Report: NFL Network to air eight regular-season games

[BigPlayShay]

Report: NFL keeps late-season package for itself

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2309549

The NFL Network will carry eight regular-season games in 2006, the New York Times and other media outlets reported Saturday.


The league's network, which has only shown preseason games in the past, will carry eight Thursday and Saturday games, starting with the Washington Redskins vs. the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, the Times reported, citing a senior league official,


The NFL currently has television deals with CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and DirecTV and had been negotiating with Comcast about the package that it will now show in its own network.


The games will also be shown by local broadcasters in the markets where they are being played. The NFL Network currently has about 36 million cable subscribers

[Ratboy]

&@^%)(#@

[ludo21]

i dont have the channel, but its a good idea

[B-Love]

Wow, the Boys not on network TV on Turkey Day??!! Wow.

What a perfect occasion for Steve Sabol to bust out the 1974 Thanksgiving game TV broadcast between the two, which was one of the most famous games of the 70's. Clint Longley's heroic relief performance, after Roger the Dodger suffered his 150th concussion.

But Sabol will keep that broadcast, among all of the others, in a warehouse in Fort Wayne New Jersey, collecting dust in metal cans.

Saturday Night football rules; I'm all for it. Saturday Night, friends, beer, and football. Just beautiful!!

[Willynowei]

This is very annoying. NFL obviously doesnt care about us who simply can't get the NFL network because satellite doesnt work here...

wow I'm stuck with cable and it really sux at this point that my cable company could careless about any NFL packages. Damn regional monopolies.

[Northman]

i dont have the channel, but its a good idea


I think i know where they are heading with this. They are going to see how many tune in and actually order that channel. Once thats done they will move all NFL games to payperview or some sort of **** like that. that really sucks.

[maven]

Damn, that's ****ed up! No football on turkey day. I don't have the NFL Network.

Not surprised though. I see every sport going this way. I guess it has finally started.

[ludo21]

I think i know where they are heading with this. They are going to see how many tune in and actually order that channel. Once thats done they will move all NFL games to payperview or some sort of **** like that. that really sucks.


ouch.....after thinking about this, your right, this does suck.... i guess the future was inevitable. Dangit.

[No1BroncoFan]

The NFL has been moving toward pay-per-view for years. It started with Sunday Ticket. Why they've never offered pay-per-view of individual games not shown in a local area is beyond me. There's a lot of people who can't afford DirecTV who would be more than willing to cough up the pay-per-view fee for their favorite team.

Ben

[Popps]

Yea, this isn't really good news. There will be less eyes on the Thanksgiving game.

[24champ]

Ok there is two games traditionally on Turkey day, One is on NFL Network and the other I am assuming is on Fox with the Lions playing right?

[Tombstone RJ]

Bad idea. This sucks. Start saying goodbye to watching free NFL games...

[Rohirrim]

Pay for View is just one more move in the trend toward turning football over to the wine and cheese crowd. It will kill the NFL. Football's strongest support is in the blue collar crowd, not the cheese-eaters. The overwhelming majority of fanatical football fans are also the people who live on tight budgets. Let's put it this way, when football is only for those in the club level, how do you fill the rest of the seats?

[-Slap-]

The NFL will eventually try and cut out the networks entirely. That will screw Joe Sixpack in the long run, but it means a few extra TV games in the short term.

[BigPlayShay]

Ok there is two games traditionally on Turkey day, One is on NFL Network and the other I am assuming is on Fox with the Lions playing right?

There was talk of 3 broadcasted Thanksgiving Day games in 06. This seems more likely with the NFL Network broadcasting one.

[ro_50]

That sucks. I have NFL network and I love the channel, but this is not good news.

You guys are right, this could take away the true football fan.

I'm not happy w/ it. I like to watch the NFL network for their analysis, but lets hope this is not the start of something big, like one day all of the games being on Pay-per-view.

[Atlas]

This is very annoying. NFL obviously doesnt care about us who simply can't get the NFL network because satellite doesnt work here...



