Other than bad NFL football teams, what do Houston and Cleveland have in common? Not much, except that they are the only U.S. markets in which the Patriots-Colts game this afternoon will not be available for home viewers via network television.
The Browns play the Seahawks on FOX at the same time as the Patriots-Colts game, so the Cleveland market gets that game. Similarly, Houstonians must endure the Raiders-Texans game on CBS rather than the Patriots-Colts game. Oakland area residents wisely didn’t buy enough tickets to sell out the Raiders-Texans game, so that game is mercifully blacked out in the Bay Area, allowing viewers there to watch the Patriots-Colts game.
It’s painful enough having to watch the Texans all the time. Isn’t it about time for the NFL to ditch these absurd rules that prevent the best games from being viewed in certain markets?
Houston's Clear Thinkers
Longtime Houston attorney Tom Kirkendall's observations on developments in law, business, medicine, culture, sports, and other matters of general interest to the Houston business, professional, and academic communities.
Tom – a few years ago you didn’t have to worry about watching the home team. Was that better?
I remember living in NYC in the 70’s when both the Giants and Jets were terrible. We would go months without seeing a good game. I used to turn on ’60 Minutes’ hoping a good game was running long and maybe we could see something worth watching.