December 4, 2007
NFL conspiracy theorists unite! The NFL is cheating and they don’t care who knows about it.
At least, that’s what the people in Baltimore are saying after yesterday’s last second Patriot victory. Many Ravens today and last night were saying the Patriots may have had some help with their victory, at least according to the them,
“It’s hard to go out there and play the Patriots and the refs at the same time. They put the crown on top of them, they want them to win. They won.”
- Ravens CB Chris McAlister
“In a game of this magnitude, you don’t make that kind of call,” Rolle said. “Let the players decide the outcome of the game. You can crown them champions now. I’m not taking anything away from them. They are a great team. They’re not asking the refs to help them, but it’s just an empty feeling.”
- Ravens CB Samari Rolle
There were a few crucial calls in the 4th quarter of last nights game, including a time out called by the Ravens defensive coordinator on a Patriots 4th down (only the coach could call a time out), a holding call on another Patriots 4th down in the end zone, and finally, it looked like Patriots receiver Jabaar Gaffney juggled the game winning touch down catch, which was upheld even after being review.
So, is there really an NFL conspiracy? not likely (although come on guys, Gaffney juggled that TD catch!). But would the NFL have anything to gain by having the Patriots go 16-0? Well, surprisingly, yes, they would. From Yahoo! Sports,
That’s because there is money to be made if the Patriots go undefeated, big money, and not just the kind handed over the counter at the sports books.
No, the league isn’t raiding its rainy-day fund to take the Patriots to run the table, a bet that is increasingly popular in Vegas. But a lot is riding on whether the Patriots are unbeaten going into the Dec. 29 game against the New York Giants.
The NFL wants it to be must-see TV, but to see it you must watch the league’s own NFL Network. It’s one of eight games the league kept for itself this year, and one which some 70 million households won’t be able to see because of a bitter dispute the NFL is having with cable companies.
The more valuable the game, the more leverage the NFL figures it will have to force cable operators to carry the network on the lucrative basic cable tier. By far the most valuable game left this year will almost surely be Pats/Giants.
Take away the historic angle and it becomes a meaningless game between two teams most likely resting their stars for the playoffs. Make it mean something big and the NFL has a golden opportunity to force the hands of the cable companies.
The stakes are huge. If the NFL signs up all the major cable companies, it could be looking at revenues perhaps as high as $1 billion a year just for the network itself.
That’s right folks, the NFL Network rears its Bryant Gumble commentary-bungling head again. Just for argument sake (because the Steelers are going to beat the Patriots on Sunday, but more on that later) let’s assume the Patriots are going into week 17 with a 15-0 record. What will happen? as I’ve mentioned previously, the major issue between the NFL network and cable companies (mostly Comcast and Time Warner) is money, with the network wanting to charge somewhere around $.70 per subscriber/month and the cable companies only being willing to pay that premium if they can either pass part of that cost onto the viewer through basic cable, or put the network on a premium package. The NFL was already looking to charge more than other networks…but now, with leverage on their side, will they look to up the ante? Only time will tell.
ESPN: Rolle accuses official of using disrespectful language
Yahoo! Sports: Who wants the Patriots to win? The NFL surely does, for 1
Yahoo! Sports: Patriots getting some breaks, making others in their quest for a perfect season
Related –
Sports Business Digest: ESPN and NFL Network hate Cable Companies, Fans
4 comments
You and Yahoo are hallucinating. Oh and the moon landings were faked and JFK was shot from a sewer by the cigarette smoking man
I’m pretty sure you were reading with your eyes closed. From my post above
“So, is there really an NFL conspiracy? not likely”
I don’t think there was a conspiracy. I’m just talking for the sake of the conspiracy theorist.
I must admit, the final couple of minutes in the Pats-Ravens game were so surreal it’s hard to know what to think anymore regarding spy cameras, league-wide feelings about an undefeated, universally-hated team, the rogue NFL network, etc. The Patriots’ season has been so bizarre. I have to admit some of the calls and non-calls were disappointing and ripe for discussion, regardless of thoughts on conspiracy, bad officiating, pure luck…whatever.
NFL & ESPN conspiracy to kill the Canadian football League?
«We the fans of the ‘Canadian Football League’ who reside in the United States are voicing the need for a television contract which would allow us to see games live, the way they were meant to be seen.
We are asking the ‘Versus’ network to give serious consideration into starting talks with the CFL for the purpose of aquiring the U.S. broadcast rights for the upcoming 2009 season.
The CFL has many loyal fans in the United States who feel deprived of watching the kind of professional Football they truly love! »
These words come from a petition of CFL’s American fans. They can’t see any more Canadian football in the US. Very strange, this thing should be investigated. If Canadians can see the NFL games in Canada, the U.S. Canadian football fans should have the same rights in the United States. ESPN did very little promotion if not, like it was already planned. Just before the 2008 CFL season started and after the negotiation between the CFL and the NFL failed, ESPN stopped the broadcast of the CFL games not only in the US but also in Europe right after they bought NASH! Is that a coincidence?
ESPN broadcast the NFL games that are a fact. The question now is does the NFL wants to kill the Canadian football league? The very hungry money NFL needs to expend. 8 billions it’s just not enough! Avidity yes like the crash! No respect for the culture of a nearby and friendly Country. The first North American football game was played in 1860 in Montréal. 2008 was the 96th Grey Cup. Yes Canadian football is very old. The oldest football team in North American is the Toronto Argonauts 1871.
After the disaster of the NFL in Europe, the two London games and the Arena football witch many teams are owned by NFL teams. The NFL seeks a new target, Canada. But they are some resistance. In spite of an enormous advertising campaign, the two Bills games in Toronto was a fiasco at least 32,000 tickets had been given away and still it was not a fool house. Plus the two games where awful to watch. The football fans could easily see the different between a faster and more open game of the CFL and the ones they saw from the NFL. It was obvious. Lots of Canadians love the CFL. So, it seam’s to me, the best way for the NFL to assure a place in Toronto first and elsewhere in Canada is to kill the CFL. The NFL as the money and a very strong allied in Canada Rogers Communications. The anti CFL propaganda in Canada is very aggressive. NFL does big time propaganda in the Canadian Medias.
I also started asked myself whether the NFL regards the CFL as a rival. That seems idiotic at first but when you think it more deeply… For example, when the CFL had a team in Baltimore. CFL had a great success. Many believed this is the real reason why this city as now a NFL team, it was to stop the CFL. In 2007, the CFL was available in more and more us fans on TV. Then it stopped abruptly.
Many believed the CFL is a more exiting game. Is it in the NFL interest that the American football fan all around the US knows that? If the CFL was correctly promoted and easily seen, I’m not sure that the NFL will appreciate. Alter all it is business. So it will be much easy if there will be only one type of football the NFL for future expansion. One other thing, the arena football is gone, so there is less football for the US fans. Common sense would have been to show CFL games on TV. It is very suspicious it needs an investigation. Now if there is a conspiracy than it as to be stop!
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