Do you know that offering to sign a shorter deal isn't an option the Rockets offered and the providers rejected?
I don't think you're in any position to know what has or hasn't been offered. It's absolutely astounding to me that people are letting DirecTV, Dish and Uverse go without blame.
I dont know if the Rox put that offer on the table. But we all know these deals are all about money. The Rockets and Comcast want to charge higher fees and the providers want to pay less. So since the Rox and Astros are exactly putting together championship teams, it seems reasonable that they should lower their demands to get their product to as many people as possible. If the Rockets get off to a 4-15 start, how many fans will be begging their cable providers to carry the Rockets? Not many.
If it was just one of those companies, I would blame them. The fact that it's 3 (and the 3 biggest in the Houston area, I think) make me think this has more to do with Comcast/Rockets. If the Comcast offer was reasonable, why would all 3 major providers not accept it to the point of losing customers? You would think at least 1 of the providers would accept it just to get a leg up on the other 2. But that hasn't happened.
Exactly, everyone is ready to pile on Les and the Rockets, when it's more complicated than that. Also, I think the Astros own a larger stake in the new channel than the Rockets do. Could it be that the Astros have to also agree to the deal before the Rocket games can be shown? Furthermore, the deal Comcast sports net has offered DirectTV, Dish, and Uverse may be perfectly fair, but the providers are trying to play hardball. We don't know any of the details, so it's impossible to know who to blame.
I don't consider it the responsibility of any cable provider to make a deal they don't want to make so that their customers can see their own home team play on TV. I do consider it the responsibility of the team's owner to make certain that Rockets games are available on television to Houstonians, especially after Houstonians got him his damn arena. And I especially resent that he is making more money by doing a deal that denies fans TV coverage -- even in the preseason. This might as well be another NBA lockout as far as I'm concerned. I've only ever been interested in one NBA team, my hometeam, and I work nights. I can't go to a bar or to the Toyota Center or even watch the games live on TV so I record them on DVR and watch them as soon as I get home. And as I said before I'm not changing providers simply so Les, a filthy rich man, can become richer. I'm a lower middle class Rockets fan and our uber-rich owner has taken the games away from me. Why should I blame Comcast or ATT? And why would Comcast even give Les a deal he loved unless they were planning on raping the other providers? Don't answer. I don't care what the providers do. They don't owe me anything as I haven't been supporting them through tax dollars, ticket dollars, TV commercial revenues, and merchandise dollars for decades. Les could have stopped this and he didn't. I don't blame anyone but him.
Totally agree with you. I pay a comfortable amount on cable with ATT. The cable bill fits into my budget. So why would I go out and switch providers and upset my monthly budget for cable just so I can make Les and Jim Crane richer? So since Les isnt going out of his way to make his product available to me, I'm not going out of my way to watch it.
When Les got the arena deal, he agreed to a list of things in exchange for what he got. A guarantee that the Rockets will be available on all cable and satellite systems regardless of contract status between TV network and provider isn't among this list. He's not obligated any more to settle the matter on an unfavorable term than the providers (who have also gotten a lot of money, directly and indirectly, from Houstonians over the years) are. Kind of like what the entirely league went through with the lockout. The bottom line is that none of us knows what has been offered by either side. The Rockets may be offering CSN at a reasonable price considering market conditions or even a discount from reasonable market price in an effort to settle the matter before the season starts. The providers may each be playing hardball and betting that the Rockets will cave once they see enough angry fans who stop spending money on the Rockets tickets, merchandise and following the team in the news. Conversely, the Rockets may well be the one holding out for a higher than reasonable price while counting on fans to switch from ATT/Dish, etc. to Comcast. We just don't have that info.
Why would they do that? What's in it for them besides losing all of their pissed off customers? The average fan who can't see the Rockets on TV is going to be pissed at their provider, not the Rockets. I would believe this scenario if it was just one provider, but all three?
people are putting too much into this being the rockets issue.. the astros own the largest stake, then the rockets, then NBC...
What's in it for them is a cheaper payment to CSN and a higher profit margin. It seems that many fans here are in fact blaming the Rockets instead of the providers if you read the threads here (and a poll I made). Also, in other TV contract disputes, fans have in fact turn against the team (recent example: New York Knicks/MSG Network vs. Time Warner Cable). All three major providers may be betting on the same thing at this moment. Unless we know the actual terms of the offers, it is still unclear who is being unreasonable.
A question for you, MadMax and anyone else that doesn't seem bothered by this: Do you have Comcast already or are you changing providers?
You are correct - Les is not obligated to make sure his channel is showing the games locally. In fact, it can be argued that he has an interest in having home games NOT shown so he can incent people to come out. HOWEVER...I am not under any obligation to change providers (which I will not do) or harrass directv just so I can see his .500 basketball team play. I have been a loyal fan for 33 years (since Billy Paultz and Mo Malone). I have attended well over 200 games (including many playoff games going back to the 1980's). I am (or was before the lockout really killed my basketball spirit) a diehard Rocket fan, but I am also getting older and I have other things I can do with my time. If Les wants me to follow my favorite team and maybe go to a couple of games a year because I am into them - then lets get a deal done with my provider. If they would rather jerk me around - then that's just fine too. I am too old to worry about it....Halo 4 comes out Nov 6th, Black Ops II comes out Nov 13and Netflix has old Breaking Bad episodes and the new Arrested Development coming out in Feb 2013! ...I'll be just fine
Must be nice. How's the preseason going, by the way? I have the bad fortune of living in the town where the Rockets play so I have no idea.
Fatcats in a slap fight over chump change. It's always like this and always gets settled at the last second. I want to see the Rockets on Uverse but if I miss the first 20 games I'm not going to sweat it at all. I can live with re-caps and highlights through January. If we get to February and we are playing exciting basketball, I'd probably make a switch. (I'd hate to lose my shows I'm storing on my DVR for next Summer but they can be had other ways)
Incidentally Carl, I want to mention that I'm a fan in general of your posts. But you are arguing from the abstract here, like a well-fed person arguing whose responsibility it is to throw a little food to those that have none. I say it's the guy that's hoarding the food; you say it isn't. But you don't have any skin in this game because it doesn't affect you. I expect that every single person that isn't irate over this fits one of the following descriptions: - Lives in Houston, has Comcast already - Lives in Houston, doesn't mind changing providers (aka Les's b****es) - Lives out of town like you and can get games on League Pass - Is tired of the Rockets already and doesn't give a ****. People that aren't affected by the blackout ought not lecture to those of us who are about Les Alexander's contractual obligations as per the arena agreement or about anything else. You have the games; we don't. Don't tell us how pissed off or not pissed off we're supposed to be.
You're right that no one knows for sure, but I just have a hard time believing all three providers are working together to squeeze more money from one sports network. These providers are competitors, after all. I think the Rockets/Comcast (I don't mention the Astros because their season is over and no one cares about their games right now) gambled that the fans would put pressure on the providers to add their channel to the point where they would have to do it no matter what the cost. That's why they launched this whole "call your provider and demand it!" campaign. As if it's OUR job to make sure games are shown in Houston. I don't have any evidence to back that up, it's just a feeling I get.
If League Pass doesn't carry preseason games (I thought it did) I don't blame you. I'd find a way to catch preseason games elsewhere (though I've never in 30 years had to in the past) if I knew I was going to be able to get the regular season on TV. You already know you can in the same way you have every year you've lived outside of Houston. As I say, it must be nice. And as I say, it must be an easy place from which to lecture the rest of us about how upset we should be and whom we should blame. As it is, I've never seen 75% of this year's roster play a game at all. I have a passing interest in what kind of player Parsons will turn out to be but I have no investment in the rest of the team. If the games were on TV as in every year before I would have one. But I'm not inclined to give a damn about players I've never seen play before.
