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I Heart NFL Network

By ArtieFufkin

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BREAKING UPDATE- 6:10PM ET

The Associated Press is reporting that “Comcast Corp. will continue carrying the NFL Network even after their contract expires at midnight, as negotiations continue.”

We did it!!! Comcast folded!  We stuck it to the man! Viva la Revolucion!!!

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The NFL Network has been in a long-running dispute with Comcast cable, which is coming to a head when Comcast removes the network from its programming tomorrow, May 1st. Barring a last-minute agreement, Comcast subscribers will lose NFLN at 11:59pm tonight.

At the heart of the feud: Comcast does not carry the NFL Network as part of its basic package, charging a monthly premium to access the channel as part of its digital sports tier. Comcast wants to continue the agreement under the same terms. The NFL Network refuses to agree to a contract that would mean remaining on the sports tier.

You can read both sides of the argument in this Washington Examiner piece, which presents the cases from executives at both behemoth corporate entities.  NFL Network CEO Steve Borstein points out that Comcast makes cage-fighting and bull-riding available to nine times as many subscribers as the NFL Network, even though the network draws far more viewers:

Comcast discriminates against networks like NFL Network because we are independent. Do you know why you get the Golf Channel and Versus on a basic level of cable service? Both are owned by Comcast, which makes its own channels broadly available.

Do you wonder why the recently launched MLB Network is broadly available and offered to fans without an extra monthly fee? Once again, the answer is Comcast has an ownership interest in the MLB Network.

I am an unabashed NFL Network lover, and the fact that I will no longer be able to spend time with my dearest during the off-season and beyond is breaking my heart in two.

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UPDATE:

I just found this awesome draft recap by Pat Kirwan on NFL.com, which includes a ton of NFL Network footage (preceded by a ton of annoying sprint ads).  But this is a great piece, with capsules on every team.  So, if you want to get an idea of what you’re missing on ESPN …

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OK, now you can read on for my story:

About 4 years ago, I moved into a new house, having spent the previous 3 years living up in the Rocky Mountain foothills without cable or internet.  It was my hermit stage, but I still managed to watch plenty of football at my buddies’ houses or at sports bars, and got most of my NFL news from the internet at work.

But when I moved into my new place, I discovered that not only did I now have access to the full complement of 934 digital cable channels … one of those channels was the NFL Network! For those of you who have never seen the NFL Network, its exactly what it sounds like: non-stop NFL coverage, 24/7/365.

No longer would I be forced to sit through 40 minutes of monotonous MLB coverage on Sportscenter, waiting for their 5 minute riff on the NFL, which always seems to include something about Bill Parcells, the Dallas Cowboys and Terrell Owens.  No more would I have to suffer through the tedious, played-out highlight calls from Chris Berman & co, and rely on mutant talking heads like John Clayton and Mel Kiper for my NFL insights.  ESPN is first and foremost an entertainment network, and since the heydey of “Primetime” when they were really the only game in town, they have been consistently sucking the chrome off a trailer hitch with their football coverage.

With the NFL Network, my joy as a viewer was renewed.  Now I could watch football highlights and discussion all day and all night long.  My fitness level took a nosedive.  I could watch games I missed over the weekend on NFL Replay, which cut 3-hour games down to 1-hour by removing all the non-action.   They included NFL Films clips (NFL Films!!!), and coach/player commentary in the game highlights.  I could watch classic replays of games I didn’t even know were classics!  They aired America’s Game, which is the best retrospective series on the Super Bowl ever. By. Far.

Eisen, Schefter, Mayock, Wilcots.  These were my new go-to guys.  Thursday night games, Total Access, team cams, training camp reports, fantasy analysis, in-depth film sessions, Top 10 lists and unparalleled access to teams.  It was all there, all the time.  I no longer needed to bother with the Direct TV NFL Package.  NFL Network was my new Sunday paramour.

But now, it is being ripped away from me.  And it sucks.  Eff you Comcast.  Eff you.

Check out IWantNFLNetwork.com to voice your opinion to Comcast, find out who carries the network in your area.

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