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Pats-Giants to Be on NBC, CBS, NFL Network

By Mark

After spending weeks proclaiming that there were no circumstances under which they would cave into pressure, the NFL did just that today and allowed Saturday's potentially historic game between undefeated New England and the New Jersey Giants to be simulcast on both NBC and CBS. It will be the first game ever broadcast on three television networks at the same time. You may recall that the first Super Bowl was broadcast on both NBC and CBS, although at the time it wasn't called that.

"We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans," commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement after the league announced it was reversing course. "What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever."

Pressure was mounting on the league from not just fans but Congress as both the Chairman and ranking Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Goodell threatening the league's antitrust exemption. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts has also been pressuring the league on the same grounds. You can draw your own conclusions as to what ultimately forced the decision, but bad press, fan unrest and pressure from Congress all played a part. Carping from Kerry is one thing, letters from the Chair and Ranking Member carry weight.

If you live in New England, you will actually have four choices of broadcasts, as the NFL had agreed to a local simulcast under existing policy. There is a dispute about the local simulcast in the New York market. Channel 9, WWOR, is claiming exclusivity as the only over the air broadcast outlet in New York City. The NFL has not responded to that claim. Neither the Boston nor Manchester, NH station is asserting a similar claim.

The NFL has hopefully learned its lesson from this experience. Next season we hope while it may use the schedule to leverage cable providers to carry the NFL Network, it will do so judiciously and not reserve the potential "games of the season" for itself. Flex scheduling may need to be built into the NFL Network schedule even though it presents some logistical challenges, as the league will have to show flexibility to its broadcast partners, while still reserving some clout to use against the cable providers if carriage issues have not been resolved. Hopefully, for all concerned, cooler heads will prevail and the league and the cable companies will settle their issues between now and next season.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on December 26, 2007 (boomark / email).