More Videos
- Predictions 2010: Sports
- ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue: A Financial Success
- Tiger Ads Continue To Run Today
- Tiger Woods Wants to Protect Family Privacy: Agent
- Is Super Bowl Halftime Act Too Old?
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- NBA D-League On The Rise
- Weis' Deal Likely Won't Change Big Money Contracts
- Time Lapse World Series Is A Great Play
- Boise State Stock Plan: An Early Success
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Case Closed but Woods Scrutiny Continues
- Kohlberg Kravis Bidding for Morgan Stanley's CICC Stake
- UK Economy Turned, Inflation to Spike: BoE Economist
- Cisco Has 84% of Tandberg, Won't Extend Bid
- Australia Regulator Opposes Caltex-Exxon Deal
- Australia Parliament Rejects Carbon Trade Laws
- Toyota Takes Lead Position in Canada in November
- Whitacre Will Change GM, But Will He Bring Better Results?
- Chipmaker Sees Options Upside After a Strong Sector Report
- Treasury Assistance Comes at High Price For GM
- Unemployment to Peak at 10.5%: Moody's Economist
- 8 Stocks to Gain on Obama's Afghan Plan: Analysts
- BofA On Proposed Changes In The Housing Bailout Program
- The Future of The Media Landscape
- November Auto Sales Muddle Along
- Busch: What Obama Won't Say Tonight
- Mortgage Applications Up as Rates Continue to Decrease
- Wal-Mart Targets Video Games with Latest Price Cuts
- 'Black Swan' Shuns Public Life Because of Bernanke
- Dubai World To Meet with Creditors Next Week
- FHA to Toughen Mortgage Rules in Lenders Crackdown
- Obama to Send More Troops; Seeks Afghanistan Exit
- Blog: Will Whitacre Bring Better Results to GM?
- Geeks Replacing Swashbucklers on Wall Street
- Google Offers Publishers Limit on Free News Access
Sports Biz
Text Size 
 |
CNBC.com |
Whatever happens from here on out, there will be nothing greater than the exclusive rights to this Saturday night's Giants-Patriots game, with the Pats' potentially perfect regular season on the line. And today, the NFL agreed to let the game be simulcast on NBC and CBS.
(NBC TV is a unit of CNBC's parent, NBC Universal.)
The day the NFL owners gave their fledgling cable network eight games a year, they were acknowledging that there was no chance this start-up would make it without the ultimate playing card -- games that were exclusive outside of the team's local markets.
And this year, the NFL Network got two games that were absolute gems: A good late-season game of those one-loss titans, the Packers and the Cowboys -- and now this game.
While I love the fact that the NFL did this -- it's a great public relations move and it probably was necessary -- it also is this: An admission that even this game wasn't going to make those cable carriers holding out put the NFL Network on extended basic, instead of on an a la carte package.
With the Giants-Pats game out of the way, those negotiations will go absolutely nowhere until there's pressure to show certain games next year. But the bottom line -- and the sad fact for the network and its owners -- is that there will never be another game bigger than this Saturday.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes