“Consumers who want to switch video providers shouldn’t have to give up their favorite team in the process.” – FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski

Since Sports Fans Coalition was founded in 2009, one of our primary concerns has been access to games. Sports fans – one of the largest (if not the largest) consumer groups in the U.S. – are often priced out of watching games either in person or on television. What makes this all the more galling is that sports leagues and owners have extracted so much money from our communities already in the form of public subsidies, primarily for stadium construction, and antitrust exemptions that enable them to maintain a stranglehold on the marketplace.

When it comes to watching games on television, which is how most fans experience sports, fans are often faced with a similar dilemma – pay through the teeth for one TV provider so that they can see their favorite teams’ games or switch to another provider and lose access to those games. This is because the one TV provider owns the regional sports network (RSN) that shows the games and the provider refuses to sell the RSN to another provider in order to gain leverage in the market for subscribers.

For instance, for more than a decade in Philadelphia, Comcast has dominated the market for cable and satellite customers because it owns Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, a regional sports network that carries three of the four major teams in town — and because it actually owns two of those teams (the Flyers and the 76ers). As a result, fans can’t watch their favorite teams on DirecTV or DISH. Thus, satellite TV providers reportedly only have an estimated 16% share in the Philadelphia market, half of what they have in other markets.

Similarly, in New York, Cablevision refuses to sell MSG HD to some competitors, meaning Knicks and Rangers fans in the New York City area typically have to subscribe to Cablevision if they wish to see games on MSG HD. And in San Diego, Cox is withholding San Diego Padres programming from some competitors.*

Comcast, Cablevision and Cox have been exploiting what’s called the “terrestrial loophole,” which the FCC closed a year and half ago. But these companies still refused to play ball and Cablevision took the FCC to court. On Friday, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the FCC had the authority to close the loophole.

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior VP and policy director for the public interest group Media Access Project, predicted that the court decision will lead to “more choice and, perhaps, lower prices, for pay-TV services.”

Back when the FCC closed the loophole, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said:

The loophole gives free reign to cable-TV operators to lock up local sports events and other popular programming and withhold them from rival providers … Consumers who want to switch video providers shouldn’t have to give up their favorite team in the process. Today the commission levels the competitive playing field.

Ultimately, that’s what Sports Fans Coalition is fighting for – fans should have greater access to games, whether in person or on television, and that access should be affordable for the average fan.

By the way, this isn’t to say satellite providers are without blame for leaving fans in the dark. For the past four seasons, Trail Blazer fans in Oregon without Comcast have been unable to see Blazer home games on CSN Northwest. Since the Trail Blazers are pretty much the only game in town (and since Blazer fans are arguably the most passionate in the game), Blazer fans have had to either pay Comcast or miss out on their beloved team.

When the FCC approved the Comcast-NBCU merger, it specifically ordered creation of “an improved commercial arbitration process” for licensing Comcast programming, including “cable channels in addition to broadcast and regional sports network programming.” It seemed that there was hope for satellite providers hoping to access Comcast sports programming. Problem is, DirecTV and DISH have failed to fight for Blazer fans by forcing a resolution via arbitration. It’s time for these satellite companies to put up or shut up.

But, in the case of Philadelphia, New York and San Diego, other providers clearly want access to the sports programming and sports fans in those cities want – and deserve – to be able to choose how they get their favorite games.

The FCC has leveled the playing field and the Courts have upheld their authority. Now it’s time for the FCC to actually enforce its own ruling and ensure that sports fans have greater choice in how they see their favorite teams. Just as in sports, fair competition should be paramount.

Brian Frederick is the Executive Director of Sports Fans Coalition. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication and lives in Washington, D.C. Email him at brian@sportsfans.org and follow him on Twitter here.

*A previous version of this stated that MSG HD was available only to Cablevision customers in the New York City area. In fact, in those NYC areas where Time Warner Cable is available, fans can see MSG HD.

Sports Fans Coalition called attention today to one of the FCC’s conditions concerning sports programming in approving the merger between Comcast and NBCUniversal. The FCC is requiring Comcast to make broadcast and regional sports programming more available to competitors, which will lead to greater sports access for sports fans around the nation.

“While we still must study the final documents released by the FCC and Department of Justice, Sports Fans Coalition is encouraged to see that fans’ access to sports was front and center in this merger proceeding,” Sports Fans Coalition Executive Director Brian Frederick said today. “Fans should have access to their local games and the fact that Comcast’s regional sports networks are the subject of merger conditions indicates that the federal government is paying attention to sports fans.”

In the weeks and months prior to the merger, Sports Fans Coalition met with commissioners and senior staff at the FCC to raise awareness about sports-related issues.  In Portland and Philadelphia, for instance, sports fans without Comcast are often shut out from seeing their local teams on Comcast’s regional sports networks.

Frederick called on Comcast to make its regional sports networks more available to competitors immediately.

“Comcast doesn’t need to wait to until it is forced to make sports programming more available, it should do so now,” Frederick said. “Every game counts to many sports fans and the sooner Comcast acts, the better.”

In a press release today, the FCC stated that its conditions for the merger included:

Building on successful requirements adopted in prior, similar transactions, the Commission is establishing for rival multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) an improved commercial arbitration process for resolving disputes about prices, terms, and conditions for licensing Comcast-NBCU’s video programming. The Commission is also requiring Comcast-NBCU to make available through this process its cable channels in addition to broadcast and regional sports network programming.

Check out this interview with SFC Executive Director Brian Frederick, who is out there rallying frustrated Blazer fans to fix the Comcast situation.

http://www.kgw.com/thesquare/Blazers-Fans-Protest-Comcast-109075499.html

by Joel Barker

Comcast’s “hostage taking” of the Blazers broadcasts is bad for the Blazers, for Oregon, for the NBA, and for Comcast, itself. Comcast thinks that they can exploit the emotional ties between Oregonians and our team for the sake of some tawdry profits, but I know that we can do better.

I am one of the many rabid fans that populate this city. We have only one major league team and only one national championship in the entire state. We put everything we have into the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers are a link between Portlanders, between Oregonians.

That is just as major league sports should be, that is what we fans pay for. In Oregon, perhaps more than anywhere outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin, professional sports work. When we come in to work in the morning, in the midst of our days, we talk about the Blazers. Chit chat about the Blazers is what brings us together.

We are famous for our fandom, and for our sellout crowds. A year ago, ESPN columnist Bill Simmons said in an interview with Ian Ruder published in the Oregonian:

The Blazer fans are crazy. They’re like the crazy dude at the bar who’s just so irrational you don’t want to get into a full argument with them because you might get a beer bottle smashed into your head. It’s because they’re on the team, so it’s like they’re arguing about their kids almost.

If you have ever been in the Rose Garden when the Lakers come to town, you know what he’s talking about. When we walk through the Rose Garden doors, we go from friendly latte-sipping hipsters to blood thirsty Cro-Magnons defending our turf.

We are blessed with an organization that is committed to our community and many of our team alumni choose to make a home in Portland after they retire. After Maurice Lucas passed away a couple of weeks ago, several friends of mine relayed their personal stories of Lucas around town. His presence here after his career was over means just as much as the championship that he helped to win.

Watching the games is a communion for us fans. We do it as families, with friends. A win means a lot, but so does Coach Mo Cheeks saving the young national anthem singer.

I myself was honored to once have dinner with Terry Porter, who offered me relationship advice. Terry, I am sorry. I still have not married her.

Comcast has put a ransom on our extended family. They promised to negotiate with other providers, to compete in a fair marketplace. Instead they are making every effort to function as a monopoly.

In addition, how does the NBA feel about Comcast’s anti-competitive activities? The league is trying to build a fan base while Comcast is limiting their potential audience.

I am certainly appreciative of the effort that Comcast goes to in providing the games and I believe that they should be fairly compensated. They have an opportunity to be a part of our family and benefit from that goodwill. It surprises me that they should choose to instead inspire their customers – and potential customers to begrudge their very services. Is that they way that they want to do business?

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Joel Barker is a freelance writer and lifelong Oregon resident. You can email him at Joel@wordlions.com.

In an article over the weekend for the Oregonian, Mike Tokito has a nice summary of the Comcast-Trail Blazers situation, as well as the Comcast-76ers situation and other similar retransmission disputes.

And Tokito even gives SFC a nice plug. Here’s how he ends the article:

Brian Frederick, executive director of the Sports Fans Coalition, wrote last month in an editorial for The Oregonian: “Comcast clearly sees the public perception of its treatment of sports fans as a potential Achilles’ heel in its effort to acquire NBCU.”

You can read Tokito’s article here.

You can read Brian Frederick’s Oregonian editorial here.