TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Amid Chaos, Fans May Lose Out

ADVERTISEMENT

By IRA KAUFMAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 21, 2007

Updated: 11/20/2007 11:12 pm

TAMPA - The NFL needs a Lamar Hunt more than ever.

The late owner of the Kansas City Chiefs was a master of compromise, adept at finding ways to bridge differences and resolve disputes.

Dallas owner Jerry Jones is no Lamar Hunt.

Jones has been out on the stump recently, trying to drum up support for NFL Network, the league's 4-year-old vehicle for promoting its product every day, all day.

The NFL Network begins its broadcast of eight regular-season games in 2007 with a Thanksgiving night matchup between the Colts and the Falcons at the Georgia Dome.

While that game appears to lack marquee value, things get far more interesting the following Thursday, when Green Bay ventures to Texas Stadium to play Jones' Cowboys in a potential showdown between 10-1 NFC powers.

Because of a lingering dispute between the league and big cable operators like Comcast and Time Warner, the NFL Network is limited to 35 million homes, compared to 100 million for ESPN.

"I understand where both sides are coming from," said Bryant Gumbel, who will call games for the NFL Network, aided by analyst Cris Collinsworth. "It's going to come to a head, one would think. within the next 18 months."

That time frame won't help pro football fans who will be unable to access the Green Bay-Dallas matchup or a Dec. 29 clash that could feature a 15-0 New England club facing the Giants at the Meadowlands with a perfect regular season on the line.

"The reality is fans would probably be angry at all of us," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, referring to the Patriots-Giants scenario. "We know our fans want to see us. The last time I looked, 95 of the top 100 cable shows in history are NFL games. We know we are the most popular programs on cable TV. That's been proven."

At the heart of the dispute, of course, is money.

While the league wants to distribute the NFL Network on basic cable service, conglomerates like Time Warner would prefer to place it on a sports tier that would require an additional charge for its customers.

Currently, only eight million of the NFL Network's 35 million subscribers come from cable TV. The remaining viewers tune in on satellite systems like DirecTV and Dish Network.

Jones, who chairs the NFL owners' TV committee, has been a busy man this month.

He has been hop-scotching the country, railing against big cable and imploring NFL fans to complain about a stalemate that threatens to take attention away from the playoff chase.

"I'm talking to various markets and asking them to cancel out Comcast, cancel out Time Warner and go with the other people," Jones said. "I think it will be very effective."

In response, Comcast this week sent a cease-and-desist letter to the NFL Network demanding the channel's representatives stop encouraging fans to leave the cable provider.

The letter contends such actions violate the contract between the network and Comcast.

Jones also has been turning up the heat, suggesting the league could ramp up the number of regular-season games shown on NFL Network from eight to 16 in upcoming years.

With more than 2,000 hours of original programming, the NFL Network also brings its fans inside the February scouting combine at Indianapolis as well as intense coverage of the Pro Bowl, Senior Bowl and the draft.

In addition, the Dec. 28 Texas Bowl and the Dec. 31 Insight Bowl will be televised on NFL Network.

"I watch NFL Network all the time," Arizona Cardinals linebacker Karlos Dansby said. "I love it. It's 24-hour football coverage. How can you not like that? I can just turn on the television set at home, kick my feet up and relax."

Cable operators say it is not that simple.

When they assess the value of carrying the NFL Network, they see eight games surrounded by the kind of analysis their viewers can get for free from ESPN.

"We were hoping we'd be closer to 50 million homes right now," Goodell said at an owners' meeting last month. "We believe we have a very compelling product outside of our games. We think the production quality and content we have on the NFL Network on a year-round basis is in great demand and the consumers want it.

"That is the issue we are having with our cable operators - they are trying to restrict the distribution of that to a point that we're not comfortable."

Information from Tribune wires was used in this report.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT