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Don't Expect Any 'Favors' From NFL Network
January 5, 2008
Star Tribune (MN)
Letter to the Editor by Willie Wood
To the Editor:
Your recent news coverage ("NFL agrees to 3-way telecast of Patriots game," Dec. 26 and "NFL serves itself by showing game," Dec. 27) failed to point out that the NFL will continue to block access to games next year and in the future as long as the league takes games off of free TV to inflate the value of its NFL Network.
For the last two years the NFL has blacked out eight games in secondary markets in an attempt to force all cable and satellite customers to pay for the NFL Network. And even though the NFL buckled this week and allowed the Patriots-Giants game to air on broadcast TV, league executives have made clear that they merely live for another day. The NFL already has unsuccessfully lobbied lawmakers in a number of states and in Washington asking them to force this deal on consumers, They're backing it up with a $100 million public relations campaign, declaring war on any cable company that wants to put the network on a sports tier that allows only those fans who want the extra few games to subscribe to them.
The entire saga has reminded us that we can love the game and its players while guffawing at those smarmy executives who will think nothing of driving up the cost to average families of enjoying the game. That kind of greed can only be characterized as unsportsmanlike conduct.
Willie Wood
Washington
FORMER GREEN BAY PACKERS SAFETY AND MEMBER OF THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/13064616.html
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