When I was growing up, the most revered title in sports was “Heavyweight Champion of the World.” Anytime Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier or George Foreman fought, the whole world was watching. I’d like to say any of those guys would beat anyone fighting today – but I can’t. I have no idea who is fighting today.

Ali could walk into a roomful of people right now and still be recognized. But far more people in that room would have seen Rocky than would’ve seen a heavyweight fight, even on TV.

Thanks to pay-per-view, promoters like Don King and “champions” like Mike Tyson, the public doesn’t care about boxing anymore. Greed, corruption and arrogance killed it.

The NFL’s recent spat with cable TV – an effort to strongarm cable companies into carrying the NFL Network – is a sure sign that the same kind of greed and arrogance that killed boxing is creeping into the NFL.

The tens of thousands of dollars it will take to buy a seat in the Cowboys’ new stadium in Arlington is another. Lucky for Jerry Jones, the ball has bounced his way this year. In future years, if product quality slips, empty seats are guaranteed at those prices.

Sports are an optional item. If the guys calling the shots keep alienating fans, fans will look elsewhere for entertainment. NFL owners right now look like rich people who want more wealth and famous people who want more fame. Those wants do not usually drive good business decisions.

Even America’s Team could get to be a tough sell at some point.

[Side note: After watching the NFL Network’s broadcast of the Cowboys-Packers game on Channel 27 last Thursday, I’m convinced that if it were not the NFL’s own child, the NFL would fire them. Not only did we get to hear Bryant Gumbel repeatedly identify Cowboys as Packers, refer to huge plays as “apparent” first downs and promise us a post-game interview with “Rick Romo” – we got to look at Deion Sanders’ backside as he gave a brilliant sideline report to no one. It was a hoot.]

By moving games that were once on broadcast TV to its own network, the league hopes to extract more money from viewers. But how long before greed turns fans into ex-fans?

In this area, Channel 27 picked up the Cowboys-Packers game. But in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a large population of diehard Packers fans had to wait until Monday night to learn that the NFL would black out the game on the local affiliate. Do that often enough and they’ll just go deer hunting instead.

So why don’t the cable companies just pick up the NFL Network? Hey, if they don’t want to ask subscribers to pay a premium for a few hours of programming a year, that’s their call. But when the NFL spends millions trying convince cable subscribers how unhappy they ought to be, it smacks of a product that just won’t sell itself.
 
And what about the 30 percent of Americans who can’t afford or choose not to subscribe to cable or satellite? If the NFL has its way they will have no chance of seeing these games.

This year, it’s just eight games, but anyone who doesn’t expect that to grow can go ahead and send me the down payment on their trip to Mars.

You can’t get the NFL Network there, either, but don’t worry. There are plenty of other things you can do with your Sunday afternoons.