Even the players are surprised by the notion that the National Basketball Association playoff games will be broadcast solely on the Internet.
The Chiefs defensive end Charles Omenihu took to social media to express his dissatisfaction with the fact that the Peacock was the only network that would be able to broadcast the wild-card game between the Chiefs and the Dolphins on Saturday night. Omenihu was upset about the fact that the Peacock would be the only network that would be able to show the game.
“Us playing on peacock only is insane; I won’t lie about that,” Omenihu announced on X on Sunday night. “I won’t lie about that.”
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the National Football League (NFL) and NBCUniversal reached an agreement in May for a one-year contract with a projected value of about 110 million dollars.
Peacock will have exclusive rights to the game that will take place on Saturday night at eight o’clock during wild-card weekend, according to the arrangement that was reached throughout the tournament. This will be the very first time that a National Football League playoff game will be made available just through streaming capabilities.
$110M Peacock-only NFL playoff game shocks Chiefs player
On their respective local NBC affiliates, fans in the Kansas City and Miami locations will be able to watch the game without having to pay something. There will be one and only one exception to this regulation, and that is in the local markets.
Amazon Prime Video has acquired the exclusive rights to broadcast “Thursday Night Football” beginning with the 2022 season. This is another event that will only be available to watch, with the exception of the markets of the teams that are participating.
Additionally, on December 23, Peacock was the host of an exclusive regular-season game, which featured the Bills successfully defeating the Chargers.
Omenihu, who had a career-high seven sacks in 11 games this season in his first year with the Chiefs, echoed the sentiment of many fans on social media who were accusing the National Football League of being avaricious and not doing what is best for fans. Emenihu’s performance reflected the sentiments of many fans.
Mike Francesa, who once hosted on WFAN, referred to it as an “utterly disgraceful, greedy reach by the Network Football League.”
How many people in the United States of America do not have cable television? Who among the citizens of the United States does not own a smart TV?
The question is, “How many people in the United States of America are even aware of what streaming is, let alone how to locate streaming, or are they willing to pay an additional amount to watch a playoff game?” Francesa sighed on his podcast, and @BackAftaThis shared a video of it on X.
It is absurd that the National Football League would act in such a manner with their playoff product. On top of that, they would play a regular-season game on a Thursday night, or they would play a regular-season game on a Saturday. Both of these scenarios are really unfortunate.
However, doing it during a game that is part of the playoffs is the most damaging thing that could happen to their national fan base. All throughout the year, people anticipate these playoff games. These playoff games are something that they look forward to, and now you are going to charge them more for a playoff game? Are they not providing enough? Are you not making enough money?
For free, NBC will broadcast the Texans’ game against the Browns on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and the Lions’ game against the Rams on Sunday at 8 p.m.
Fox will broadcast the Cowboys game against the Packers at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, while CBS will broadcast the Bills game against the Steelers at one o’clock.
At 8:15 p.m. on Monday, ESPN and ABC will broadcast the Buccaneers’ game against the Eagles.