John Kerry Weighs in on NFL Network Dispute Posted Dec 7th 2007 9:35AM by Michael David Smith Filed under: NY Giants, Patriots, Boston, New York, NFL Network You know you've got a serious issue on your hands when U.S. Sen. John Kerry writes a strongly worded letter about it. With the real possibility that the New England Patriots (who play in Kerry's state, Massachusetts) could complete the first 16-0 season in NFL history on a channel most people don't get, Kerry sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and National Cable & Telecommunications Association President and CEO Kyle McSlarrow. It read, in part: "While the National Football League and a few major cable companies continue to blame each other for the current state of NFL Network carriage, too many American football fans are being held hostage. Unfortunately, this disagreement has led to the use of what could potentially be an historic football game as leverage in a negotiation. On Saturday, December 29th, the New England Patriots will play the New York Giants in a game that could determine whether the Patriots become the first NFL team in 35 years to finish the regular season with an undefeated record. Unfortunately, millions of fans outside of the local media markets - including fans living in Massachusetts and New York - will not have access to the network that will broadcast the game.... I urge you to reach an agreement as soon as possible." With all due respect to the senator, um, what does this really accomplish? Does Kerry really believe Goodell is going to say, "Whoa, John Kerry urges us to reach an agreement. I guess that means it's time to give in to the cable companies"? I have a funny feeling that this will accomplish exactly nothing. http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/12/07/john-kerry-weighs-in-on-nfl-network-dispute/ ___________________________________________________________ One of the best things I ever did was going to direct tv and getting rid of Comcast.
Actually, I like when I hear that it reaches beyond the hardcore fan and when people in positions mention it. It opens up a few more ears and the more the better the chances of this being resolved.
This probably won't accomplish anything but no sports league ever wants to hear any congressman mumbling about anything to do with their sport. The only outcome from congress getting involved is a bad one in their eyes.
The joke is that they can't compromise because they're greedy f***ers. All the NFL has to do is give them Sunday Ticket rights in 2011 and the cable companies are going to do w/e the NFL wants them to. 2008-2010 - NFL network goes on a digital tier 2011 on - NFL Network moves onto basic tier and Sunday Ticket debuts on cable. Wow that's so hard but no they gotta screw us fans of the non-local teams who can't/won't get a dish.
It was only when Senators started saying things about steroids that major league baseball suddenly implemented a much stronger testing system, so yeah, I think Roger Goodell could find it interesting when a majority party member of the Senate Finance Committee urges the NFL to stop being so shortsighted regarding the NFL Network.
Kinda sad when this is all that our government is good for. Hunting down roiding athletes and making sure Joe in Des Moines can see the Thursday night game on NFL network. I just hope that welfare reform and health insurance issues don't clog up the meetings too much.:wink:
Good to see that all the problems in Massholechussetts are fixed and this is what a United States Senator needs to focus on
I am not skilled at creating polls, but I would be interested to see how many people who currently don't get NFL Network, would be willing to pay their cable company $10 bucks a month to get it. As much as I wouldn't mind having it, I doubt I would pay extra to get it!!
I used to have the NFL network, till about a month before the season started. In all my dealings with the company, Comcast has to be the single worst corporation in terms of customer service. They could care less about their customers, just about making even more money.
Good theory. So right now, they're driving up demand...BRILLIANT! I get mine free with my Sprint Web Service on my phone so don't matter to me either way. Kerry does have a point, but I'd rather have him working on something important...it is good national politics though. Shouldn't bitching about NFL network be the realm of the sports media though?
This is an absurd waste of taxpayer time and money. I mean, really, people have a choice. If they want the NFL Network so badly, they can either lobby their cable company with letters and petitions(this actually works, as does numerous canceled subscriptions) or they can get satellite. That's the beauty of the market. You have to make tradeoffs. Granted, a liberalization of the market to reflect the modern realities of the cable market(the current system is based on an antiquated model when there were dozens of local cable providers nationwide)that made franchise agreements easier to come by and increased competition would be a welcome thing, but there are far more important issues for the government to tackle. There's no reason whatsoever for government to be sticking its nose in cable. It might be populist and it might serve your particular agenda, but at the end of the day it's always a veiled effort to impose new taxes and more incompetent bureaucracy that limits choice and quality. -X-
Well I hate to break it to you guys but Kerry seems to be the only one who is getting shit done with this. Fine, it's 1 game but it's a start and IMO the NFL was probably hoping for this just to give the Pats even more favoritism.
Look back at this thread and you'll see that you and I predicted that Congress getting involved would make a difference almost three weeks ago, RT. As I said in another thread, leagues and players are making so much money these days that they are deathly afraid of anyone looking into their anticompetitive practices. The NFL caving in to this threat from Congress is no surprise at all.
