The key phrase there is "out of market." If he lived in Philadelphia, he'd be able to watch every Eagles game on over-the-air TV for the cost of an antenna. There's another hack that I've been doing since my 20s, which is called "watching the game at a bar that has Sunday Ticket." That would likely be cheaper than his strategic patchwork of cancelling and un-cancelling.
Furthermore, this is only a problem for this fan because the Eagles are a successful marquee team that is frequently selected for national games by the streaming services. If he were a fan of, say, the Arizona Cardinals, it would be a lot less complicated.
I’m old enough to remember when local game was blacked out if it was not a sellout, and you were basically out of luck. We don’t appreciate how good we have it.
Relatedly, price maintenance is good. All games available at one source for a bargain price would result in a lot of people treating them like disposable slop.
I think it's worth remembering how unique this moment in history is. You never got to see every game on television. Historically, you saw 3 games in the Sunday slot, which later expanded to those 3 games + Monday night, then those 3 games + Sunday and Monday nights, and finally those 3 games + Thursday, Sunday, and Monday nights. The NFL is under no obligation to make all of its games available at all, either on cable or streaming.
And honestly, it's only the most passionate of fans who want to see every game. Everyone was just fine until not that long ago with not seeing every game in its entirety. You'd watch the highlights or read about the other games in the sports section. And most people are STILL fine with that-- what happens is that with the option of seeing every game, some fans will pay a lot of money for that privilege. Which is fine-- charging them a lot of money shouldn't actually be any more controversial that the markups on official souvenirs at the team store. These things are all just "ways to get the most passionate fans to spend more money", which is sports marketing 101.
I think there IS a Sports Broadcasting Act concern if they start taking games OFF of free TV. So far this has only happened to the Thursday Night games nobody cares about and which were only added not long ago. But if it becomes the case that you can only get MNF on Streaming, or SNF, or one of the 3 Sunday games, that's probably a red line.
But people who want to watch every game? The NFL can charge them whatever the market will bear, as far as I am concerned. They're freaks.
This antitrust probe of the NFL is complete nonsense- a tiny percentage of games are streaming-exclusive- and the government would have a much stronger case, for the same thing, against MLB or the NBA.
The key phrase there is "out of market." If he lived in Philadelphia, he'd be able to watch every Eagles game on over-the-air TV for the cost of an antenna. There's another hack that I've been doing since my 20s, which is called "watching the game at a bar that has Sunday Ticket." That would likely be cheaper than his strategic patchwork of cancelling and un-cancelling.
Furthermore, this is only a problem for this fan because the Eagles are a successful marquee team that is frequently selected for national games by the streaming services. If he were a fan of, say, the Arizona Cardinals, it would be a lot less complicated.
Why does Bradley Cooper have “FAG” written on his forehead?
I’m old enough to remember when local game was blacked out if it was not a sellout, and you were basically out of luck. We don’t appreciate how good we have it.
Relatedly, price maintenance is good. All games available at one source for a bargain price would result in a lot of people treating them like disposable slop.
Great article Ethan. Going to print out and send to my neighbor who's a diehard eagles fan
I think it's worth remembering how unique this moment in history is. You never got to see every game on television. Historically, you saw 3 games in the Sunday slot, which later expanded to those 3 games + Monday night, then those 3 games + Sunday and Monday nights, and finally those 3 games + Thursday, Sunday, and Monday nights. The NFL is under no obligation to make all of its games available at all, either on cable or streaming.
And honestly, it's only the most passionate of fans who want to see every game. Everyone was just fine until not that long ago with not seeing every game in its entirety. You'd watch the highlights or read about the other games in the sports section. And most people are STILL fine with that-- what happens is that with the option of seeing every game, some fans will pay a lot of money for that privilege. Which is fine-- charging them a lot of money shouldn't actually be any more controversial that the markups on official souvenirs at the team store. These things are all just "ways to get the most passionate fans to spend more money", which is sports marketing 101.
I think there IS a Sports Broadcasting Act concern if they start taking games OFF of free TV. So far this has only happened to the Thursday Night games nobody cares about and which were only added not long ago. But if it becomes the case that you can only get MNF on Streaming, or SNF, or one of the 3 Sunday games, that's probably a red line.
But people who want to watch every game? The NFL can charge them whatever the market will bear, as far as I am concerned. They're freaks.
This antitrust probe of the NFL is complete nonsense- a tiny percentage of games are streaming-exclusive- and the government would have a much stronger case, for the same thing, against MLB or the NBA.