As the NFL bread and circuses brigade marches blindly toward Super Bowl Sunday, the league finally tipped its hand when it streamed one of its wildcard playoff games between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins.  Perhaps you were one of the 23 million who flew over that paywall by subscribing to Peacock for the privilege.

Welcome to the future of NFL broadcasting, as network television will soon be washed away by the stream.  As cable continues to bleed subscribers, streaming will fill the gap.  Perhaps lost on the scramble for the almighty dollar is how the NFL’s success has been anchored to its longtime availability on free television.

NBCUniversal forked over $110 million for the rights to broadcast the game in an effort to draw more Peacock subscribers to its streaming platform.  Looking forward to more of the same, the NFL will put more games up for a bid for what the league hopes is a burgeoning streaming market.

The Peacock Game was the antithesis of the infamous Heidi Game, where, on Nov. 17, 1968, NBC switched away in the final minutes of the fourth quarter between the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders to their scheduled programming: the movie Heidi.

It was a programming decision authorized by the same company (NBC) who owns Peacock.  The mere thought of repeating such a blunder is sportscasting sacrilege.   

The NFL remains the seamless event for television.  What other sport has commercials made exclusively for its championship game at record prices — yearly?  The games, however, have devolved into commercials interrupted by football.  Forgotten is how streaming would affect commercials.

Next, the NFL will find a way to charge for using your mute button to tune out those droning announcers who encourage viewers to “place their bets” as if they are at a craps table while shilling nonstop for streaming services. 

The uncanny parallels between sports and government are their insatiable need for increased revenue.  Fortunately, you don’t have to buy tickets and parking, purchase team gear, or subscribe.  However, don’t try that with your taxes.  The NFL is a legally sanctioned monopoly, and its notorious owners have turned extorting taxpayers for new stadiums and local tax breaks into an art form.  The NFL marketing vacuum plays on local civic pride to suck money out of its taxpaying fans and non-fans.

What about those deplorables without broadband, or who do not own a tech-savvy television and the latest smartphone?  Paywalls lock out a future fan base while agitating the current one.  Since the objective is to grow an audience, perhaps temperance would have been the right route to run for a completion, but instead, the league got flagged for a personal foul.

One fan lamented how the NFL, after going political, finally had him interested again, but being coerced into subscribing ended the relationship.  Ashland native Jim Eisenhart pulled no punches: “It will be colder in Hell than it was at gametime before I pony up for Poppycock, er, Peacock.  They can give my regards to Budweiser and Sports Illustrated, too.”  Eisenhart refuses to be used as a cash cow primed up to be bilked time and again.

Naturally, signing up to stream is easier than canceling.  Some subscribed with the intent of canceling at the game’s conclusion, while NBCUniversal is betting they forget.

The financial short-term gain will eventually lead to long-term financial fumbles. 

Separate streaming subscriptions only alienate and breed resentment.  Some platforms allow you to record on a DVR, while others don’t, whereas some will allow for skipping through commercials, but not all.

Sometimes the convenience of modern technology doesn’t seem worth the trouble that comes with it — a simple landline and a television antenna still have a certain nostalgic appeal that is hard to extinguish. 

The suits at NBC were pleased with the 23 million who streamed the game, but their field position is still a long field goal away from reaching the reported 115.1 million viewers who watched last year’s Super Bowl.

Pay-per-view for the Super Bowl awaits as the fans are taken for dolts.  As some drift away perhaps The Autumn Wind is not a Raider after all.  It’s time to find out.

Image: Marco Verch Professional Photographer via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).