Willy don't sweat it. The NFL is putting pressure on your cable company to pick it up. Add to the pressure by calling in and bitching about it. Tell them your going to switch to direct TV if they don't pick up the NFL channel.

P.S. Direct TV works everywhere.. doesn't it?

[-Slap-]

Willy don't sweat it. The NFL is putting pressure on your cable company to pick it up. Add to the pressure by calling in and b****ing about it. Tell them your going to switch to direct TV if they don't pick up the NFL channel.

P.S. Direct TV works everywhere.. doesn't it?
Its not that simple.

[Boogerboots]

Funny (or not) that their current station slogan is "Everything but the Game". Guess they'll have to change that.

NFL Network finally came on Express Vu satelite in Canada this past fall. Before that I called and e-mailed the satelite companies website to lobby them to get the station. I'm sure many other football fans in Canada did the same.

If enough people bitch and complain, eventually they should bring the NFL channel to all carriers south of the border. It's a great channel and one I'll get in tabs with often during the offseason.

[hades]

That is BS. I have DirecTv and the NFL ticket/superfan package and I allready think it is a rip-off. If I had to pay any more to watch football in HD, I just wouldn't watch it any longer, not worth it IMO. I love the Broncos and football games in general, but jeepers, give us non-multi-millionaires a break!!

[BigPlayShay]

Official article from NFL.com

http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story/9193472

NFL Network to televise regular-season games


(Jan. 28, 2006) -- NFL Network, the NFL's two-year-old television channel, will begin airing a "run up to the playoffs" package of eight primetime regular-season NFL games starting in the 2006 season, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced.

The eight-game package will consist of primetime games airing from Thanksgiving to the end of the regular season on Thursday and/or Saturday nights.

The inaugural game of the package is scheduled for Thanksgiving night on Thursday, Nov. 23, as part of a new Thanksgiving Day tripleheader. Games telecast on NFL Network will include pregame and postgame shows.

"After discussing this new package of games with many potential partners, we decided it would be best presented on our own, high-quality NFL Network, which has developed so rapidly that the time had come to add live regular-season games to the programming," Commissioner Tagliabue said. "In the end, we wanted these games on our network, which is devoted 24/7 to the sport of football, and not on a multi-sport network."

NFL Network will make all of its games available on free, over-the-air television in the participating team markets, continuing the NFL's long-standing practice of making all of its games, including the playoffs and Super Bowl, available on free, over-the-air television.

"The NFL has traditionally been at the forefront of innovation and new technology dating back to starting NFL Films in the ‘60s, and Pete Rozelle and Roone Arledge creating Monday Night Football in 1970," said Commissioner Tagliabue. "With NFL Network, we are creating a fresh, innovative programming package that will complement all of our television partners."

NFL Network's new eight-game package was created by shifting Saturday and Sunday games from previous arrangements. In November of 2004, CBS and FOX agreed to extend their packages for six more years. NBC and ESPN last April secured rights for six and eight years, respectively.

"It was decided after surveying the rapidly evolving media landscape that a year-round channel dedicated to our sport was the best way to continue to develop and serve our fan base," NFL Network President & CEO Steve Bornstein said. "This is an opportune time to present these games ourselves and develop new ways to deliver the game of football at all levels to sports fans."

Agreements for all available NFL television packages now are concluded. Following are the rights holders beginning in 2006:

CBS -- AFC package -- Sunday afternoons [1 & 4 p.m. ET]
FOX -- NFC package -- Sunday afternoons [1 & 4 p.m. ET]
NBC -- Primetime broadcast package -- Sunday evenings [8:15 p.m. ET]
ESPN -- Monday Night Football package -- Monday evenings [8:30 p.m. ET]
NFL Network -- Special Late-Season package -- Thursday and/or Saturday evenings [8 p.m. ET] (beginning Thanksgiving)
DirecTV -- Sunday Ticket satellite package [1 & 4 p.m. ET]