resisted. It is not in your best interest. And remember, over 170 cable companies offer NFL Network without charging their customers extra for it. If they can carry the channel and not pass along costs, yours can too.
•Did your cable company inform you that in exchange for carrying NFL Network they receive 300 hours of advertising time on NFL Network? They get to sell commercials on NFL Network, including during our live highly-rated NFL games and keep ALL the revenue from those ad sales? This ensures you the consumer does not have to have costs passed along. The cable company can offset the costs we charge them by selling advertising. This is how 170 other cable companies are doing it so you don’t have to be charged extra.
ONLY CUSTOMERS WHO WANT THE CHANNEL SHOULD PAY FOR IT
•Your cable company says it thinks only the people who want the channel should have to pay for it. This is not how they package their programming to you, is it? You get a whole bunch of channels you don’t want or aren’t interested in. Why are they trying to discriminate against NFL Network and treat our channel differently? We just asked to be treated in the same manner they treat other channels, and especially channels your cable company owns itself.
•NFL games are the most popular programming cable companies can offer bar none. Ratings for NFL games rank as 90 of the top 100 most popular shows on cable in history. As such, if more people watch it, shouldn’t more people have the option of seeing it?
GO MARLINS! Home of the best fans in baseball!!
<< <i>It seems to me like the only one who benefits from this "NFL Network" is the NFL themselves. They have siphoned off 8 games (maybe more next year?) that I used to be part of regular TV packages, and now want to lock up another source of revenue for themselves with them. Who cares about the few dollars per month, really? But, why does the NFL Network rate up there with ESPN, MSNBC, and other more established channels - especially when, after these few games, who is going to watch this network in the spring or summer? >>
So who benefits with the Red Sox games being on NESN? Who benefits from the Yankee games being shown mostly on the YES Network instead of "free" tv?
Of course the NFL wants their network to become a viable entity. Are we suppose to act shocked that a business wants to make money?
As a consumer, I LOVE the NFL Network. I love the games, I love the round the clock coverage, and I even love the Scouting Combine during the off-season. If you have such a problem with the NFL Network, maybe it's better off you don't get its programming.
Thank God I don't have Time Warner. I don't know how I'd be able to put up with their BS about why they're not providing me with the NFL Network when my friends across the country get to enjoy the games on their basic programming on cable or satellite.
GO MARLINS! Home of the best fans in baseball!!
<< <i>It seems to me like the only one who benefits from this "NFL Network" is the NFL themselves. They have siphoned off 8 games (maybe more next year?) that I used to be part of regular TV packages, and now want to lock up another source of revenue for themselves with them. Who cares about the few dollars per month, really? But, why does the NFL Network rate up there with ESPN, MSNBC, and other more established channels - especially when, after these few games, who is going to watch this network in the spring or summer? >>
I watch NFL Network more than I watch ESPN, MSNBC or any other "established" cable channels...In fact, the games are simply an added bonus, as I already got all the games with the NFL Sunday Ticket in the past. The best part about the Network is what it provides OTHER THAN the games. And it's just as good in the off-season as it is during the regular season.
If you are a true football fan and do not have this channel, you are doing yourself a dis-service. Honeslty, shouldn't you already have DirecTV for the Sunday Ticket package anyway??? lolol...
If I were hurting for money, I would turn off my cell phone before I would turn off my Sunday Ticket package...
Just my opinion of course,
Jason
according to my values and my needs. Nothing holds dominion over me, I stand alone as the ruler of my life.
<< <i>Spin it any way you want. Think it'll stop at just 50 cents if people keep laying down like lambs and pay it? The NFL isn't evil of course as we know, but they are getting way too greedy! How many f*ing homes, cars, and boats can Jerry Jones buy? It's time for fans to say enough is enough. >>
The last time I checked, nobody was forcing anyone to watch NFL games.
Anyway, hope you keep us posted as to how your boycott of the NFL goes!
GO MARLINS! Home of the best fans in baseball!!
<< <i>They have siphoned off 8 games (maybe more next year?) that I used to be part of regular TV packages, and now want to lock up another source of revenue for themselves with them. >>
Correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that the NFLN games are NOT a part of the regular TV package.
In other words, you aren't losing any games if you don't get the NFL Network. For example, we normally got 2 games on Thanksgiving but NFLN added an additional game, for a total of 3.
<< <i>In other words, you aren't losing any games if you don't get the NFL Network. For example, we normally got 2 games on Thanksgiving but NFLN added an additional game, for a total of 3. >>
Actually, there are takeaways. It used to be that the NFL scheduled several Saturday afternoon games on network television after the end of the college football regular season.
