NFL - NEWS & NOTES

For the longest time they didn't even have Christmas games. Look at it as an opportunity.

 

Netflix and Peacock are pretty darn inexpensive.

 

For those that aren’t already paying for some sort of tv package. Once you start adding everything together, I could see why some are upset. We have 4 kids, so we have just about every service under the sun. We also cut the cord with cable and have many services bundled at a discount with Hulu.

The thing is… unlike MLB and NBA who are contracted with a local station for local games, the NFL has full control over all games. Many local games get blacked out if they are in a 3rd party contract. That was also the case at the local level when a team didn’t sell out their stadium, but since COVID, the ticket sales have become almost irrelevant.

Now you have to carry a TV service (cable, satellite or live streaming service) to get the majority of games legally. Then you have to purchase subscriptions to, what has become several stand alone streaming services as well to see all the games.

Here is what we have:
Hulu live $79/mo (includes Showtime and Paramount+)
Netflix $24/mo (multiple screens, commercial free) you can get a single screen with commercials for l$6.99/mo
Peacock you can get for $6.99/mo (with ads) or $11.99/mo (no ads)
Are Thursday night games still on Amazon Prime? That’ll cost you another $14.99/mo or $139/yr.

So, if you are just talking about NFL season months(Sept-Feb)
Cable approx $474
Netflix $42
Peacock $42
Amazon Prime $90

In order to make sure you can watch all the games.

now, you can use these services for other entertainment value, but you will NEED all these services to watch all the games available in your area, meaning local and nationally televised.

Still less than season tickets or a bar tab to see them all.

Oh yeah… the old antenna won’t do you any good these days, so don’t forget about that internet bill… you aren’t watching anything without WiFi.

 

I feel piracy is the only option.

 

Years ago there was a website called "front row sports". They had free everything!! NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, Cricket matches, rugby. Any sport you could think of, They had it 24/7. Their gone now.

Before last season, I decided to get NFL Sunday Ticket on UTUBE. I call them up. What do I get? An Indian call center!! Sure, they spoke english. But their accents were so heavy/thick, I couldn't understand a word they were saying. Tried it 3 times. Not happening. They do their customer service like that and want to charge me four hundred dollars for the privilege? Not a chance. I'll see if I can find something else.

 

The NFL spreading out games to more broadcasters and more dates just means that I'm going to watch less football. The people saying that there's nothing wrong with the move are probably the bootlickers that don't miss games anyway. But for the common / casual fan, like me, I'm probably just watching less football.

The NFL makes money because it's a juggernaut and has done a great job of squashing any potential competition to its product - you want to watch pro football, you watch the NFL. Goodell could probably put the games on CSPAN and the league would still make money - we're not going to have a true idea of how good / bad this is for the league anytime soon, if at all. But for the common fan, this isn't doing them any favors. It is, however, doing lots of favors for these broadcasters that are trying to move back towards the cable model, etc.

 

It’s a point we made last March. With the NFL taking two Christmas games from over-the-air broadcast networks and sending them to a new streaming partner, it’s worth mentioning again.

At some point, as the NFL pivots from broadcast to streaming — and as fans need more and more services to watch all games — it’s going to face a potential antitrust issue.

The problem traces to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. That’s the federal law that allows the NFL to sell its TV rights as a group, even though the NFL consists of unique businesses that should be selling their TV rights separately.

Three years ago, an item in the University of Iowa’s Journal of Corporation Law looked at the league’s looming legal challenges in an era of streaming. An argument could be made that the antitrust exemption in the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 doesn’t apply to games available on streaming platforms.

Of course, someone would first have to raise the issue. If any of the traditional broadcast networks ever filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL over streaming deals not being done on a team-by-team basis, that network would never have to worry about ever having a contract with the NFL again. A class action on behalf of consumers would potentially be possible, under the argument that the league is misusing its exemption to sell league-wide packages to streaming companies and keeping them off of free, over-the-air TV. (The argument would be that, if the NFL’s individual teams had to do their own streaming deals, the league would be far more likely to keep all packages on traditional TV networks.)

The league surely is sensitive to the possibility of a legal challenge. Whenever the league adds a new package that isn’t on a broadcast network, the league ensures that the game will be available on over-the-air TV in the markets of the teams playing in those games. Indeed, during the recent conference call regarding this year’s schedule, the league specifically made the point that 100 percent of all games will be available in the local markets of the teams playing in those games.

We’re not saying what should happen. We’re just pointing out what could happen. The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 has potential limits, especially since it was passed more than a half-century before streaming even existed.

The NFL will need to address the issue at some point, either by getting from Congress an expanded exemption that covers streaming — or by waiting for a lawsuit and trying to make the case that the law should cover streaming, especially since 100 percent of all games are always available in the local markets of the teams playing in those games.

PFT/Florio

 

Amen!

I pay $127.00 monthly to just have an ISP and thats total bullshit in its own right. So, as most of you know and if you didnt, I dont subscribe to TV/cable stuff. No way in hell do I pay 300-400/ per month for cable, Sattel light and tv stuff. I will pirate everything till the 'man' and the government control/decides to attack the WWW and that, imo, is just around the corner.

The NFL is the front-runner in selling out the fans, the common fans that grew up watching this stuff and made it the industry that it is... they have forgotten their roots because of the Billions of dollars on the line, in their pockets and in their eyes. Contracts these days are what's behind the whole damn thing and imo, its not sustainable... something or somebody has to give or the bridge comes down.

