For the first time an NFL Playoff Game goes to cable-only

For the first time ever an NFL playoff game will be on ESPN this year.

IIRC it was in 1987 that the NFL first aired games on ESPN. There was outcry and talk of Congressional action. But in the end the NFL just put the games on over-the-air channels in the local markets and found a new revenue stream. Will we soon be to where Wild Card Weekend is all or mostly cable?

I don't know that I see the point here as it is a ratings winner. But perhaps in 10 years Wild Card Weekend will be on NFL Network only? Or even NFL Network and PPV streaming for a few bucks?

Discuss.

I hesitate to be flippant because I don't want to disrespect you. But now that you know I mean no disrespect, I'll go ahead and say - who cares?

I think my view of the NFL has gone from neutral into the land of actual dislike. I'm trying to think of what would happen if the NFL met great success / disastrous failure, and I can't think of a way that my life would change at all. Maybe the only way is its success keeps football fans from snagging up all the hockey tickets until January.

I dunno. Football is dumb.

Major sports on ABC (last three are branded ESPN but are shown on ABC)

• NBA on ABC (1964–1973 and 2002–present)
  NBA Playoffs
  NBA Finals
  WNBA on ESPN (2003–present)
• IndyCar Series on ABC (1996–present)
  Indianapolis 500 (1965–present)
  Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit
• ESPN College Football on ABC (1950, 1966–present)
  First pick of ACC, American, Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac-12 matchups
  Saturday Night Football (2006–present)
  Capital One Bowl (1987–2010, 2013-present)
• ESPN College Basketball on ABC (1962, 1973, 1978, and 1987–present)
  SEC Men's Basketball Tournament (1987-1991, 2010–present)
• NASCAR on ESPN (1961, 1971, 1975–1976, 1979–1982, 1984–2000, 2007–2014)
  Sprint Cup Series (Irwin Tools Night Race, Federated Auto Parts 400, and Bank of America 500)
  Nationwide Series (Blue Jeans Go Green 200, History 300, Gardner Denver 200 Fired Up by Johnsonville, and Zippo 200 at the Glen)
  
  Although Disney broadcasts most of its sports on ESPN , I think the rest will slide over if Aereo wins the Supreme Court case.
  
  NFL Network is now 10.5 years old. Thursday Night Football (8 games) has been on NFL Network since 2006, but is moving to CBS this fall. So I don't think there is a good possibility that Wild Card Weekend will be on NFL Network only.

Quote: Face

I hesitate to be flippant because I don't want to disrespect you. But now that you know I mean no disrespect, I'll go ahead and say - who cares?

I think my view of the NFL has gone from neutral into the land of actual dislike. I'm trying to think of what would happen if the NFL met great success / disastrous failure, and I can't think of a way that my life would change at all. Maybe the only way is its success keeps football fans from snagging up all the hockey tickets until January.

I dunno. Football is dumb.

No disrespect to me, not sure if I have said it here but my view of the NFL is also veering towards dislike. It started when they said Rush Limbaugh was not welcome as an investor because he was "divisive" yet they let a dog killer felon play QB. Same dog killer gets a 4 game suspension yet Roethlisberger gets 6 games (later reduced) based on just a charge and no conviction of anything.

Since I bought the house and got a few projects going it amazes me how much more there is to do on a Sunday afternoon. Only reason I even watched the SB was to see how it went in cold weather, I may tune out again this year as it is nothing but people waiting for the commercials which I find to be empty consumerism at its worst.

I can hardly watch anymore and if I do I have to be online doing other things at the same time. 20 years ago I loved it; 10 years ago I really liked it; today I barely care. They have destroyed the game of old and replaced it with one made for the short-attention-span generation.

Quote: AZDuffman

20 years ago I loved it; 10 years ago I really liked it; today I barely care. They have destroyed the game of old and replaced it with one made for the short-attention-span generation.

Same here. I remember "NFL" always coming along with "Sunday". Me, my cousins, uncles, grandfather, all huddled around the TV. When I got older, it was all my buddies. Stats, trades, we were into it.

Now, I just want to finish my garden pond. I just want to fill the crater where my old pool was. I just want my car back so I can work on it. Watching football seems more work and less desirable than shoveling the 7 tons of soil I have to shovel to fill that crater.

And it ain't just us. We'll still maybe put the game on during Sunday lunch, but it's not a guarantee. It's no longer ritual. Sometimes the game will be on, but it's just the kids watching. In the fall, us older folks are out throwing the ball with the little kids or walking them in the woods. In winter, we're playing cards and talking while the game goes on unwatched.

My grandpa was mad for maybe a few weeks when the NFL went to ESPN (he still has rabbit ears, only three local channels). Wasn't even halfway through the season when he filled his Sundays with housework and I never heard him bitch again.

Quote: Face

I think my view of the NFL has gone from neutral into the land of actual dislike.

The cost of a 30 second spot on Sunday Night Football on NBC is $600K, TBBT gets $317K, while the minimal acceptable revenue to keep a TV show on the air is about $60K. Super Bowl is $4 million for a 30 second spot.

Even people who are neutral about the NFL understand that it is popular and can command sky high advertising dollars. That is just business.

But now everyone who gets cable or satellite pays $60-$70 per year for ESPN. People who don't watch NFL are starting to grumble about this non-optional payment (the single largest expense in cable bill). In addition, ESPN draws more than half that much again in advertising revenue.

I am guessing that at least 25% of American households would gladly pay three times that amount if they could get ESPN and broadcast and not have to pay for anything else

Given the cost of financing this new TV contract which is double the previous one, there will be more involuntary incursions on people who were otherwise neutral.

Quote: Pacomartin

ESPN draws more than half that much again in advertising revenue.

The amazing thing about ESPN is that way back when they just said, hell with it, we'll show all the highlights and damn the torpedoes - the torpedoes being paying for the rights to show the highlights.

Everybody else was listening to the Bean-counters.

The NFL diluted their product by having more games throughout the week. They've diluted their product by promoting less of a smash-mouth game, which is odd, as many of the recent superbowl champs have been hard-playing defense first teams (not least the Seahawks, who then proceeded to run up a massive score on the other side of the ball). The latter though is on the backs of the serious cost of bigger, harder and faster players making long term, serious injury more likely (one has to look at the sad deaths of players like Junior Seau to realize the long term impacts of concussions).

The NFL should protect the players. The amount of money being paid for the TV contracts though is ultimately going to blow up and there'll be players who'll be rather peeved to find the golden goose is gone.

Quote: TheCesspit

The NFL should protect the players. The amount of money being paid for the TV contracts though is ultimately going to blow up and there'll be players who'll be rather peeved to find the golden goose is gone.

I keep waiting for the Law of Large Numbers to catch up with the NFL's TV contracts. It has been on about a 40 year run of up-up-up. If it crashes the players may be POed but the owners will be OK. Labor is a % of revenue and an NFL Team may not be pledged as collateral for any loan so they may be tight but they will be protected for the most part.

Comcast (the country's largest cable operator) in Philadelphia owns NBCUniversal. They own several different sports networks with similar names including the three above.

They normally show Phillies games on Comcast Sports Network, but if there is a conflict with some other sport they will sometimes push the game to The Comcast Network. If you are a die hard fan and you don't have Comcast Cable, some of the local cable companies don't want to pay for the third network. Even if you are willing to pay to see the game, you don't have that option.

Once people get used to selecting movies and TV shows on Netflix, it drives them crazy not to be able to watch all the games.

This year there will be 133 Phillies games on Comcast's cable networks, and 12 or 13 on NBC10.