That is no more, replaced by a Thursday night game and a Saturday night game only on NFLN. So people watching only network TV *are* losing games -- the Saturday afternoon games in December which have been taken away from "free" network television (and the basic cable tier).
However, Time Warner is in the wrong, in my humble opinion. Just re-look at DBH's bullet points...
This one makes the most sense:
<< <i>And remember, over 170 cable companies offer NFL Network without charging their customers extra for it. If they can carry the channel and not pass along costs, yours can too. >>
<< <i>
<< <i>Spin it any way you want. Think it'll stop at just 50 cents if people keep laying down like lambs and pay it? The NFL isn't evil of course as we know, but they are getting way too greedy! How many f*ing homes, cars, and boats can Jerry Jones buy? It's time for fans to say enough is enough. >>
The last time I checked, nobody was forcing anyone to watch NFL games.
Anyway, hope you keep us posted as to how your boycott of the NFL goes!
That's right...as much as I enjoy the NFL, I will boycott paying the additional fees...Jerry Jones already has enough money...he doesn't need any more!
<< <i>And remember, over 170 cable companies offer NFL Network without charging their customers extra for it. If they can carry the channel and not pass along costs, yours can too. >>
Maybe. But the reality is that there will be price hikes in the future for most of those 170; they won't absorb the added cost of carrying NFL on the basic tier without price increases forever.
We have DirecTV, so it doesn't affect me, but I'd say both sides need to be locked in a room, fed nothing but beans and cabbage and forced to remain there until they reach a compromise solution.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Spin it any way you want. Think it'll stop at just 50 cents if people keep laying down like lambs and pay it? The NFL isn't evil of course as we know, but they are getting way too greedy! How many f*ing homes, cars, and boats can Jerry Jones buy? It's time for fans to say enough is enough. >>
The last time I checked, nobody was forcing anyone to watch NFL games.
Anyway, hope you keep us posted as to how your boycott of the NFL goes!
That's right...as much as I enjoy the NFL, I will boycott paying the additional fees...Jerry Jones already has enough money...he doesn't need any more! >>
Just a quick analogy. Bill Gates at one time proposed a fee on all e-mails. The people got angry and said "No" so no e-mail fee was ever imposed.
You're not getting it...this isn't about adding fees to make for a better product...this is purely about greed, plain & simple. You wanna lay down like a lamb then that's your prerogative.
<< <i>Just a quick analogy. Bill Gates at one time proposed a fee on all e-mails. The people got angry and said "No" so no e-mail fee was ever imposed. >>
The last time I checked, Bill Gates and Microsoft did not "own" email. He can propose whatever he wants, but I can still use Yahoo or my ISP for email. Also, you have the option of using the free services like Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo, or opt to pay for premium email services that allow for larger file attachments, more gigs to hold more email, etc.
If you want the free NFL, you can still tune into Fox, CBS or NBC. You won't have to pay a cent.
If you want to watch more games, you pay for NFL Sunday Ticket or cable so you can get ESPN and the NFL Network.
What the NFL is doing (by putting certain games on cable or satellite) is nothing new. Major league baseball has most of their regional games broadcast by local cable companies and ESPN, TBS and other Fox Sports entities. Depending on your market, the same is true for the NBA and NHL. The NFL has been on ESPN for more than a decade. You're NOW getting mad about having a game moved to cable?
At least you get the NFL playoffs on network television. MLB and the NBA show most of their playoffs on TNT, ESPN and the Fox or ABC Family Channel or whatever it's called.
GO MARLINS! Home of the best fans in baseball!!
<< <i>Just a quick analogy. Bill Gates at one time proposed a fee on all e-mails. The people got angry and said "No" so no e-mail fee was ever imposed. >>
A $0.02 "stamp" per email would have been a god send. Instead with the "free" system we are left with UBE, phishers, and dozens of other miscreants.
<< <i>
<< <i>Just a quick analogy. Bill Gates at one time proposed a fee on all e-mails. The people got angry and said "No" so no e-mail fee was ever imposed. >>
The last time I checked, Bill Gates and Microsoft did not "own" email. He can propose whatever he wants, but I can still use Yahoo or my ISP for email. Also, you have the option of using the free services like Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo, or opt to pay for premium email services that allow for larger file attachments, more gigs to hold more email, etc.
If you want the free NFL, you can still tune into Fox, CBS or NBC. You won't have to pay a cent.
If you want to watch more games, you pay for NFL Sunday Ticket or cable so you can get ESPN and the NFL Network.
