November 25, 2024
Just two days before Christmas, some NFL fans may feel like they've gotten a lump of coal from their favorite sports league. The Buffalo Bills beat the Los Angeles Chargers  in a game that was far more exciting than it had any right to be on Saturday night, but it's...

Just two days before Christmas, some NFL fans may feel like they’ve gotten a lump of coal from their favorite sports league.

The Buffalo Bills beat the Los Angeles Chargers  in a game that was far more exciting than it had any right to be on Saturday night, but it’s not clear who was around to watch it. (The Bills are desperately fighting for a playoff berth while the Chargers are without their injured franchise quarterback, and just fired their coach and general manager.)

That’s because the Christmas Eve eve tilt was broadcast exclusively on the Peacock streaming platform — leaving countless NFL viewers either unable to watch or watching via less legal means.

Peacock, the NBCUniversal streaming platform perhaps best known for carrying “The Office” and WWE, was the exclusive viewing home of the Bills-Chargers game, and that just didn’t sit well with fans.

Why?

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Well just look at this list of services (and corresponding prices) that an NFL fan now needs to carry to watch every game from their favorite sports league:

  • Basic cable (prices may vary)
  • NFL Sunday Ticket, which carries every out-of-market NFL game ($174-$225 a year)
  • Paramount Plus, which carries CBS ($5.99 a month)
  • Amazon Prime, which carries “Thursday Night Football” ($14.99 a month)
  • Peacock, which carries NBC and “Sunday Night Football” ($5.99 to $11.99 a month)

Even eliminating basic cable, having access to watch every NFL game is suddenly a very expensive habit.

The big issue for Saturday’s viewers was that there was an earlier game on NBC (the Pittsburgh Steelers walloped the Cincinnati Bengals 34-11) and many fans simply assumed that the next game would be broadcast next on the network, given the ties between NBC and Peacock.

Do you still watch the NFL?

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All the fans assuming that, however, were greeted with regularly scheduled programming once the Steelers-Bengals game was over — not the Bills fighting for their playoff lives on the road.

Fans were unhappy all across social media, blasting the NFL for adding yet another price gate to its product.

The most telling and ominous response came from New York Post sports editor Drew Loftis, who took to X to blast the Scrooge-like greed:

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“Sorry @peacock,” Loftis posted on Christmas Eve. “Not subscribing to watch one lonely game all season. So for first time in more than a decade, I don’t have access to a live NFL game.

“That’s how disinterest starts @NFL.”

A glance at the responses to Loftis’ post shows that many fans agreed with his sentiment.

Now, it’s worth noting that one game’s broadcast is hardly going to take down the monolithic NFL empire (even a diminished NFL is still by far and away the king of North American sports leagues.)

And it’s also worth noting that the NFL has survived genuine existential crises before, in the form of the infamous era of national anthem protesting that rocked the league in the mid-2010’s.

Fans left the league in droves after that, though a good number appear to have returned.

This feels different however, due in no small part to the general state of the economy. Nickel and diming your fans is never a good idea, but feels like an especially egregious one given the economic climate of 2023.

You also have to consider that outrage subsides and waxes. People learn to forget, if not forgive, more often than not.

That hole in your wallet? That delinquent bill? Time won’t fix those (if anything, with interest rates the way they are currently, time will undoubtedly make things worse.)

If it comes to having food in your pantry or carrying every last streaming platform that carries the NFL… which way do you think people will go?

In business, it’s often said that you can afford to make lots of small mistakes, and should make a few for learning purposes, but you can seldom afford very many big mistakes.

The NFL clearly made a small mistake here by sticking a late-season game with playoff implications on a single streaming platform.

Only time will tell if it turns into a big mistake.


Did you know that publishers everywhere are laying people off at Christmas? It’s not an accident or random. 

Big Tech is literally taking down every news media publisher possible, even the liberal ones, just so they can get rid of sites like The Western Journal once and for all.

They know that together, readers like you and publishers like us handed Donald Trump the victory in 2016. 

And, what’s worse, they know that if they hadn’t used COVID to change the rules in 2020, Trump would be in the White House right now. 

So their response is simple: Conservative publishers must die. And they’re doing their best to put us in the grave as I write this.

That means that more than ever, we depend on you and you alone. 

Will you join with us this Christmas and become a member of The Western Journal? During these days leading up to Christmas, we’re offering $10 off some of our most popular membership options.

If you want to stick it to Big Tech, start the new year with actual, factual news, or just support The Western Journal as we continue the fight for our country, please become a member today

Don’t wait. Time is critical, and Big Tech tightens the squeeze every single day. 

Thank you for reading The Western Journal!

Merry Christmas,

Josh Manning

Deputy Managing Editor

P.S. If you prefer, a simple direct donation can be made here. Again, thank you and Merry Christmas!

Bryan Chai has written news and sports for The Western Journal for more than five years and has produced more than 1,300 stories. He specializes in the NBA and NFL as well as politics.

Bryan Chai has written news and sports for The Western Journal for more than five years and has produced more than 1,300 stories. He specializes in the NBA and NFL as well as politics. He graduated with a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona. He is an avid fan of sports, video games, politics and debate.

Birthplace

Hawaii

Education

Class of 2010 University of Arizona. BEAR DOWN.

Location

Phoenix, Arizona

Languages Spoken

English, Korean

Topics of Expertise

Sports, Entertainment, Science/Tech