NFL Network kicks Green Bay in the Nuts
Yep, apparently, the NFL is sticking it to the fans.
Thursday Night Football was aired exclusively to the NFL Network, as the Green Bay Packers faced-off with the Minnesota Vikings in a game that could very well be the last game Packers fans will see the incomparable Brett Favre play at Lambeau Field.
Yep, just like last season, there are rumors that Brett Favre will finally call it quits. Of course, only Brett Favre knows that for sure.
NFL Thursday Night Football is EXCLUSIVE only to the NFL Network (figures…) as a result, Green Bay locals who don’t have access to the channel ended up not seeing Favre’s last home game.
And you can bet your ass these Packers fans from Green Bay, Wisconsin are pissed.
NFL Football commissioner Roger Goodell said he shares the pain of Green Bay Packers fans who weren’t able to watch Thursday night’s game on television because their local cable provider doesn’t carry the NFL Network.
But the league wasn’t willing to offer the game for free to all Wisconsin football fans who don’t get the network in their homes. It was available on over-the-air stations in Green Bay and Milwaukee.
”You could obviously do that, and you could put it on free television,” said Goodell, who spoke to reporters at Lambeau Field before the Vikings-Packers game. ”But then, how do you ever get the distribution?”
”From our standpoint, we want our fans to see the NFL Network, not just tonight, 365 days a year, because we think we have high-quality programming,” he added.
Green Bay and Milwaukee are considered home markets for the Packers, allowing a local over-the-air TV station to simulcast the NFL Network’s broadcast. The same was true in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
In many other Wisconsin cities, most notably the capital of Madison, Packers fans who don’t get the NFL Network weren’t able to see the game in their homes. Too bad.
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