I've got a real problem that I am being held hostage to pony up additional money to watch Patrick Mahomes play Saturday night.

I pay Alta-Fiber nearly $150 (TV/Internet) a month to assure that I receive network TV and will be provided major sporting events. 

We should have seen this coming when Thursday night Football became Pay Per View.

I am 76 years old and am going to forced to pay up, or refrain from watching the game altogether, as a matter of principle.  If I were in my 20s or 30s this would really concern me that my future TV will become a series of "The Super Bowl Streaming Exclusively on ROKU" or "The Kentucky Derby Streaming Exclusively on You Tube".  Where will it end???  It won't.  So long as we suckers pony up the cash, these people will continue to squeeze the last dime out of us.

I consider watching NFL Football on network TV an American birthright, and even moreso since I pay Alta-Fiber to represent me for my subscription fee to provide these games.  Who is out there representing us in these matters and allowing this to happen???

I have a little bit of a problem with this too.

I pay altafiber almost $200 month.  

On Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime, I always thought to myself "everyone has Amazon" but I know that is not true.  So you are right Mustang, that was the start and I want to mention again the picture quality on Amazon Prime has been second to none.  I do assume the picture quality on Peacock will be super duper too.

I do think the future is going to go through a period where the entertainment we want is divided up in ways to extract the maximum money out of the consumer.  It is hard to argue with the business model of it.

Like you (and wrongly of course) I think of the NFL (at least the playoffs) as an American birthright. 

I did look to see and I do not believe that Peacock offers any type of free trial so I think we are stuck.  Also, there was another game exclusively on Peacock this season so this doesn't surprise me at all.

From the Great Google Machine:

Peacock will have one exclusive regular season NFL game each season through 2028, with the status of additional playoff games unclear at the moment. “I think [the Bills-Chargers game on Peacock in December] and the playoff game in January are going to be game-changers,” Miller said in a phone interview in November.

I would have been 50/50 on watching it on over the air TV.   I won't pay extra to watch it and the NFL hasn't done enough to make me care enough about the games to be outraged.

I won't pay extra for any of these games. I don't have Prime and haven’t seen any of those games. No big deal for me. However, I think playoff games should all be available. No exclusives on playoff games.

5 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

I would have been 50/50 on watching it on over the air TV.   I won't pay extra to watch it and the NFL hasn't done enough to make me care enough about the games to be outraged.

I would have been more like 95/5 if I didn't have to pay extra.  On the rest of it, we are in lockstep. 

Just now, Voice of Reason said:

I won't pay extra for any of these games. I don't have Prime and haven’t seen any of those games. No big deal for me. However, I think playoff games should all be available. No exclusives on playoff games.

That is my beef but it is no big deal for me either.

I sound like someone silly on tv but seriously here, what about the kids?  Kids deserve to see it for free. 

1 minute ago, theguru said:

That is my beef but it is no big deal for me either.

I sound like someone silly on tv but seriously here, what about the kids?  Kids deserve to see it for free. 

The NFL doesn't give a squat about kids.   An NFL game is the least kid friendly place there is.

11 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

The NFL doesn't give a squat about kids.   An NFL game is the least kid friendly place there is.

The NFL is too greedy. 

This is another reason I like Formula 1, it is about the experience and ESPN's coverage of F1 (and lack of commercials) is amazing.   The venues look very fan friendly too. 

Someone on YouTube might have an audio stream worth checking out.  I know that I use that for NHL games if they are on NHL Network or something, which I don't get.

The death of cable through streaming will not end up like people expect.  Existing cable is a content wasteland but there may come a time when people miss having all their available shows, games, etc. available through one place.

5 hours ago, DanvilleFan said:

Someone on YouTube might have an audio stream worth checking out.  I know that I use that for NHL games if they are on NHL Network or something, which I don't get.

The death of cable through streaming will not end up like people expect.  Existing cable is a content wasteland but there may come a time when people miss having all their available shows, games, etc. available through one place.

Some TikToker will be live streaming it... I'll just watch it there.

Peacock probably has a free trial.  Just do that?  If they don't, and you really want things to not change for the future, then don't sign up and pay.  Pretty much the only way to avoid this in the future is for the plan to backfire on them.

Your beef is with the NFL, not your cable provider. The NFL controls how/where their games are shown. 

I’ll never pay additional fees to watch, and I feel most consumers probably feel that way too. The ratings will be interesting.

2 hours ago, brown4 said:

Peacock probably has a free trial.  Just do that?  If they don't, and you really want things to not change for the future, then don't sign up and pay.  Pretty much the only way to avoid this in the future is for the plan to backfire on them.

I took a quick "google look" and best I can tell there is no free trial.  

2 hours ago, TheDeuce said:

Your beef is with the NFL, not your cable provider. The NFL controls how/where their games are shown. 

I’ll never pay additional fees to watch, and I feel most consumers probably feel that way too. The ratings will be interesting.

I agree will all of this and just added the amount of my altafiber bill for fun.

3 hours ago, LCDAWGS19 said:

Some TikToker will be live streaming it... I'll just watch it there.

I assume this is true of anything including pay per view events like UFC?

I would also imagine the "Firestick powers that be" have end arounds but please everyone do not share anything specific about that here on BGP.