Wednesday, December 19, 2007

NFL Network Storming to Strong-Arm Franchises

Daniel C. Vock writes on Stateline.org:

Some of the pro football fans who flocked to sports bars on a recent Thursday night to see a highly anticipated showdown between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys weren’t there for big-screen TVs and alcoholic beverages. They were just looking for a place to see the game.

That’s because, for most of the country, it wasn’t on cable. The game was carried by NFL Network, a four-year old programming outlet for the National Football League that many cable companies, including Comcast and Time Warner Cable, refuse to carry on basic cable.

Now the NFL wants states to end the standoff.

The league is starting its offensive drive in Texas and Wisconsin, home states of the Cowboys and Packers. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed Texas lawmakers in Austin last week and NFL officials talk to Wisconsin legislators in Madison on Thursday (Dec. 20).

An NFL Network spokesman said the appearances are just the beginning of the league’s state-level push.

More here.

Background here.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home