What the NFL is doing (by putting certain games on cable or satellite) is nothing new. Major league baseball has most of their regional games broadcast by local cable companies and ESPN, TBS and other Fox Sports entities. Depending on your market, the same is true for the NBA and NHL. The NFL has been on ESPN for more than a decade. You're NOW getting mad about having a game moved to cable?
At least you get the NFL playoffs on network television. MLB and the NBA show most of their playoffs on TNT, ESPN and the Fox or ABC Family Channel or whatever it's called. >>
DBH - point taken and understood. My major point was if it takes extra fees to improve the product in some way, then that's fine with me. Of course I still have the option with any product to take it or leave it. It just bugs me when I see super rich NFL owners tacking on additional fees for what simply appears to be pure greed.
While the NFL doesn't fit the technical definition of a monopoly, in some respects to good football fans it is a monopoly - and in my opinion they are getting greedy in that aspect as does often happen when there are monopolies in the marketplace, which is why there are federal laws against certain types of monopolies.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Just a quick analogy. Bill Gates at one time proposed a fee on all e-mails. The people got angry and said "No" so no e-mail fee was ever imposed. >>
The last time I checked, Bill Gates and Microsoft did not "own" email. He can propose whatever he wants, but I can still use Yahoo or my ISP for email. Also, you have the option of using the free services like Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo, or opt to pay for premium email services that allow for larger file attachments, more gigs to hold more email, etc.
If you want the free NFL, you can still tune into Fox, CBS or NBC. You won't have to pay a cent.
If you want to watch more games, you pay for NFL Sunday Ticket or cable so you can get ESPN and the NFL Network.
What the NFL is doing (by putting certain games on cable or satellite) is nothing new. Major league baseball has most of their regional games broadcast by local cable companies and ESPN, TBS and other Fox Sports entities. Depending on your market, the same is true for the NBA and NHL. The NFL has been on ESPN for more than a decade. You're NOW getting mad about having a game moved to cable?
At least you get the NFL playoffs on network television. MLB and the NBA show most of their playoffs on TNT, ESPN and the Fox or ABC Family Channel or whatever it's called. >>
DBH - point taken and understood. My major point was if it takes extra fees to improve the product in some way, then that's fine with me. Of course I still have the option with any product to take it or leave it. It just bugs me when I see super rich NFL owners tacking on additional fees for what simply appears to be pure greed.
While the NFL doesn't fit the technical definition of a monopoly, in some respects to good football fans it is a monopoly - and in my opinion they are getting greedy in that aspect as does often happen when there are monopolies in the marketplace, which is why there are federal laws against certain types of monopolies. >>
Maybe, but it's their league and they can do what they want with it. If they want to charge $50 per game-- a la boxing-- they are well within their rights. If your cable company doesn't want to pick up the tab, or wants to pass the cost on to you, then that's an issue to take up with the cable company, not the NFL.
Is this an exercise in pure greed? Probably. But what in pro sports isn't? As long as people can be duped into believing that the NFL is the most exciting sports league in the world the owners are going to be able to write their own ticket.
<< <i>Maybe, but it's their league and they can do what they want with it. If they want to charge $50 per game-- a la boxing-- they are well within their rights. >>
I guess this is why I stopped following boxing. Once all the top bouts were on pay-per-view, I lost all interest in it. Of course, I guess I was also spoiled by growing up in the 1970s, while boxing was still on free TV and some of the greatest bouts of all time, in one of the greatest eras for heavyweight boxing, was in full swing.
Next year at this time, I guarantee you that your cable company will come around and include the NFL Network in its programming in one form or another, because the NFL isn't going away and neither is their channel. Games will continue to be played on Thursdays and Saturday nights and life will go on.
GO MARLINS! Home of the best fans in baseball!!
<< <i>For me, the NFL Network is part of my basic programming package ($29.95) and I get my money's worth. Why it's not part of your basic programming package is something you'll have to ask your cable company. >>
Same here
Glad to see Time Warner go out of their way to create and pay for a website slamming the NFL Network. Perhaps that money and time could have been better used by accepting the NFLN's deal
The NFL Channel rocks! It's my favorite station.
Just got to see that fantastic Minnesota vs Texas Tech bowl game.
If your local cable company doesn't carry it, screw 'em and get yourself a dish already!
"How about a little fire Scarecrow ?"
<< <i>If your local cable company doesn't carry it, screw 'em and get yourself a dish already! >>
if it were that easy, i'd do it, but in the apartment i live in, i can't have the dish. i don't feel like rearranging my life so i can listen to gumble...
i have the college sports tv channel but they put the bowl game on the nfl network. soon all sports games are going to be ppv.