View Full Version : Why is there no *official* unedited game footage for sale?
Blart
10-14-2005, 01:01 AM
Tape recordings and VCD's from Ebay are just a shell of what's possible.
Why can't I buy a DVD of The Drive? Not a highlight reel, not a season review, just the full un-edited game.
Or even better, Super Bowl XXXII, which takes advantage of your DVD player's multiple angle feature, and optional commentary from Shannahan and Elway?
The technology is there, and I'm fairly certain there's a market, so there must be a silly law somewhere that's holding them back. Does anyone know what it is?
bro1ncos
10-14-2005, 04:33 AM
Steve Sabol
OrangeShadow
10-14-2005, 04:36 AM
Probably something to do with copywright laws
ZachKC
10-14-2005, 04:38 AM
Probably something to do with copywright laws
His main point is why rightful copyright holders won't do something to make this available.
OrangeShadow
10-14-2005, 04:42 AM
His main point is why rightful copyright holders won't do something to make this available.
Yeah but what can they really do?
watermock
10-14-2005, 05:10 AM
Sabol can't hold exclusive rights or the NFL is run by idiots, at the least, that era is probably gone.
Why don't they produce DVD's of certain teams seasons? You got me! considering they are always trying to rip us a new one, I'm quite surprised. The NFL owns the rights and could sell DVD's of teams seasons, but they don't. Why I don't know. Someone should ask them, but it's like sending an e-mail to Washington I guess. I mean...it's not rocket science...you put the tape on DVD, it's your property, and package it. I could handle it in one month.
watermock
10-14-2005, 05:12 AM
It's not about the crap Sabol still holds...he couldn't of gotten exclusive rights unless the NFL were total idiots...second, more recent games still have to belong to the NFL.
You can get Rocky V but not the Broncos vs. Green Bay. I duuno. It seems pretty stupid to me, but so does Direct TV's monopoly on Sunday Ticket.
I guess it's not so stupid if your Sabol or Murdoch tho....
ZachKC
10-14-2005, 05:27 AM
Yeah but what can they really do?
The CR holders?? Make a ****load of money?
-Slap-
10-14-2005, 05:47 AM
Eventually BLove will see this thread and give you the lowdown. I think he said that Sabol claims that nobody wants to watch old games in their entirety.
Pat Bowlen
10-14-2005, 05:52 AM
How much would you be willing to pay?
BigPlayShay
10-14-2005, 07:52 AM
Tape recordings and VCD's from Ebay are just a shell of what's possible.
Why can't I buy a DVD of The Drive? Not a highlight reel, not a season review, just the full un-edited game.
Or even better, Super Bowl XXXII, which takes advantage of your DVD player's multiple angle feature, and optional commentary from Shannahan and Elway?
The technology is there, and I'm fairly certain there's a market, so there must be a silly law somewhere that's holding them back. Does anyone know what it is?
There is a company that is starting to do this with College games: http://www.championshipdvd.com/. There is a market for this for pro games, but as has been stated, and what B-Love will tell you, is that Sabol is obseesed with presenting old games in highlight packages with lots of slow-motion and orchestra music.
bendog
10-14-2005, 07:52 AM
Eventually BLove will see this thread and give you the lowdown. I think he said that Sabol claims that nobody wants to watch old games in their entirety.
yep, that's what he said. Of course if entire games were available, Sabol's shows where he does retrospectives wouldn't have the "hook," of this is the only place you'll be able to see it so you have to put up with another montana or whoever interview.
Dr. Broncenstein
10-14-2005, 08:01 AM
I would buy and watch entire seasons.... or at least rent them from netflix and copy them...
BigPlayShay
10-14-2005, 08:04 AM
Something more to add, there are a lot of games available on ebay, but most of these are really crap quality. The person(s) making these discs are not applying a lot of quality control, and are usually just recording from vhs to a standalone DVD recorder. These don't allow for good chaptering of a disc, I think you can only have a chapter every 5 minutes which makes skiping ahead in the game a pain in the ass. They hardly ever maximize the amount of disc space on a dvd-r/+r leading to tons of compression of the video, therefore pixellation and other artifacts on the video. On top of that, they leave the commercials in which sucks when watching a game over again.
