I'm Pretty Sure That Art. I, Sec. 8 Of The Constitution Doesn't Cover This
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Big Government | Congress | John Kerry — Comments (31) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
John Kerry is using his political office to--wait for it!--pressure the NFL into showing the final regular season Patriots game. Note the following language in Kerry's letter to Commissioner Roger Goodell:
For a game of this significance to be used as a bargaining chip or point of leverage between corporations locked in a dispute would say a great deal about the esteem in which America's football fans are held by the big interests. Under the unfortunate circumstance that this matter remains unresolved, leaving 60 percent of households across the country - including thousands in Massachusetts - without access to Saturday's game, I will ask the Senate Commerce Committee to hold hearings on how the emergence of premium sports channels are impacting the consumer, and I will consider what legislative measures may be necessary to ensure that consumers are more than bystanders in this process.
"Nice NFL you have. Be a shame if anything were to happen to it." Is this what United States Senators spend their time on?
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I'm Pretty Sure That Art. I, Sec. 8 Of The Constitution Doesn't Cover This 31 Comments (0 topical, 31 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
this is exactly how the free market should work. I guess they could drop all their regular stations and just show the games on cable...that should piss everyone off.
Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion
The NFL has tried to get the FCC to orce cable companies to offer it on a standard tier, they have worked over state legslatures to try and force it and they circualted a draft letter around the Senate to try to pressure the FCC.
The NFL is pissed that they can't bully their way in with the big boy networks.
Except maybe the going rate for local politicians
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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
As someone who had to wait for county board members to retire to get an alternative to Comcast I won't argue. But professional sports leagues can't come in and expect any sympathy on this. The NFL doesn't have to be reasonable but it shouldn't be suprised that it hasn't gotten its way either.
To use the franchise monopolies as an excuse to give a franchise holder *more* government leverage against a content provider would be most unfortunate.
The NFL is trying to force the CATV companies to carry. The market isn't it in play because in any given market there is one CATV company. The reverse doesn't work either as there is only one football provider. (In the broader context of sports there is more of a market, but its like saying CATV is in competition with netflix)
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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Don't get sidetracked. The market here is for cable content, and that is a more functioning market. There are many content producers, and many consumers of content.
Yes, there is an element of monopolistic competition here, but just as there is auto competition despite the fact that you can't get a Toyota from GM, there is cable content competition despite there only being one NFL Channel provider.
that given the choice, I'd happily pay for NFL network. But the NFL doesn't allow Time Warner to give me that choice. So I'll be over at a friends house to watch the game.
This isn't the first game that's been on the NFL network. There was a Packers game earlier this year. I can't stand the NFL, but it's their league and they make the rules. The blackout stuff bothers me a heck of a lot more than this.
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Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
but satellite isn't available for everyone. The Cowboys games here on NFL network have both been carried on a local affiliate. I would have assumed that the same thing would happen in Massachusetts, but maybe they define local markets smaller there for some reason. There's some chance I could get it here, but there's a relatively large tree blocking the view I need off of my apartment balcony.
I could actually get FIOS TV from Verizon. I'm not sure if they have it or not, though.
will be carrying the game on Saturday.
I have it here -but I can only watch it on mute because the broadcasting teams are horrendous.
Last weekend the Panthers were on Saturday night, and our local Fox station here in Charlotte carried it...I realized anew that I HATE BRYANT GUMBEL...he's horrible...I'm guessing MD is too far away from Boston to pick up an AM station carrying the game too, so you can't tune into a good broadcast team there and watch it on mute...we've done that here a few times...
"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."
Ronald Reagan
so they have to move on to something more substantive.
The NFL should propose that if Kerry can correctly name 5 starters on the Patriots (this means getting the correct first name with the correct last name) they will televise the game for free.
Fortuna Favet Fortibus
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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
That is all.
Well, it's not all. I don't think the NFL prevents Time Warner from selling it separately. They don't prevent Comcast from doing so, which is how I have it.
Seriously. If someone wants to watch the game, they can watch the game.
"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." - Bill Shankly
They are preventing cable companies from puttig it on their sports tiers for extra money - and are asking a ridiculous amount from cable companies to carry it. That is why they have fallen short of their penetration goal by nearly 50%. They refuse to sign an agreement with Time Warner that doesn't guarantee it will be on their standard tier and are believed to be asking for 70 cents per subscriber - which would put it up there with TNT and Nickelodeon.