Trust me when I tell you, the conglomeration of the NFL with streaming and every other major industry tying all things together, just ties everything together when the markets crash and the whole thing blows up in their face. It is a real scenario and can happen soon. Ask yourself this question, why are the major sports brands and broadcast entities cleaning house?.... everybody is getting fired. There is a reason for this.

On that happy note... Have a nice day.

 

I think the NFL is going to screw the pooch eventually. I used to watch a lot of baseball, since they took my Braves off of TBS and made most games where you have to pay extra to watch, I haven’t watched baseball in years. I used to watch a few games a week. The same thing will happen with football if they keep the bullshit up.

 

The NFL is pushing against the boundaries / breaking the limits of antitrust laws all the time. But there's no chance they actually get enforced. Apple is about as clear a monopoly as any one company can set itself up to be, and even it has avoided regulatory attempts / lawsuits up until very recently. If you have the money to enforce your monopoly in America, it stands. The NFL has that. I doubt it changes anytime soon, though I'd be happy to be wrong.

 

I agree with you. BUT. This can be settled thru the court system or the court of public opinion. Lose your fan base? You got nothing!! Money talks. Monopolies are nothing without money coming in. I believe in the open market!! Economics 101. It's never wrong!!

 

The brand is too big and streaming services are too mainstream. It won’t hurt them enough to make a dent.

 

The way the NFL is going you will need a different streaming service provider to watch every game on the schedule.

 

One of the original Raiders has died.

Jim Otto passed Sunday at 86. The news was announced by his former teammate, Raiders linebacker Phil Villapiano. The Raiders confirmed Otto’s death to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Originally drafted by a proposed AFL team in Minneapolis that was abandoned when the NFL decided to put a team there, Otto’s rights defaulted to the Raiders. He wore 50 as a rookie but switched to his trademark 00 in 1961.

He spent 15 years with the Raiders, through 1974. A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Otto also was named to the NFL’s 100th anniversary team and the AFL all-time team. He entered Canton in 1980, his first year of eligibility.

Otto was one of only 20 men to play in the AFL during its 10 years of existence.

A Wisconsin native, Otto played college football at the University of Miami.

Otto had 74 surgeries during and after his career. He eventually had his right leg amputated. Otto spoke about his football injuries to PBS more than a decade ago.

“There were so many times that I would walk off the field and my eyes would be crossed,” Otto said. “Did you ever have that happen to you? Get hit in the head so hard your eyes were crossed? You sit there. It’s strange; it’s really strange. Or what about if you had amnesia for two days? When you looked at your wife and you didn’t know who she was, like, who’s this chick? And you couldn’t remember. You got hit in the head, and you had amnesia.”

We extend our condolences to Otto’s family, teammates, friends, and the Raiders community.

 

Good morning to all.

I enjoy this site every damn day, thanks Tim!

 

Browns pass rusher Ogbo Okoronkwo wants double-digit sacks this season

Browns edge rusher Ogbo Okoronkwo has never had more than five sacks in any of his five season and has only 14 for his career. That hasn’t stopped Okoronkwo from dreaming big.

Okoronkwo, 29, is aiming for a double-digit sack season.

“This year, I’m trying to. . . I’ll say it: I’ll speak it into existence. I’m going for double-digit sacks this year,” Okoronkwo said Saturday, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “That’s the goal every year. I’m just going to put in the work. I hate to say numbers, but that’s what I’m looking to get.”

Okoronkwo joined the Browns on a three-year, $19 million deal before last season. He made 4.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss and eight quarterback hits in 14 games in 2023.

He missed three games at the end of the season with a torn pectoral but returned in time to play the regular-season finale against the Bengals and the playoff loss to the Texans.

“I feel great,” Okoronkwo said. “I’m 100 percent ready to go.”

Fully healthy, Okoronkwo gets a chance to do something he’s never done.

PFT

 

Beginning Monday, 21 teams kick off organized team activities, colloquially referred to as OTAs: the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans.

The Atlanta Falcons and Washington Commanders began OTAs last week. The Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers all begin organized team activities on Tuesday. The Cincinnati Bengals are the final of the 32 starting OTAs on May 28.

OTAs kickstart Phase Three of the offseason program, which lasts four weeks. Clubs may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team activities. Live contact is prohibited, but teams can run 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. The OTAs portion of the offseason calendar is when things start to look closer to actual practices than we've seen during offseason workouts.

We're still in the portion of the offseason where clubs are installing programs and players are getting their feet wet, but starting Monday, most teams will at least be on the field together. Players like Aaron Rogers can continue to work their way back. Rookies like Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Bo Nix will participate in sessions with veteran teammates. And some players will skip the voluntary workouts as a statement in contract negotiations, like Steelers veteran Cameron Heyward.

NFL.com
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Not much else to talk about...

 

That's ok, keep it coming!

 

Report: Tee Higgins won’t sign his tender before next week’s OTAs

Tee Higgins can’t join the Bengals until he signs his tender. The receiver hasn’t signed his tender and doesn’t intend to anytime soon, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

As expected, Higgins is not expected to sign the tender before next week’s organized team activities.

Higgins, the only franchise-tagged player who has not received a long-term extension this offseason, is scheduled to make $21.8 million on the one-year, fully guaranteed franchise tag.

Higgins, 25, played 12 games last season, missing four games with a fractured rib and then Week 18 with a hamstring issue. He caught 42 passes for 656 yards and five touchdowns, all career lows.

He had 1,000-yard seasons in 2021 and 2022 and has 257 catches for 3,684 yards and 24 touchdowns in his four seasons in Cincinnati, which made him a second-round pick in 2020.

PFT