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7 Willamette Sports L.J. 1 (2009-2010)

handle is hein.journals/wlmsplj7 and id is 1 raw text is: 






                  The NFL Network Versus Cable Providers:
                       Throwing a Penalty Flag on the Fans

                                     Andrew B. Delaney*

          But compromise, if not the spice of life, is its solidity. It is what makes nations great and
          marriages happy.'

                                          INTRODUCTION

        During economic  crises, most businesses feel a pinch.2 One of the very few  businesses that
appear unaffected is professional sports.3 Professional football-the American version-is one of the
most  lucrative professional sports enterprises in the world.4 On any given Monday night during the
football season, it is likely more Americans are watching Monday Night Football than any other sporting
event on television.5

        The NFL  Network  was launched in 2003 as a vehicle to broadcast films, clips, and thousands of
hours of footage owned   by the NFL.6   In other words, the NFL  Network  is a premium   football
channel.7 Football is already widely watched, and the NFL Network tries to attract the huge fan base.

        So what exactly is the NFL Network? In its words: It is every football fan's dream. Seven days
a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a television network solely devoted to the most popular sport in





* Andrew B. Delaney is a 2010 Juris Doctor candidate at Vermont Law School and Co-Founder of the National
Sports & Entertainment Law Society.
1 PHYLLIS MCGINLEY, A SHORT WALK FROM  THE STATION 13 (1951).
2 See Press Release, U.S. Post Office, Madison Post Office Announces Route Changes (Mar. 9, 2009), available at
http://www.nbcl5.com/home/headlines/40964297.html (The current economic downturn has affected every
business in the country.).
3 See Matt Jaffe, Is the Sports Business Recession Proof?, ABC NEWS.COM, Mar 5, 2009,
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=7010282&page= 1 (noting that even as off-the-field layoffs
continue, players are recording multi-million dollar contract deals).
4 See, e.g., MARK YOST, TAILGATING, SACKS AND SALARY CAPS: How THE NFL BECAME THE MOST SUCCESSFUL
SPORTS LEAGUE IN HISTORY 1 (2006) (noting that league revenues at the start of the 2005 season were $5.2 billion;
additionally, merchandising was worth $3.4 billion, and the League had just entered four new television contracts
worth an estimated $3.75 billion per year). See also MICHAEL ORIARD, BRAND NFL 166 (2007) (noting that by the
winter of 2005-2006, league revenues were close to $6.0 billion).
' See, e.g., Street & Smith's Sports Business Daily, Final Nielsen Ratings from Recent Sports Events, Sept. 26, 2008,
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/124293 (showing that televised NFL events had a larger market share
and more viewers than any other sporting events for the week of September 20, 2008, and noting that the lowest
rated football game in recent history (23.4 HH Nielsen rating) easily outperformed one of the highest rated New
York Mets games in recent history (5.73 HH Nielsen rating)). Monday Night Football had 18.6 million viewers
compared with 3.07 million viewers for a New York Yankees versus Baltimore Orioles game. Id. One explanation
is that the coverage area correlates directly with viewership, but NFL games appear to draw more viewers per capita
regardless.
6 GIL FRIED, TIMOTHY J. SHAPIRO & TIMOTHY D. DESCHRIVER, SPORT FINANCE 259 (2d ed. 2007).
' Wilton D. Alston, The NFL Network: You're Kidding, Right?, STRIKE THE ROOT, Dec. 12, 2007,
http://www.strike-the-root.com/72/alston/alston4.html.
8 Street & Smith's, supra note 5.


1I


FALL  2009

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