by Scott Weiss

Word came out shortly before Game 3 of the World Series that Fox and Cablevision had resolved their dispute and the channels then gloriously reappeared. Now, I guess that I was supposed to be happy and grateful that I could once again view my beloved sporting events on the Fox Network — the World Series and NFL Football — and my wife could once again watch House and Glee.

But the reality is that I don’t feel happy or grateful at all. Although there was finally a resolution between the two billionaire bullies after two long weeks of missed games, it just reminds me that sports fans are sitting ducks. The next crisis is right around the corner, whether it be another TV blackout, an exponential rise in ticket prices, a new seat license fee, a publicly funded stadium or a work stoppage. It’s not if, it’s when.

So, let’s be logical here for a minute. There are a few sports networks, just over a hundred owners, a few thousand players, and millions of sports fans. If logic ruled the day here, then obviously the group with millions of members would hold all of the power. Especially, when this group of millions paid the freight for the sports machine to function. Unfortunately, the group with the millions of members, sports fans, come in dead last when it comes to power and influence.

I would argue that this is now a choice on behalf of sports fans. There is now a sports fans advocacy organization, Sports Fans Coalition, which is offering to unite fans into a powerful force. It’s either this or continue to operate as millions of angry individuals without any influence.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to rely on the government, the media or big corporations to make this right. There are no people that are more passionate and competitive than sports fans. So, come on people, let’s do this ourselves. Let’s join forces and prevent the sports establishment from pushing us around anymore.

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Scott Weiss is the Local Chapter Chair for SFC-New York/New Jersey. He has been involved in the sports fans advocacy movement since 2000. He is a life long fan of the Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers.

By Scott Weiss

For the past two weeks, I have been a very angry New York sports fan who happens to have the misfortune of also being a Cablevision customer. It’s bad enough that James Dolan has run my beloved Knicks and Rangers into the ground; now he’s also ripping baseball and football from my living room. By my calculations, Mr. Dolan is now impacting the viewing of all four major sports in my and millions of other New York sports fans’ lives.  His counterpart in this battle, Rupert Murdoch, is of course as much to blame in the Cablevision vs. Fox War of 2010. Two billionaires depriving us New York sports fans is too much to bear.

The last two nights of missing Games One and Two of the World Series was very upsetting.  However, my Mets have long since begun working on their golf games, so I was able to get on with my day. But now, the latest game of Gang Green is in jeopardy of being blacked out on Sunday.  Maybe Dolan and Murdoch don’t understand the wrath of Jets Fans. Saying it diplomatically, we are an interesting bunch with long memories. We have also been bred not to take injustices lying down. I don’t want to have to run out of my house to find the game at some sports bar. I want to watch the game from the comfort of my own home.

So, you ask, what can we do about it?  I’m going to tell you. I have been involved in the Sports Fans Coalition for the past year. The organization is trying like hell to unite sports fans into one powerful voice that will once and for all stand up to the Dolans and Murdochs of the world.  All we are asking is that you sign up for free membership for the organization. Only with big membership numbers can the organization gain power and legitimacy. Come on Jets Fans, let’s lead the way!

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Scott Weiss is the Local Chapter Chair for SFC-New York/New Jersey. He has been involved in the sports fans advocacy movement since 2000. He is a life long fan of the Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers.

TheStreet.com, a leading financial website, today published an interview with SFC Executive Director Brian Frederick on the NFL blackouts plaguing some cities and the looming NFL lockout.

WASHINGTON (TheStreet) — If you like this season’s NFL blackouts, just wait until the entire season is blacked out next year.

This is the warning Brian Frederick, executive directorof Washington-based fan lobbying and advocacy group the Sports Fans Coalition, offers the NFL faithful who think they didn’t need to get worked up about this year’s 13 games blacked out in their home markets — a measure that kicks in when games aren’t sold out 72 hours before kickoff. As most fans are all too aware, the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association is up for renewal next year, and owners are looking to reduce the 60% of revenue that goes to their helmeted-and-jerseyed employees.

Read the rest of the interview here.

by Bethany Lambright

Want to win the BCS National Championship? Then become very good friends with the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Hokies conduct an unofficial playoff almost every year: scheduling a big nonconference opponent in September who then goes on to win the title. Please see USC – 2004, LSU – 2007, Alabama – 2009, and with No. 1 teams dropping like flies and a top-three BCS standing, it appears Boise State may continue that trend this season. Hokie fans should be proud to fall to the eventual national champion year in and year out right? Wrong.

Whereas having the guts to schedule big-time teams early on might garner some street cred, losing one game and dashing any national championship hopes well before the end of daylight savings time is getting old. Even their own players threw the baby out with the bathwater after the devastating loss to Boise. What other excuse, other than none, is there for the complete breakdown against James Madison High School?

In a perfect world that included playoff games, The Hokies would be able to write their own story from here. The biggest upset to the biggest comeback in college football history. Down and out after back-to-back losses including one against an FCS opponent, they’re now sitting atop the ACC with Florida State as the only two teams undefeated in conference play. Win out and the Hokies could represent the ACC in a 16-team playoff and bring home the crystal ball. Disney execs would be knocking down the door to make a feel good, family dramedy about the against-all-odds band of misfits coming together to redeem themselves and their university.

Cut to the real world. Instead of Cinderella, once again the Hokies must settle for fairy godmother, waiving a magic wand and anointing Prince Charming as the belle of the ball, not only before the strike of midnight, but before the party really even gets started.

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From former science nerd to sports fanatic, Bethany Lambright is currently a graduate student at the University of Maryland pursuing sports journalism after an undergraduate career at Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!).

In case you were unaware — and few are aware — the NBA also faces a lockout next season after its collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of this season. Owners want to greatly reduce player salaries and there is talk of contracting some teams.

From FoxSports.com:

NBA commissioner David Stern came out Thursday after the owners’ Board of Governors meetings and said that the players need to have their annual salary/benefits package reduced by about $800 million, to $1.3 billion from their current $2.1 billion.

“We would like to get profitable, have a return on investment,” Stern said. “There’s a swing of somewhere in the neighborhood of $750 to $800 million that we would like to change.’’

Stern reiterated that owners want a new system, claiming that the league expects to lose around $350 million this season, after losing close to $400 million last year. And even with the prospect of more ticket sales, Stern said the system still needs to be changed to ensure that teams start getting profitable.

Read the rest of the article here.

Considering how bad the NBA suffered when it locked players out a little more than ten years ago — attendance declined, ratings declined, sales declined, etc. — why they would be willing to do it again speaks to nothing more their willingness to put greed ahead of their fan base.