NFL Network

So I don't know if this is the case all over the US, but in Pennsylvania, several cable providers have refused the NFL's demand that the NFL Network be carried as part of the standard package. If it were part of the standard package, the NFL would be able to charge every subscriber about $1.50 (levied by the cable companies) for the network. The cable companies maintain that there's not enough content on the NFL Network (eight three-hour periods each year) to justify its inclusion in a basic package. In return, the NFL refuses to put its games on uncooperative cable companies.

I happen to agree with the cable companies. NFL owners have had a license to print money since the dawn of the free agent era, and they have not hesitated to stick it to ordinary people by demanding publicly-financed stadia, then charging PSLs for lower-bowl seats; with exorbitant costs for concessions and merchandise, with constantly-rising ticket prices, by demanding that season-ticket holders pay up front for playoff tickets if your team has even an outside chance of making the playoffs, and numerous other schemes designed to extract money from fans whose loyalty dates back to an era where players played in one city in their careers, made a good but not exorbitant living, and it was still possible for ordinary people to go to a game.

In the current economic conditions, I find the owners' greed to be especially off-putting. What do you think?

Originally posted by sasquatch672
So I don't know if this is the case all over the US, but in Pennsylvania, several cable providers have refused the NFL's demand that the NFL Network be carried as part of the standard package. If it were part of the standard package, the NFL would be able to charge every subscriber about $1.50 (levied by the cable companies) for the network. The cable ...[text shortened]... nomic conditions, I find the owners' greed to be especially off-putting. What do you think?

Those Darn liberal networks.

Originally posted by sasquatch672
So I don't know if this is the case all over the US, but in Pennsylvania, several cable providers have refused the NFL's demand that the NFL Network be carried as part of the standard package. If it were part of the standard package, the NFL would be able to charge every subscriber about $1.50 (levied by the cable companies) for the network. The cable ...[text shortened]... nomic conditions, I find the owners' greed to be especially off-putting. What do you think?

I'm curious to compare how the MLB Network operates. Hopefully they do it right and the NFL can learn a thing or two.