Packers-Cowboys: The best matchup you might not see
Packers-Cowboys: The best matchup you might not see

The NFL's biggest and best NFC match-up of the season will be played Thursday night, and most fans won't enjoy it from the comfort of their home.

The Dallas Cowboys-Green Bay Packers game isn't on network television. The NFL Network, a digital- or satellite-only channel in the Oklahoma City market, has broadcasting rights of the game. It's one of eight NFL games to be aired on the network this season.

So as the two 10-1 teams battle for NFC supremacy, and possibly home-field advantage in the playoffs, thousands of local cable customers — and millions nationally — who don't have the network will be shut out. The blackout zones include parts of Texas and Wisconsin.

"To have a game of any magnitude and people not be able to see it, that's not what the NFL is all about,” said NBC's John Madden last week on a national conference call. "We have always had games available. We have never gone to pay-per-view or any of those types of things. To go in that direction where some fans can't see it, I think that has to be fixed.”

The chances of that happening, though, appear bleak. The NFL is in the thick of a dispute with cable companies over the league's desire to have the network be made available at no extra charge. Several cable providers want customers to pay an extra fee to have the network as part of a special sports tier.

Cox Communications, Oklahoma's leading cable provider, offers NFL Network as part of its $14 digital sports and information package.

But Comcast, the country's largest cable operator, and Time Warner Cable, the nation's second-largest, don't provide the network.

"The good news for Cox is I think we are actually the only cable company that's carrying the NFL Network,” said Cox Communications Director Christine Martin. "And so obviously we think that's a huge advantage for our customers, especially with games like this that have a lot of local interest.”

Martin said she isn't aware of any plans by Cox to move NFL Network to a basic package and couldn't say with certainty how many Cox customers have recently upgraded their packages to include the network.

"I would say that most sports fans probably already have the sports and information tier,” Martin said. "There's so many other sports networks and programming in that tier that it fits most sports fans' niche really well.”

The Cowboys' Dec. 22 game against Carolina will also be broadcast on the NFL Network. As of Sept. 1, 2006, however, NFL Network is available to 70 million U.S. households, but only 41 million subscribe to a service that includes the network.

That's far less than half of the 112 million television households in the U.S.

Or as comedian and FOX NFL Sunday contributor Frank Caliendo put it last week, "There's more homes that have termites than have the NFL Network.”

That leaves football fans having to scramble to a friend's home or to a local bar.

Tully Slagle, general manager at BG Bolton's sports bar on South Broadway in Edmond, said his location usually receives 30 to 40 percent more traffic when a game is not being broadcast on network television or cable. BG Bolton's is equipped with 44 televisions and has NFL Network as well as NFL Sunday Ticket, a package that receives every NFL game.

"We actually have a big Denver (Broncos) following here,” said Slagle. "But if their game is on network television we don't see any of them. If it's only on Sunday Ticket, we'll get 20 to 30 people just for that game.”

Ken Henderson, general manager of Buffalo Wild Wings on Santa Fe in Edmond, echoed Slagle. Henderson's location is also equipped with NFL Network and Sunday Ticket and has eight big screens and roughly 30 smaller sets.

"It's big business for us,” Henderson said. "Anytime there is a big NFL or big college game that's played on pay-per-view or anything other than regular TV or regular cable it's a big day for us.”

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