On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 8:34 AM, Joe Coughlin <[email protected]>wrote:
> Thursday was never prohibited in the Sports Broadcasting Act. It was > Saturday (which, I believe, was later extended to Friday, too), The NFL > always could play on Thursdays. In fact, the first game of the season has > been held on a Thursday for a few years now. > That is correct, as its result in federal law (see: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode15/usc_sec_15_00001293----000-.htm) is "The first sentence of section 1291<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode15/usc_sec_15_00001291----000-.html>of this title shall not apply to any joint agreement described in such section which permits the telecasting of all or a substantial part of any professional football game on any Friday after six o’clock postmeridian or on any Saturday during the period beginning on the second Friday in September and ending on the second Saturday in December ") If these extra Thursday games were to go on the NFL network I think they would be asking for problems, at least given the current configuration, as that would result in significantly fewer Americans having access to those games, which might motivate congress to do something with Title 15 exemption to anti-trust that the NFL would really not like. If they end up on a widely available cable outlet they would probably be OK. Putting that to the side, I think there is a terrible idea for the NFL in the long run (though I guess they see it as a way to inject more revenue into the system so they can spread it around and make a new deal with the players less painful). The NFL works in part because of the rhythm of its schedule. Millions of Americans organize their weeks around watching NFL games - in a way they can not do for NBA, MLB or NHL. I like baseball specifically because in the summer I can turn on my radio or tv in the evening and almost always catch a game - but because of that, there are lots of games, even of my team (Giants) that I miss. MLB games are not appointment viewing. But the NFL is appointment viewing. The Monday Night game was originally enough of an event to get the same treatment (though now I think it is only the Sunday Night game that really gets that same treatment from many fans). More games in the middle of the week dilutes the product. Most of those are lesser games, so as not to screw Fox and CBS on Sunday - but every week the NFL has a night of an undesirable game they are encouraging viewers to no longer see the NFL as special. The first game of the season on Thursday works specifically because they always pick desirable match-ups that they could never maintain on a regular basis. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
