Blackout Lifted

More Great News!

Written by Synergy Legal, Inc. on 12:24 PM

Props to Ray Frager (former Baltimore Sun sports editor and sports media blogger) with Sports Media Journal for apparently scooping this information about ESPNU officially moving to more widely subscribed-to packages on Comcast and DirecTV this summer. As I discussed here a couple months ago, great job by The Leader to make this move. I'm disappointed that it didn't happen in time for the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament, but it will be awesome to have ESPNU available for college football season without having to pay an extra 12 bucks a month (for DirecTV subscribers).

Now all I need are two things:

1) DirecTV to carry ESPNU-HD on its basic HD package
2) Comcast to make ESPN360 available to its internet subscribers

Update: Deal is Done

Written by Synergy Legal, Inc. on 12:02 PM

The NFL Network and Comcast have agreed on a 10-year carriage deal.

Comcast and the NFL said Tuesday that they had reached an agreement for the nation's largest cable TV operator to air the football channel on its second-most popular digital tier of service.

The deal spans 10 years and would cost Comcast 40 cents to 45 cents per subscriber, down from the NFL's previous asking price of 70 cents. By Aug. 1, the NFL Network will be carried throughout Comcast's service areas on a programming package called Digital Classic, which has around 10 million subscribers.

The NFL also threw in access to an upcoming channel, called RedZone, that will focus on touchdowns. Comcast expects RedZone to be carried in a premium sports package.

Sounds like it was the NFL that bent on the deal, by significantly lowering its per subscriber demand. I think they had to do it. Without the wide distribution the cable operators provide on their basic level service, the NFLN was bound to struggle; since anything that doesn't make the 32 owners enough money is quickly scrapped. And now, this deal should provide the structure that makes NFLN easily available in all of the other cable company homes in America.

For now at least, it should be a very good deal for Comcast subscribers, who now will not miss out on 8 televised games this season and will be able to watch exclusive NFL content, for those football junkies who just can't get enough. And shouldn't hit subscribers in the wallet either...but then again, this is Comcast we're talking about. And for those not yet familiar with it, I highly recommend the Red Zone Channel (or A.D.D. Channel, as I like to call it). It's the perfect place to go when the game you're watching locally goes to commercial or is at halftime. Hell, if you're not that interested in the game being shown locally, you just might want to watch the RZC for three straight hours!

Comcast/NFL Network on Path Towards Carriage Agreement

Written by Synergy Legal, Inc. on 9:34 AM

CNN/SI's Peter King writes an excellent column outlining the groundwork for a potential agreement between Comcast and the NFL Network on a carriage agreement. The basis for it is apparently contract extensions that were forged with CBS and Fox, holders of the rights to Sunday afternoon broadcasts. Originally scheduled to be pulled from Comcast on May 1, the NFLN and the cable operator agreed to indefinitely extend the existing agreement, which had NFLN on a sports tier package, while the parties negotiated. If things work out, it looks like Comcast customers will get to have the NFLN on their basic digital package instead of having to subscribe to extras to get it. Also, Comcast customers might have access to the Red Zone Channel (although cable companies might not be too enthused about that), which is currently only available to DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers who also opt for the add-on SuperFan package.

Interesting to note in King's piece is the role of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in negotiations. Hopefully the Commish will build the same bridges when negotiating a new CBA with the player's union.

Just say NO!

Written by Synergy Legal, Inc. on 10:08 PM

Depending on whom you believe, the NFL is seriously considering staging a Super Bowl in London, England; possibly as early as 2014. This is a bad idea. In fact, this idea is so bad I could sit here typing all day and not run out of reasons why it's a bad idea. But with a nod to David Letterman, I will simply list my Top 10.

Top 10 Reasons Why Playing a Super Bowl in London is a Bad Idea

10. The participating teams' fans that want to attend get screwed. OK, I'd bet that no more than half of the people who attend the Super Bowl are actually true fans of the teams playing. The rest are the NFL's corporate sponsors and celebrities who scored tickets. But nonetheless, why make the few fans who otherwise could attend miss out on the chance because the game is overseas?

9. And imagine if you have a matchup like the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns. At last, the long-suffering fans of those teams have an opportunity to see them in a Super Bowl and it's being played way over in London. Come on, NFL.

8. Then there are your corporate buddies to think of too. In a time when they are tightening their belts (and no one can say with any certainty that still won't be the case in a few years), how many of them do you think are going to spring to go overseas for the big event? Not to mention to a country whose currency has been much stronger in recent years than the US Dollar, further compounding the issue.

7. And speaking of money, Super Bowl week pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy of the host city. Why send all that money overseas? Isn't the fact that we're already sending all of our jobs to other countries enough?

6. If you've watched the regular season games played in Wembley Stadium the past two seasons, you've no doubt noticed the field conditions are pretty bad. So bad that even the Pitsburgh Steelers, who play home games on the worst field in the NFL, would think Wembley is bad. These are not the field conditions you want your championship settled on.

5. The average temperature in London in early February is in the low 40s. On the rare occasions that the Super Bowl has been hosted by a cold-weather city, the game has been played in an indoor facility. That won't be the case with Wembley. Enjoy!

4. When would you plan on kicking off this game? The difference between London and the Eastern Time Zone is 5 hours, 8 hours for the Pacific Time Zone. Do you kick off at 11:30pm London time to ensure a prime time US television audience? Better hand out Red Bull and Adderall to folks at the turnstiles. Or do you kickoff at a more reasonable time locally but then ruin Super Bowl parties across America, because who on the West Coast is going to want to start a Super Bowl party before noon? I guess out here we'd have to watch the game over waffles and orange juice instead of beer and wings.

3. Never mind canceling people's Super Bowl parties, NFL. How many TV viewers do you think you might lose if you start the game too early, especially on the populous West Coast? Think the network whose turn it is to broadcast the game will be happy about that? How about advertisers?

2. The Super Bowl is America. Haven't we endured enough recently with the economy, two wars, Brett Favre's next comeback, etc? Do we also need a kick in the gut like seeing the crown jewel of American sporting events sent overseas?

1. I shudder at the mere thought of Simon Cowell auditioning halftime performers on Fox's pregame show during the season. The only thing worse would be putting the Spice Girls back together for the halftime show. Just kill me now.

There you have it, NFL. But to show that I'm a reasonable man, maybe we can negotiate. How about this? If we let London host the Super Bowl, then that same year the United States should be allowed to host the English Premier League Championship game in New York. Not that there are 50 people in America that would even care, but how do you think the Brits would like that? I'm guessing there would be a lynch mob outside league sponsor Barclays Bank's headquarters if the idea was even mentioned, let alone seriously considered. Hell, I bet the Queen herself would grab a torch and pitchfork and join the mob.