NFL Off Topic

[slickdtc]

Re: NFL Off Topic

ESPN will televise it's first playoff game, a wildcard game in January 2015.

http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-re...-playoff-game/

Sucks. I never support pulling games from national channels onto cable channels.

It's probably a set up to see how well it'll draw on cable. If it does well, they'll probably expand the playoffs to 14 teams and plop the extra two games onto ESPN.

I'm thrilled. NOT.

[mestevo]

Re: NFL Off Topic

No need to test. It will do well, it's a given.

If you wanted to connect dots like that though there's a much bigger issue. Both the NFL and MLB have threatened to pull their free broadcasts and FOX has threatened to take it's public channels to pay TV if Aereo wins a decision from the Supreme Court. They are expected to rule before next week I believe.

[SPTO]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Sucks. I never support pulling games from national channels onto cable channels.

It's probably a set up to see how well it'll draw on cable. If it does well, they'll probably expand the playoffs to 14 teams and plop the extra two games onto ESPN.

I'm thrilled. NOT.

I think you're right but looking at it long term this could be the seed for eventually putting the SB on ESPN at some point in the future. Never say never on that one as no one in Canada thought the Grey Cup would ever leave CBC and it eventually did without skipping a beat.



Regarding Levi's Stadium (Oh I bet Berman will call it the Jeans Shop) it does have that collegiate look from that side of the field but looking at the artistic representation of the stadium provided in the link and it looks a bit bigger. It isn't quite like the other newer NFL stadiums so there's a uniqueness to the building.

I like it.

[mestevo]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Time lapse, looks like a pretty big stadium to me. http://www.49ers.com/news/article-2/...40422_22395594

[slickdtc]

NFL Off Topic

No need to test. It will do well, it's a given.

If you wanted to connect dots like that though there's a much bigger issue. Both the NFL and MLB have threatened to pull their free broadcasts and FOX has threatened to take it's public channels to pay TV if Aereo wins a decision from the Supreme Court. They are expected to rule before next week I believe.

I think you're right but looking at it long term this could be the seed for eventually putting the SB on ESPN at some point in the future. Never say never on that one as no one in Canada thought the Grey Cup would ever leave CBC and it eventually did without skipping a beat.



Regarding Levi's Stadium (Oh I bet Berman will call it the Jeans Shop) it does have that collegiate look from that side of the field but looking at the artistic representation of the stadium provided in the link and it looks a bit bigger. It isn't quite like the other newer NFL stadiums so there's a uniqueness to the building.

I like it.

It's only a matter of time before they're on cable channels. Kind of amazing something so in-demand is still available for "free."

I still say the best option is go with an online format. Well, the best for the people. As an option, not exclusive. Exclusivity sucks. These billion dollar leagues gotta squeeze every penny they can out of us, though.

[l3ulvl]

Re: NFL Off Topic

No need to test. It will do well, it's a given.

If you wanted to connect dots like that though there's a much bigger issue. Both the NFL and MLB have threatened to pull their free broadcasts and FOX has threatened to take it's public channels to pay TV if Aereo wins a decision from the Supreme Court. They are expected to rule before next week I believe.

Well that sucks, local channels are the only way for me to watch HD sports

[mestevo]

Re: NFL Off Topic

It's not automatically going to happen, no matter the decision, but could have a really big impact on broadcast TV in general. The NFL specifically would have some antitrust things to work through if they really tried to follow through with that, would be a little easier for the MLB to do it from what I understand.

A take from SI.com:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20140112/media-circus-dan-fouts-ian-eagle-cbs-sports-nfl/index.html#all

10k. I asked SI.com's sports law expert, Michael McMann, to offer his thoughts on sports impact of the upcoming ABC vs. Aereo case:
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear ABC v. Aereo, a case that could radically change sports broadcasting. Major television networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and PBS, have joined together to sue Aereo, a technology company that provides paying subscribers with antennas to receive and record live streamed broadcasts on their computers, tablets, AppleTVs and other devices. Aereo is only available in 10 markets—Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Miami, New York City and Salt Lake City— and, depending on the market, provides between 15 and 50 channels, none of which are sports channels. Aereo's controversy stems from the fact that it does not pay fees to stream (retransmit) network programming. The networks contend that Aereo is essentially stealing their copyright-protected broadcasts for profit. So far, federal judges have sided with Aereo, mainly because copyright protection for broadcasts only extends to "public performances" and Aereo's streams are individualized for each subscriber. If you think Aereo is exploiting a loophole in copyright law, you're not alone.