Sabol won't budge, but the technology exists for fans to make quality dvd's of games. You just have to find the right person that will do all they can to make a quality product and not someone just looking to make cash on ebay.
BroncoBuff
10-14-2005, 08:12 AM
Tape recordings and VCD's from Ebay are just a shell of what's possible.
Why can't I buy a DVD of The Drive? Not a highlight reel, not a season review, just the full un-edited game.
Or even better, Super Bowl XXXII, which takes advantage of your DVD player's multiple angle feature, and optional commentary from Shannahan and Elway?
The technology is there, and I'm fairly certain there's a market, so there must be a silly law somewhere that's holding them back. Does anyone know what it is?
There's no law - the NFL has just always been weird about game footage. Maybe the NFL Network will loosen things up.
Blart
10-14-2005, 11:00 AM
There's no law - the NFL has just always been weird about game footage. Maybe the NFL Network will loosen things up.
Wow, that's really silly.
How much would you be willing to pay?
Thanks for asking Mr. Bowlen! $100 - $150 per season. I'm assuming it would take 16 - 18 DVD's, and that price puts it on par with other TV shows that take as many discs.
For special editions of great games like The Drive, with user controlled angles, commentary by Elway or Reeves, and a 2nd disc for the old highlight reels with orchestra music, interviews and so on, I'd pay $40 to $50.
Sabol won't budge, but the technology exists for fans to make quality dvd's of games.
That's the secret to making the NFL wake up. If the popularity of complete games being downloaded (http://tanzed.no-ip.info:6969/) on the net increases - that would send a message.
The only problem is, while we can get high-quality recordings with today's technology, we're never going to see the classics. The Drive, The Fumble, Monday Night 1994, all you'll ever get will be ancient VHS recordings.
TexanBob
10-14-2005, 11:17 AM
It so happens that one of the best sources for old game broadcasts is a big Broncos fan in California but he wants to stay below the legal radar so he is mostly interested in trading, not selling. Much of what is on e-Bay are copies of copies, often videotape to videotape. The older the game, often the lesser the quality.
NFL Films does have something of a stranglehold on NFL games which is why the NFL seems to be the one sport that you never see game rebroadcasts on ESPN Classic - not even ESPN's own games.
It's because of this that a black market has developed of internet traders and e-Bay sellers but it is caveat emptor. It would be nicer if the original ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox telecasts was available for sale. BTW, old MNF games of great quality have trickled out over the years from the vaults at ABC. It would be nice to see more of those. Much of the rest from the 70s and early 80s depends on the quality of the VCR and videotape used to make the original copy by home users.
Heck, part of me is just happy that you can actually watch a game a second time. I remember back when, if you missed it the first time, there was no second chance.
Taco John
10-14-2005, 12:08 PM
Paging Dr. Love.
Dr. B-Love, please report to this thread.... ;)
bendog
10-14-2005, 12:21 PM
Well, actually, I believe Mr Sabol does have the license from the NFL and the NFL has the tapes copyrighted. I was stairmastering an hour or so ago, and like clockwork Sabol trotted out that old and tired special on SBIII with Namath doing interviews between plays, with maybe a 1/3 of the plays shown. It might have been the edited version of the edited with 1/5 or less. I turned it off and watched ..... star trek.
BigPlayShay
10-14-2005, 12:33 PM
The only problem is, while we can get high-quality recordings with today's technology, we're never going to see the classics. The Drive, The Fumble, Monday Night 1994, all you'll ever get will be ancient VHS recordings.
I think that you would be surprised at how good of shape some people have kept their VHS tapes in. When making a VHS transfer to DVD it is all about how good of quality the source is. I have seen some VHS that are in great shape. The Drive in fact, there is a source where the picture is incredible, just the audio is mono. I believe B-Love has a copy of that source on DVD :thumbs:
Rock Chalk
10-14-2005, 12:44 PM
CBS and Fox have their own rights separate from Sabol. Sabol and NFL Films is an entirely different bunch with different shots of the game than CBS and Fox.
At least, thats my understanding.