Dear NFL: Stop Showing Redskins Games in North Carolina
At the start of the year, I knew I was going to get to see three Vikings games, as they had prime-time contests against the Packer, the Panthers and the Bears. On top of that, I hoped to get lucky and have their games be a featured double-header game (they had late games at Green Bay and at Arizona) or ones that might be moved as part of the league's flexible schedule in the second half of the year.
Another avenue I was hoping for to see my Vikings televised was when they played host to AFC teams, meaning that the games would be broadcast on CBS rather than Fox. This year the AFC games in the Metrodome are: Baltimore and Cincinnati. Today is the Baltimore game and my hopes were high that WFMY, my local CBS affiliate, would televise the Vikings.
CBS was showing a 1:00 game in this area and they had a choice of three games: Ravens-Vikings, Browns-Steelers and Chiefs-Redskins. The matchups have the following win totals:
Ravens-Vikings - 8
Browns-Steelers - 4
Chiefs-Redskins - 2
So, imagine my disgust when I find out that WFMY is broadcasting the Chiefs-Redskins pillow fight.
Does anyone want to see this game?
However, as much as it disgusts me, it came as no shock. Before the Panthers franchise was born, this area was fed the Redskins games on a weekly basis. Many residents were unhappy when the Panthers came to town because it meant the end of Redskins' telecasts in the area.
But that was 15 years ago! For the love of god, stop showing us Redskins games as a knee-jerk response. By all means, if the Redskins have a good team, send us that game. But nobody wants to see this edition of the Redskins, who have two wins only because they have played home games against the Rams and the Bucs.
A few years back, on a weekend when the Panthers had a bye, I was disappointed when a similar situation occurred. A more interesting Vikings game was not shown in favor of a dismal Redskins contest. I was so enraged that I wrote a letter to the local sports editor, demanding an explanation.
I am happy to report that Rich Brenner, than the anchor at WGHP, took the time to write me back. He basically agreed with me, but said that the local Fox affiliates have virtually no say in which games they broadcast.
So, NFL big-wigs, hear my plea: Stop showing crappy teams to out of market areas just because 15 years ago we used to get that team. Show us the matchups that matter in 2009.
Published by Brian Joura
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7 Comments
Post a CommentI often say that regional coverage is my least favorite thing about sports. I live in Alabama so we get Titans, Falcons, Jaguars, Buccaneers, Dolphins games. Dolphins are fun to watch this year I guess but that's a pretty sorry group of teams to follow the last several years. Even when one of them is good it's usually not pretty football. The most curious regional coverage game was a few weeks ago when the college football regional coverage gave us Penn State-Minnesota. In Alabama? Really?
I live in the DC suburbs... and strongly feel they should stop showing Redskins games here!
We had Titans-Patriots as our late game yesterday and I was happy when they switched to Bills-Jets. Until I had to watch those two teams play. While my fantasy team enjoyed Thomas Jones' big day, there was really nothing else about that game that I was glad to see. And we get to see the Bills again this week, as they play the Panthers. I feel your pain.
Could be worse- they could start feeding you Bills games.
Except I don't think it's up to Fox, either on a local or national level. I think the NFL feeds games to certain areas and because this was once Redskins territory, we'll get Redskins, even if it is the worst possible game available.
It is all about ratings. What game in your area would get the highest ratings ? The decision makers obviously think the Redskins game would be a better draw than the Vikings game. The TV stations want to maximize their ad revenue. All you can do is continue to vocalize your displeasure to the local station.
I couldn't agree with you more. Today's free NFL offerings are insufferable until the Bears game tonight. Even then, I'll probably be watching baseball. It's too bad sports executives don't always think about the quality of matchups before selecting games.