Sports fans should pay close attention to this case. The NFL and Major League Baseball have filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of the networks. The two leagues insist that Aereo is "eroding the value of one of [their] most important assets": copyrights in live game broadcasts. The leagues contend that by streaming NFL and MLB games, Aereo damages the exclusivity of live game broadcasts and thus reduces the amount of money leagues can attract for licensing contracts. DirecTV and Verizon, for example, would likely offer leagues less money to broadcast their games if customers can use Aereo to watch those same games. The leagues ominously warn that if Aereo is ruled lawful, they will eventually shift all of their game broadcasts to cable stations outside of Aereo's reach. The NFL estimates that 90 percent of its broadcasts are on free over-the-air TV stations, such as NBC, CBS and Fox. A shift of all games to cable TV would be great news for ESPN and perhaps also Fox Sports 1 and the NBC Sports Network, but it would deny fans who do not pay for cable. It would also be bad news for the NFL and MLB products on NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox.

While the leagues' threat is to be taken seriously, there are legal reasons to doubt that the NFL would actually carry through on it. The NFL is a beneficiary of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which exempts the four major leagues from violating Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act in their national television contracts. The exemption, however, only extends to "sponsored broadcasting" of games, an expression interpreted to mean free over-the-air TV. By moving all of its games to cable, the NFL would lose the exemption's protection and open itself up to years of antitrust litigation. Baseball is in a different position because of its historical exemption from antitrust law, but that exemption has been limited over the years. The nine Supreme Court justices will hear oral arguments this spring and issue an opinion later in the year.

[N51_rob]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Will have to follow this case. First heard for me and I have no leanings at this time. I still pay for cable, and hulu and netflix, and mlbtv and NFL Game Rewind so I don't know how to feel. As long as I can see my local teams on local channels weather it be network, Comcast Sports Net, MASN or in preson I guess I really don't care.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: NFL Off Topic

The biggest games should be on network TV. This goes for all sports.

[canesfins]

Re: NFL Off Topic

I hope not, my broke *** doesn't even have ESPN. I have the most basic cable package.

[TracerBullet]

Re: NFL Off Topic

I think you're right but looking at it long term this could be the seed for eventually putting the SB on ESPN at some point in the future. Never say never on that one as no one in Canada thought the Grey Cup would ever leave CBC and it eventually did without skipping a beat.



Regarding Levi's Stadium (Oh I bet Berman will call it the Jeans Shop) it does have that collegiate look from that side of the field but looking at the artistic representation of the stadium provided in the link and it looks a bit bigger. It isn't quite like the other newer NFL stadiums so there's a uniqueness to the building.

I like it.

I believe he was stuck on "Field of Jeans" last year.

[slickdtc]

NFL Off Topic

I hope not, my broke *** doesn't even have ESPN. I have the most basic cable package.

Yeah I dunno how it works after they went all digital, but I used to rig up a ghetto antenna out of what was an original NES adapter AV cable or something to watch FOX, CBS, and NBC broadcasts. Nothing like a little fuzz! Haha

I pay for cable ($90) exclusively to watch sports. If they were on network TV, I wouldn't pay and would live without being able to watch ESPN, FS1, NBCSN. But those days of no cable weren't that long ago, so I'm still of the opinion that the more sports on the basic channels, the better. Plus, take some money out of Comcast & the other POS cable providers pockets. Win-win.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Regular Season Schedules to be released Wednesday night at 8pm, according to PFT.com.

Which means most of them will be leaked throughout the day or even starting tonight.

[TracerBullet]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Thought this would have been posted by the time I got home. Jaguars linebacker Russell Allen suffered a stroke on the field in week 15. It has ended his career.

It went dark on Dec. 15, 2013. Just after halftime in a Week 15 game against the Bills, Allen strafed across the hash marks in pursuit of a ballcarrier before running into center Eric Wood several yards downfield. The two collided face-to-face, dead center from Allen’s perspective, and Allen walked away buzzed as he casually shrugged his shoulders.

“It was strange because it was so routine,” Allen says. “We hit, I got off the block, no big deal. I felt something flash—like they say when you get your bell rung. I didn’t lose consciousness. I walked back to the huddle and finished the drive.”

Link

[SteelersFreak]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Football as we know it will cease to exist within the next 50 years. And its probably for the better.