The two examples this season of spiraling greed of sports executives is in the NFL and the Big 10. Both have launched their own cable networks which are mostly unavailable to the public. Indiana University basketball fans can't watch their beloved Hoosiers, who are now on the Big 10 Network. The second biggest game of the NFL season tonight can't be seen by most fans of the Packers and Cowboys, because it's only shown on the NFL Network.
The Big 10 and NFL blame the cable companies, who they say have greedily refused to carry their new networks on their "basic" television packages. The cable companies say it's the Big 10 and NFL who are the greedy ones, demanding something like $.80 per subscriber while they demand the channels be added to the basic package.
Like every other sports fan, I grew up watching the NFL and College basketball on free network television. Advertisers paid the stations for the right to show me their wares during time-outs. Everybody made money, and the leagues built huge fan bases.
But they got greedy. Cable channels, notably ESPN, entered the picture, and suddenly you had to have a cable subscription to watch your favorite teams play sometimes. Fewer and fewer games play on the "free" network channels.
The result I expect is going to be a loss of the fan base that has been the golden goose for the NFL and Big 10 all these years. Having only seen part of 2 Hoosier basketball games so far this season, I find myself starting to lose interest in the team I've followed since I was a kid. Likewise, the NFL will see angry and disaffected fans begin to find other interests.
Anyone that's upset over the money grabs by the NFL and Big 10 should act in this simple way: Stop watching. Don't subscribe. Don't give in to their attempt to grab your wallet and just avoid these new networks. Send the message that you will not play the game, and your support for the teams and leagues is not for sale.
I think the NFL and Big 10 should be forced to back down. But are the fans strong enough?
We'll soon find out.
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