Posted at 2:50 a.m., Friday, November 23, 2007
NFL: Owner upset millions won't see Cowboys-Packers
Associated Press
IRVING, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is still urging NFL fans to pull the plug on cable, especially those who want to see next week's NFC showdown of 10-1 teams on NFL Network.The Cowboys and Green Bay Packers both won Thanksgiving Day, a week before they play for the outright NFC lead.
The NFL Network has been in a dispute with large cable providers who don't carry the network on a basic tier. The network is available in about 35 million of the nation's more than 111 million homes with televisions.
"I am frustrated that we've got literally several million fans that won't get to see that game because Time Warner won't be carrying it," Jones said in the locker room after the Cowboys' 34-3 victory over the New York Jets. "I'm hot about that. I hope those fans will go to AT&T satellite or go over to a competing cable company."
Time Warner is the primary cable provider in the Dallas area.
Jones is the outspoken chairman of the league's NFL Network committee. His comments came just three days after Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the NFL Network demanding the channel's representatives stop encouraging fans to leave the cable provider.
"I know I have been given a cease and desist to quit saying that, but that is a fact," Jones said. "It's frustrating to think millions of Cowboys and Packers fans won't be able to see it."
Fans in each local market will be able to see the game. NFL rules require that games televised on cable must be made available to an over-the-air provider in the home market cities.
