You know, the current unpleasantness between the NFL and cable providers Comcast and Time Warner (which King Kaufman has aptly described as a protracted whizzing match), which has now found its way to the Texas state legislature, basically reminds me of the 2005 legislative fight between Time Warner and AT&T/Comcast over telecom deregulation, in that I can’t quite decide which loathsome group of overprivileged fat cats I despise and want to see lose the least.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Monday urged the House Committee on Regulated Industries to force binding arbitration on Time Warner and Comcast if the two major cable companies won’t negotiate to keep certain games on expanded basic cable.
Comcast, which serves the Houston market, has placed the NFL network on a sports and entertainment tier that costs $7.95 a month. The two companies want to put the NFL on a premier sports tier in other markets as well and charge customers more each month for the package.
Because the NFL attracts more viewers than any other TV programming, Goodell told lawmakers that cable companies would be better off if they put the NFL network on expanded basic cable. The NFL wants cable companies to pay about 70 cents per viewer per month and have it on basic cable, which has a larger audience.
But the big cable companies want to charge up to $8 a month for a premium package, he said.
“We think that’s obscene. We don’t think that’s right,” Goodell told the committee, emphasizing that NFL officials prefer a negotiated outcome instead of a legislative solution.
[…]
The free market should dictate the outcome, argued Todd Baxter, vice president of the Texas Cable Association and a former GOP state representative from Austin.
“Government intervention would be inappropriate,” Baxter told lawmakers. “We can tell you that what the NFL wants is government intervention.”
But Goodell complained that the league isn’t dealing in a free market system. “We are dealing in a system where cable operators are thinking not in the best interest of the consumer, so it’s difficult to be able to do that,” the NFL commissioner said.
And Jones complained that “America’s Team,” as the Cowboys are known, has “millions of fans outside of the home market who are being kept in the dark by Big Cable.”
Yes, that’s Jerry Jones, inveighing against those evil monopolists on behalf of the common man. I’ll pause for a moment while you regain your composure.
Like I said, the whole spectacle gives me a rash. All I can say is that I’m glad to see I’m not alone in feeling this way:
Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, seemed to summarize the mood among his colleagues: “I really don’t care about the billionaires on both sides.”
Amen, brother. Let ’em fight it out mixed martial arts style. Just let me know when it’s all over.
Someone should tell Commissioner Goodell that an owner who charges $150,000 for PSLs to his new stadium is not thinking in the best interests of the consumer, either.
What the NFL leaves unsaid is that most consumers will not pay extra for their product, so they are trying to force us to pay for it through even higher basic cable prices. Where is Bob McNair and his free marketeer ‘Club For Growth’ when we need them?
Ooops…never mind.
Not sure I agree with you, RedScare. I live in Minnesota, but am a Dallas native and lifelong Cowboys fan (and believe me, Jerry Jones does not make that easy to be). When the much-ballyhooed Green Bay/Dallas game aired on the NFL Network a couple of weeks ago, I contacted Comcast to see how much it would cost to add the service to my basic cable. The answer? $12.99 per month.
I’m willing to pay a reasonable price for the service. I did not feel $156 per year was reasonable.
Each side is accusing the other of being money-grubbing pigs. They’re both right.
(Incidentally, I caught the game the old-fashioned way – I listened to the radio broadcast over the internet.)
Get Direct TV, dude. Problem solved: the NFL channel can be turned on, or off, a month at a time. Much cheaper than live tickets.