? about sports (NFL ) blackouts

[fabero74]

I was hoping to check out the Patriots preseason game last night but I got the screen saying about "programming not being eligible in your area"; well, it wasn't exactly those words (poor memory) but if you've seen it you know what I mean. I get it all the time when for example the Red Sox are on ESPN but also on NESN - ESPN gets blocked out and I can only watch on NESN (which is fine by me.)
However, the Pats weren't showing on any other channel I receive (I looked long and hard, and yes I do subscribe to the local channels which are all Connecticut 06360 zip) and I was blacked-out. I could see the Giants game though (perhaps because I am on the NY sports satellite feed? by that I mean I get NESN MSG YES and FSNY.)
So, could anyone explain to me why I was blocked out (I assume I will be blocked from more Pats games ) and if I were to subscribe to Sunday Ticket would I still be blacked out, or not?
Sorry to ramble on so much, but thanks for any help with this -I'd say other than certain sports issues (can't see FSNE meaning very few Celtics games, and blacked out of Knicks/Rangers/Islanders/take you pick of NY sports teams) too even though I don't like the Knicks ) D* has been a godsend after suffering with Adelphia.

 

[slacker9876]

I was hoping to check out the Patriots preseason game last night but I got the screen saying about "programming not being eligible in your area"; well, it wasn't exactly those words (poor memory) but if you've seen it you know what I mean. I get it all the time when for example the Red Sox are on ESPN but also on NESN - ESPN gets blocked out and I can only watch on NESN (which is fine by me.)
However, the Pats weren't showing on any other channel I receive (I looked long and hard, and yes I do subscribe to the local channels which are all Connecticut 06360 zip) and I was blacked-out. I could see the Giants game though (perhaps because I am on the NY sports satellite feed? by that I mean I get NESN MSG YES and FSNY.)
So, could anyone explain to me why I was blocked out (I assume I will be blocked from more Pats games ) and if I were to subscribe to Sunday Ticket would I still be blacked out, or not?
Sorry to ramble on so much, but thanks for any help with this -I'd say other than certain sports issues (can't see FSNE meaning very few Celtics games, and blacked out of Knicks/Rangers/Islanders/take you pick of NY sports teams) too even though I don't like the Knicks ) D* has been a godsend after suffering with Adelphia.

DirecTV does not make the blackout rules the NFL does, well all leagues do. I have only seen one instance where when a game was blacked out is was not on any other local channel, that time I later found out it was on an oddball channel that was carrying like 3 AVS games that year ... so there was no blackout. The Only other factor that you may be experiencing is D* has your DMA's miss-mapped and this has been know to happen. So perhaps they thought you were able to receive this game via a local station.

From the horses mouth, even though this is the tickt is applies to all sports coverage:
In ZIP Code 06360, games broadcast by your local FOX or CBS station at 1 pm and 4 pm EST will not be available in the NFL SUNDAY TICKET channel range 700-719. Simply switch over to your local FOX or CBS station shown below to view these games.
Network Local Affiliate Local Channel # CBS WFSB 3 FOX WTIC 61

 

[ckudrna]

THe NFL package does not apply to preseason games, only regular season. Kind of annoying, would be much better if all the games were carried and all in HD!

What network was carrying the game? I would think it would have been a local channel for another area,like the FSN channel for whoever the pats were playing. You will not get these games, as it is not included in the NFL package. The only preaseason games you will see will be on your locals, sports nets, or ESPN/Deuce, etc.

 

[fabero74]

Thanks for the info slacker & ckurdna. I guess I just have to hope that 3 or 61 don't opt to show Giants or Jets over Pats (happens sometimes.) Another bowl wouldn't hurt that I suppose They never show preseason games though. I don't think that FSNE was showing it last night either, now that I think about it... oh well.

ckurdna -- it was channel 214 (ESPN alt). Like I said above, no other channels I receive were showing it so it mystified me. I think I've been too used to my former cable where they'd show alternate programming, so I had no idea what I was missing out on. Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.

 

[ckudrna]

Hmmm.

I am not totally sure how the ESPN Alts works, if they are available to everyone, or are just used for certain areas of the country.

I wonder how the NFL pack works if the lcocal channel is showing jets/giants? Those games may come in from other networks on the package, as the network would not have paid for the license to cover that game, so it would not be blacked out locally. (If the local network did not pay, they do not care who you watch that game on, but if they do pay, they want you watching them and not a distant network)

 

[Snipr4x4]

Around here in San Jose, CA the Raiders get blacked out all the time during regular season since their so called raider nation won't ever sell out their games. Its one of the contract issues its funny the only time you ever see the Raiders on TV is when a big corp like Microsoft buys the rest of the tickets & gives them away to their employee's customers etc. .

 

[slacker9876]

Around here in San Jose, CA the Raiders get blacked out all the time during regular season since their so called raider nation won't ever sell out their games. Its one of the contract issues its funny the only time you ever see the Raiders on TV is when a big corp like Microsoft buys the rest of the tickets & gives them away to their employee's customers etc. .

I do not know the specifics but sellouts I would not think factor in at all. I think that only matters for the game to be broadcast locally, by the local affiliate. I live in the Denver area and am a Broncos fan. If I remember correctly the Broncos have sold out every home game since 1969 and I never get the games in the Sunday Ticket Package ... ever, even last year when they were in HD.

 

[Lumpius Maximus]

Just a quick note, DirecTV has nothing to do with true blackouts, but they end up blocking some sports regionally. All DirecTV national programming comes from the east coast. So if you have a situaltion where ESPN is carrying a game on each coast, you will receive the East Coast feed. We missed a couple SJ Sharks games that way last season. If you had cable, you receive the regional game for your area. If you had DirecTV you recieved whatever game was playing in New York.