Hardly A National Game Sunday
December 4th, 2010
Blue on the map represents where the "national" Bucs-Falcons game will be televised on FOX stations Sunday. Red represents coverage of the meaningless Cowboys-Colts game.
Legions of Bucs fans were giddy when Sunday’s Bucs-Falcons game was moved to 4:15 p.m.
Oh, yeah! That meant a national time slot and the young Bucs would be shown all over America. Finally some national love for Mike Williams, Josh Freeman and the rest of the Bucs’ relatively unknown roster.
Hardly.
Via the TV-obsessed folks at The506.com, you can see in the map above (blue) where the Bucs-Falcons game can be viewed. That would be bustling metroplolises of Fargo, North Dakota, Duluth, Minnesota, and Roanoke, Virginia — and not much else outside of Atlanta (obviously), Jacksonville and New Orleans.
Red on the map represents what cities and towns will watch the Cowboys-Colts game at 4:15. (And you thought it was a 2012 Republican victory projection.)
Joe’s not going to pretend to know more about the viewing desires of football fans than big-money TV executives, but it seems the presence of Peyton Manning and “America’s Team” makes a game far more desirable to watch than the best team in the NFC (Atlanta) versus the former best team in the NFC (Bucs).
A Wall Street Journal story a few weeks ago illustrated how the networks — and presumably the NFL — are content to jam bad football down the nation’s throat so it can showcase big names.
A look at every NFL team shows the Vikings, on average, have been broadcast in a league-leading 38.3 states each week they play, edging the Cowboys by 0.4. The Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles round out the top five, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are last at 2.9 states a week, according to The506.com, a website that uses local listings to track where teams are broadcast.
Joe hopes the Colts are up by four touchdowns at halftime Sunday, just to stick it to the FOX suits.
December 4th, 2010 at 9:29 am
How disgusting. A 3-8 football team doesn’t deserve to be rewarded like this. Heck, the Colts aren’t even doing that great. They’re 6-5!
Unfortunately Joe, I have to watch the Cowboys stink it up every week since I live in Texas. Last Sunday, I found the best NFL streaming site on the internet so I’m good to go for Sunday.
December 4th, 2010 at 10:16 am
No way either team is up that much at halftime Joe. The league will not allow it. Well placed penaltys will prevent that. I often wonder when Dallass is playing if Joe and Troy hold hands in the booth when the cowgirls make a good play.
December 4th, 2010 at 10:34 am
Thats so f-in lame.. I dunno why I even got my hopes up, but I shoulda known better. Thought id actually get to stay home n watch the game this time. Colts n Cowboys, whoopdyfreakin doo. (ha lil bitter this morning, just started snowin here yesterday)
December 4th, 2010 at 11:19 am
3-8 vs. 5-6
over
9-2 vs 7-4 divisional match up
ridiculous
December 4th, 2010 at 11:20 am
I HATE living in South Florida. Thank God I’m driving up on Sunday so I’ll get to see the game. They never show the Bucs down here. It Stinks!
December 4th, 2010 at 11:20 am
From the TV networks point of view can you blame them?
What ‘names’ do the Bucs have? It’s a team of rookies that will likely get beat AGAIN by the Falcons who don’t get a lot of love either.
Also think about this – if the Bucs can’t sell out their home game, meaning the local fans don’t care, why should the national media?
just saying….
December 4th, 2010 at 11:21 am
As much as this Cowboy-Knob-Slobbin disses the Bucs, It really really dogs the $h!tbirds from Hotlanta. The Falcon, even though projected to lose by the legions of Buc Fanatics across the globe, are really getting dogged out. I was at a 7-11 in Moscow and everybody was talking up the Bucs. They even have Buc Wodka now. In Singapore all the kids are wearing Freeman jerseys. In Nepal they are even stamping the Hashish with a Bucs’ Flag Stamp and SprtSkjär in Iceland had a Raheem interview in prime time yesterday. This is big big problem for World. This game is more popular than the World Freakin Cup.
December 4th, 2010 at 11:39 am
I live in Cali, and though I have NFL ST, I was bummed again to see the fox game of the week not be the bucs out here, though the eagles bears was a big matchup last week.
For shts and giggles, i looked up if it was playing in my home town orlando this weekend and its not playing there either, ridiculous.
