"Angry you 're not getting the Packer-Dallas game? Call your cable operator and complain to them right away. " We all know NFL refs don 't fall for that act and neither should Wisconsin 's Packer fans or state legislators, for that matter.

Cable companies don 't control the rights to NFL games -- the league does -- and they are famously protective of those rights (remember, "This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience. Any other use of this telecast...? ")

When the NFL recently negotiated new TV contracts, it held back eight games each year to sell exclusively on its own new NFL Network. These are games that were previously available to fans in the teams ' local TV markets every weekend. All you needed was a TV and a set of rabbit ears to watch.

This season, cable customers can view 15 regular season Packer games available on the basic subscription tier. But now the NFL wants you to pay, and pay dearly, for the 16th game.

So now if we Packer fans want to see our one game on the NFL network, we have to pay for 364 days of replays, re-runs and other programming, and folks who are not football fans would have to pay as well. This at a price that industry analysts are calling one of the most expensive in all cable programming. And the NFL wants you to blame your cable operator?

Many cable companies don 't think this is a good deal for their customers and have repeatedly asked the NFL for permission to carry the network on a sports tier of programming that could be packaged and purchased with other sports programming.

Unfortunately, the NFL Network has refused. And now instead of working to negotiate a solution, the network -- led by outspoken Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones -- is running to state legislators in Wisconsin and other capitals to seek a regulatory advantage in these private negotiations. Cable companies are in the program delivery business and clearly want to provide programming that interests our customers. For many in Wisconsin that means Packer games.

The cable industry also serves a broad range of customers with varying interests in what they want to watch on TV. Cable operators must negotiate agreements with networks, like the NFL Network, that are in the best interest of all customers.

Requiring most cable customers to pay each month, year in and year out, for the possibility that one Packer game each year might be on the NFL Channel is not a "fan friendly " move by the NFL, no matter how many times its PR machine says it is.

Moore is executive director of the Wisconsin Cable Communications Association in Madison.