I totally understand why they would do this, but that means there are now FIVE pre-game shows: NBC Sports, ESPN, Fox, CBS and NFL Network. And that doesn't include the fantasy pre-game show on ESPN2 and the NFL.com one that airs on the Red Zone channel. I think NFL fans are pretty well served already, maybe a bit overserved.
I'm saddened that ESPN hasn't tried to negotiate for an option to flex games.
I'd bet they have, but couldn't get it done. Or they just prioritized getting a wild card game.
I'm saddened that ESPN hasn't tried to negotiate for an option to flex games.
I'd bet they have, but couldn't get it done. Or they just prioritized getting a wild card game.
You can't flex the Monday night games. Peter King summed up it pretty well on Monday.
• ESPN flex. Many of you have emailed and Tweeted to ask why ESPN doesn't have the same kind of flex schedule. Answer: It's just impractical. It's one thing to move a game back four or seven hours to Sunday night. It's another to move a game, 12 days prior to it, 31 hours back. The hotels, the airplanes, the plans, the fans (inconvenienced enough by the movement from day to night and vice versa) ... It's just too much.
Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....
*snip*
Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus
in the big picture: People are willing to adjust to very impractical things with the right inducement, whether it's money or giving up certain rights or whatever.
in the small picture: The NFL and ESPN knew Jackonsville/San Diego wouldn't be a very good game weeks ago, and knew Seattle/St. Louis wouldn't be any good months ago. 12 might not be enough time to handle a Sunday->Monday (or Monday->Sunday), but if it's Week 5 and you're pretty sure the game in Week 15 looks pretty bad, shouldn't 2+ months be enough time to change plans?
Flex scheduling for MNF would be very inconvenient for all involved and would cause many headaches, but it's not physically impossible. Thursday night football (without flex scheduling) causes all sorts of headaches, and they still added because it was important to the NFL. If MNF flex scheduling is or became that important, they could do it too.
The real problem is ESPN caused it's own problems by not demanding a stronger package of games in the MNF contract - I'm about one chapter away from the end of ESPN book, and it's pretty clear in there that they messed up and were just desperate for whatever scraps the NFL would give them. The NFL could better the situation by not loading the MNF schedule up with so many B & C level teams and just hoping they play up to their level.
Originally posted by thecubsfanThe real problem is ESPN caused it's own problems by not demanding a stronger package of games in the MNF contract - I'm about one chapter away from the end of ESPN book, and it's pretty clear in there that they messed up and were just desperate for whatever scraps the NFL would give them. The NFL could better the situation by not loading the MNF schedule up with so many B & C level teams and just hoping they play up to their level.
CBS, FOX and NBC - pay an average of $1.03 billion per year for their packages.
ESPN - pays $1.8 billion a year for it's perenially crappy scraps. But they can just charge every cable household an extra $2 per month next year.
Originally posted by thecubsfanThe real problem is ESPN caused it's own problems by not demanding a stronger package of games in the MNF contract - I'm about one chapter away from the end of ESPN book, and it's pretty clear in there that they messed up and were just desperate for whatever scraps the NFL would give them. The NFL could better the situation by not loading the MNF schedule up with so many B & C level teams and just hoping they play up to their level.
For sure, but that was one contract negotiation ago; they re-upped earlier this year for the same shit sandwich.
(The new contract does allow for playoffs, but my understanding is that that triggers a gigantic further payment from ESPN.)
The Big Bossman raised the briefcase.
Go Pack Go! (13-0, 1st NFC North) Let's Go Riders! (5-13. At least we got the #1 pick; can we draft Andrew Luck?)
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I don't remember where I saw it, but ESPN's carriage fee is dramatically higher than any other cable channel.
edit: ESPN's estimated carriage fee is in the neighborhood of $4.50/subscriber/month (the next highest for cable networks is closer to $1). (tvbythenumbers)
The thing is, though, it's obviously hard for the NFL and ESPN to predict which teams are going to be good and which aren't. Some scheduling is obvious (why in the hell did Jacksonville, of all teams, get two MNF games?) but really, not only must you pick 'good' teams, you also have to have the luck to get them at the right time of year.
A game like San Diego/Kansas City, for instance, fell just at the right time on the MNF schedule when both those teams were contending and the game theoretically meant a lot to the AFC West race. Plus, it ended up being a hell of a game.
It hasn't been *that* big a disaster of a year for ESPN. SD/KC was great, NY/NO was a big game, Chicago/Detroit was big, Dallas/Washington carried importance early in the season, they only got stuck with the Colts once and the last two Monday nighters (San Fran/Pittburgh and Atlanta/New Orleans) are beauties.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
They did give it to SMU back in the 80's, neutering that program for eternity. Rape won't get the death penalty for a program though. The NCAA will only do it if someone slips up with big money, and even then its only after multiple probations.
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