Sometime today in Buzzy’s Country Store the following conversation will take place:
“What channel is the game on tonight?”
Answer: “Amazon Prime.”
“Damn. How come they keep putting these games on where nobody can watch them?”
Answer: “Because they can and because enough folks will watch, even if you are not one of them.”
As for the NFL pursuing streaming deals like tonight’s game, here is a good article on it featuring NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. He claims that the NFL is merely going where it’s fans are because “our fans are moving off onto streaming platforms” (click here.) This explanation sounds a little like a chicken-egg argument to me; but like someone once said “The answer to everything is money.” And Roger is another very good sales agent. (Hell he even has the perfect last name to prove it! Goodell as in good deal.)
In his defense however, it does sound like over 50% of folks have now cut the T-V cord and are streaming (click here and note that study is 3 years old, so I’m fairly certain that the cord-cut-number is even higher now.)
The aforementioned Goodell article includes the following summary of current NFL streaming deals that are in place this season:
Remember that these deals are in addition to the “traditional” televised games that appear on your network and cable channels. Goodell points out that over 85% of NFL games continue to appear on “free” T-V. I put free in quotation marks because most folks are either cable or dish subscribers and yes, they ARE definitely paying for the privilege of watching NFL games. I remember my Mom complaining about all the sports games being televised and her having to pay for them when she didn’t watch any of them!)
As for the folks who have cut the cord, this tune came to mind as in “I’m always streaming.” (A little rock and roll trivia for you – Johnny Burnette’s big hit “You’re 16” was also Ringo’s biggest hit as a solo artist.)