December 4th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Also, why does a patch of North Dakota and Minnesota get the game?
December 4th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
I live up here in London, Ontario (shout out to Canadian Buc fans by the way) and they’re broadcasting the game on Sportsnet Canada-wide.
December 4th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
simeon, it may have to do with the fact that it could affect the Packers and Bears, and there are plenty of NFC North fans that want to know where their competition is and what they’re doing.
December 4th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
JDouble:
This is why the suits in New York think Dull Patrick is better for the Tampa Bay area than Bobby Fenton, or Stephen A. Smith over, well, just about anyone.
Suits are just in love with “names.”
It is sickening and a reason why Joe has BSPN blocked on his TV.
December 4th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
The Colts vs Cowboys is not even a division game, when Tampa vs Atlanta is a division game with playoff implications for both teams. Well, at least Fox donated Jim Mora jr to the TV Crew for our game. I really like him.
December 4th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Watch it on the internet for the folks who are blacked out.
Who said the Bucs are a national favorite anyway?
December 4th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are last at 2.9 states a week
🙂
December 4th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
And we get Mora again.
Why is FOX even employing that incompetent announcer, let alone unleashing his awfulness on us Bucs fans?
December 4th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Really, who cares if the nation is watching, I get it for you guys that are Bucs fan stuck in another area…Otherwise who cares.
December 4th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Sander:
Turn down sound and turn on Deckerhoff.
December 4th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Yeah, that’s definitely what the 2012 Electoral results will look like. Both CA and NY will be red. Good call. Joe, you’re not a comedian and nobody cares about your opinions on anything but the the Bucs. Let’s just stick with football and keep it simple.
December 4th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Simeon,
Orlando can’t televise the Falcons-Bucs game because Orlando is a secondary market to the Bucs. If it is not allowed to air in Tampa, it is not allowed to air in Orlando either. I don’t know if the outrage in Orlando is as big as last year when the Dolphins-Jaguars game wasn’t allowed on local TV because it was blacked out in Jacksonville (Orlando is also a Jags secondary even though the Dolphins have a bigger fanbase there).
Personally, I don’t know which is worse for Bucs fans: Not having home games televised or being force-fed a terrible Cowboys team every time FOX has the NFL doubleheader during blacked-out Bucs home games?
December 4th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Yeah! It’s REAL obvious why they moved the Bucs vs Falcons game to 4:15 pm. They want NO ONE to see them!
December 4th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Jimmy Delach:
In a perverse way, Joe thinks this is the NFL’s way of getting more people to buy NFL Sunday Ticket. 🙂
December 4th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Dave W.
This is Joe’s site and he can express his opinions on anything he desires. If you don’t like it, leave, move to CA or NY, but get over it. Many of us do care what Joe has to say, and he is very comedic at times, especially with his titles. So get over it, move on, move to Mexico, because nobody cares about your opinions on anything, as you say.
December 4th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
BigMacAttack:
Thanks for having Joe’s back but Joe wasn’t insulted by Dave W. Joe just finds it riich how the lefties are so big on the First Amendment so long as you spout what the lefties want you to spout. Otherwise, it’s “hate speech” or “politically incorrect.”
Joe’s used to it and expects it. 🙂
December 4th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
@jimmy delach.
yea i forgot it was blacked out locally…….makes sense.
December 5th, 2010 at 12:22 am
Patrick,
I believe one reason the Falcons-Bucs game was moved because it was supposed to be a showdown for first place in the NFC South (which was dashed by the Bucs losing in Baltimore). It also is a way of having the game televised in New Orleans since the Saints play a 1PM game in Cincinnati. Never mind the NFL did not once think the game could be blacked out in Central Florida.
Joe brought up Sunday Ticket earlier. Even if you don’t have Sunday Ticket, hopefully you have the Red Zone Channel. I have DISH Network which means I have NFL Network and its’ Red Zone Channel which is the cure-all for the Bucs blackout blues. Red Zone can look in live on Atlanta-Tampa Bay occasionally in addition to DAL-IND, CAR-SEA, STL-ARZ and OAK-SD.
December 5th, 2010 at 3:40 am
Looks like I will be watching yet another buccaneers game on the internet…