I don’t know how many of you are up to speed with the current contract squabbles going on between DirectTV and Comcast but this stuff is getting out of control.
Each year we face increased ticket prices, fees for seat licenses and now it’s gotten to the point that we are shelling out exuberant amounts of money just to watch our teams on our couches.
Tonight’s Flyers game is being televised on Versus and because Comcast has the rights to this channel and DirectTV’s contract expired I cannot watch the game.  Apparently, Comcast is charging DirectTV more than any other cable providers for the rights to broadcast.  Why?  Because DirectTV has exclusive rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket and Comcast wants in.  So, Comcast figures they will charge DirectTV more money for the program and either DirectTV renews the channel at a higher cost, ditches the channel altogether and will lose membership with the avid bull riding fan or negotiates with Comcast and the rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket.  I am pretty sure that they are going to stick with losing the channel because that’s what my on-screen guide reads.  In the end, I am the big loser.
Since I now reside in northern New Jersey, I have no choice but to purchase the necessary sports packages to accompany my Philly fan hood.  For the past few years I have purchased both the NFL and NHL packages to keep up with the Eagles and Flyers plus my fantasy leagues.  This year alone, I have already spent $300 for the NFL ticket and an extra $100 just to watch the games in HD.  Now that the NHL season is among us, I spent an additional $165 for the NHL Center Ice package.
I tried to position myself so that I could watch every Eagles and Flyers game with the help of my DVR and a cell phone that is rarely turned on at game time so none of my friends can play spoiler.  What does this all amount to?  I am paying $565 and still missing seven regular season Flyers games plus potential playoff games that are played on Versus.  You can now tack on another $40 for drinks per game since I will have to sit on a bar stool for the seven that are unavailable to me and that’s an additional $280.  And yes, $40 is expensive for drinks but again, I live in North Jersey and in my area, beers are around $8 a piece.
What would make the most sense is for me to just move back down to South Jersey and stop complaining but unfortunately work will not permit this change. In the end, this sports fan is stuck between two gigantic cable providers who can’t meet his needs but still takes his money.
