Evan! said:
Why is the NFLN being such a bitch about this? If there's one surefire way to piss off fans, it's restricting viewing access to one of the biggest matchups of the year. You gotta be a special kind of stupid to pull this crap.
Quite the contrary, Evan. My guess is that this is exactly what the NFL wants. They WANT people to complain about not being able to see this game. They WANT people to call Comcast or whoever their cable company is and bitch up a storm about it. They WANT people to sign petitions and put pressure on the cable companies to carry NFLN.
The more subscribers they have, the more money they make.
It's the same thing with the NFL's exclusive deal with DirecTV on NFL Ticket. It's not an issue for you since you live in the home market area of your favorite team, but if you ever moved your only option would be to fork over $250 a year for NFL Ticket (and switch to DirecTV in the process) to see your team.
There was the same kind of crap going around here when it was announced that 2 or 3 OSU games were going to be on the Big Ten Network (that most of the local cable companies didn't even offer as an add-on).
If people want something badly enough, they will pay for it and the NFL knows this.
It's actually quite smart on their part. They're trying to increase their viewership and ratings, but the NFL did not create NFLN to bring football to the masses for free. It's just another way to increase the bottom line.
To us it's a sport that we love and are passionate about. When you break it down, it's a business just like any other.