Most fans won’t see Packers-Cowboys

Published 8:25 pm Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The buildup to today’s NFC showdown between the 10-1 Packers and the 10-1 Cowboys at Texas Stadium is peaking, along with the realization that two-thirds of the country won’t be able to see the game because it is being televised by the NFL Network.

The NFL and major cable companies such as Comcast, Time Warner, Cablevision and Charter can’t figure out how to deal with a sports outlet that carries exclusive rights to eight regular-season games.

ESPN has been harping on how its viewers won’t be able to see the first matchup between 10-1 teams since the 1990 game between the Giants and 49ers, unless, of course, they have NFL Network.

It’s a tale of greed on both sides — the NFL thinks its product is so appealing it should be a part of basic or extended cable, much like ESPN. The cable companies think it’s a niche network that has little appeal for viewers, even hard-core sports fans, apart from the eight-game package.

Comcast relegates the network to a digital sports tier, along with the likes of NBA TV and College Sports TV. Subscribers have to pay an extra fee to receive it.

Satellite subscribers of DirecTV and Dish Network receive NFL Network and will see the game, which also will be broadcast over the airwaves in the local markets of Green Bay, Milwaukee and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Everybody else — estimates are the game will be unavailable in at least 74 million of the nation’s 112 million homes with televisions — has to scramble for a quick subscription to NFL Network or a seat at the local sports bar that’s showing the game. This issue will surface again before the regular-season finale between the Patriots and the Giants, another NFL Network-only telecast.

Even NFL Network analyst Cris Collinsworth concedes the impasse with Big Cable is unfortunate.

“It’s like any other negotiations; my hope is that at some point everybody meets in the middle and the whole world can see these games,” Collinsworth said earlier this week. “It’s not just this one. As good as this one is, there’s the end of the year, the Giants, and the Patriots with a chance to be an undefeated team. It’s not my battle. It’s really not.”

For all the controversy surrounding the TV coverage or lack thereof, Packers at Cowboys is an especially significant regular-season game, made even more so by unbeaten New England’s 31-28 victory over Philadelphia on Sunday. That game, which had the NFL’s biggest-ever regular-season point spread (231/2) blown to bits, showed the Patriots are vulnerable to double coverage on Randy Moss and blitz attacks on rhythm quarterback Tom Brady.

The winner of the Packers-Cowboys game has the inside track for the NFC title and a possible Super Bowl shot at New England. And even though the Patriots dusted the Cowboys 48-27 at Texas Stadium on Oct. 14, Dallas has improved steadily since then.

You have to figure the Cowboys are confident they will prevail the next time they face New England — unless Green Bay steps in their way and prevents that from happening.