Thursday, September 06, 2007

The NFL, TV, and You

With the glorious, glorious onset of the National Football League season upon us, let's take a moment to get outraged over the pretty much unjustifiable television policies that the league and its network overlords foist upon us. I have no serious qualms with a certain level of regional policies guiding the cities in the immediate area of a franchise. If you live within 50 miles (the official policy is 75) of an NFL stadium, that is clearly the local market. If you are a Patriots fan living in Phoenix, that's how things fall. Get ready for some Cardinals football, Sully! But the rules on secondary markets are pretty much inane, and keep in mind that in some states the secondary market rules might cover hundreds of miles. In the end, these television policies end up being very fan unfriendly and for reasons that no one has adequately explained.


I'll try to pen an NFL preview tomorrow, but as far as tonight's game goes, let's assume that both the Saints and Colts will be good this season and that both are playoff bound and that whatever happens, barring a catastrophic injury for either team tonight. In other words, tonight's outcome won't much effect my inevitably daft predictions.


Hat tip to friend, colleague, and fan of lousy pro teams, BriBra.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is this why Peterborough United's games are never shown in West Texas?

dcat said...

Steve --
That's EXACTLY why. The system is working against you. Peterborough United (PU!) are actually the secondary market team for San Angelo, wouldn't you know.

dcat