The NFL sued Comcast to prevent it from moving it to the sport tier and lost, then they tried to get the FCC to require the cale oeprators offer it on their standard tier. So, while Kerry is just pandering here, the NFL is not simply playing by free market rules - they brought the government into it and deserve what they get.
It's on Comcast?
"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." - Bill Shankly
Initially comcast put it on their standard tier (for the 8 games late last season) but but they moved it to the sports tier for this year. The NFL sued and Comcast won (I believe it is currently under appeal). The agreement with Comcast runs through next season (expires in the off-season in 09) and the NFL has made it clear they won't renew if Comcast doesn't move it back.
Cox is the only major cable comapny to reach an agreement that put it diectly on the Sports tier, don't know how they did it. But to date, the 6 other top 8 cable providers have not reached any agreement - and the NFL has not got the traction it thought it would this season. Before they were showing games they had an agreement with Charter on their sports tier (4th largest cable provider) but they pulled the signal and sued them, it was reporeted they were seeking 125% rate increases and placement on the basic tier.
...that simple computer skills and three minutes of research would show that anyone with an internet connection can watch this game on the NFL web site! They have a live streaming web cast for ALL NFL network games!
I am not sure how good it would be for dial up connections, but DSL subscribers are in. I do not have the numbers at my fingertips, but something tells me that "60% will not be able to see it" is complete BS, but that is just my opinion.
Wubbies World, MSgt, USAF (Retired):
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("An argument is a sequence of statements aimed at demonstrating the truth of an assertion.); }
We live in a rural area and have never spent the money or wasted the time to get cable . There are a heck of a lot more important things in life than what is on/ not on TV .
If you don't like the deal/ service then there is always the off switch.
Apart from that J Kerry is a pompous equine posterior and has been for decades.
I would have thought he would be busy struggling with a response to the challenge of T Bone Pickens then to find time for this. After all, his honor is at stake and the American Spectator's Kerry Crybaby clock is approaching 600 hours while waiting for Kerry's refutation.
This poses dire consequences for liberal[?] politicians and professional whiners. What will happen to the blank mind charge of "swiftboating" a candidate when you say something true about him or her? Will liberals be forced to fall back on that dinosaur of pointless cries, McCarthyism?
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
Last nite I saw Charlie Wilson's War & was reminded that I collected $50K in a PAC in '88 on Charlie's behest & brought such monies to John Kerry, who was head of the DemSenCampaignCte that year. In turn, John & fellow miscreant Chris Dodd voted for $450 million for Pak military assistance [not $500KK as the flick has it] which Charlie told me three months later at the Xmas Party got the appropriation through the Senate. [Charlie told me there were "other considerations" besides my PAC "contribution"]
The NFL should just contribute a couple hundred K to John's favorite charity, himself, and I do believe it might even get the cables to come around---or at least get John-boy off their bakcs.
Kerry must imagine himself some kind of Television Czar. In 2004 he threatened television stations with lawsuits if they ran something he didn't want, and now he's threatening the NFL if they don't show something he does want.
Here's an idea: why doesn't he don his gay apparel and go for a nice bike ride?
Drink Good Coffee. You can sleep when you're dead.
Thankfully, yes.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
If you look closely at the Patriots helmets, you may agree that the character thereupon bears remarkable resemblance to Senator Kerry. It's no wonder the Senator wants to force this subliminal advertising on the country. ;)
When was the last time the Democrats nominated a candidate who was not crooked, slimy, megalomaniac, or impossibly, spectaculary incompetent?
Maybe HST?
Stare decisis is fo' suckas -- Feddie
Oh, you mean my junior senator? That Jean Francois Kerry (D-Paris)?
You know, horrible as a Kerry Presidency would be for the nation and the world, at least it would have gotten him the (redacted) out of Massachusetts.
Then again, seeing up-close the cast of characters who would be looking to replace him, perhaps he should be left alone.
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Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.
Will be simulcasting the NFL Network feed.
"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." - Bill Shankly
Kerry's self serving reasons aside - the 1961 Sports Broadcaster Act kind of made part of Cognresses oversight. I have no sympathy for the NFL - they brought this on themselves and should recognize (from a purely business standpoint) that they are not going to win this one with teh cable companies, they are just not that special (same goes for the Big Ten netowrk though the cost of losing the battle is less for them).