chongli

Wasn't there a thread complaining of the supposedly poor play of Martin and Bass this year, lol?

It's 3 AM now I believe as they are showing the HOU-CLE first.

I don't get this: LOL at this one. Saban is like "WTF?".

I didn't realize he was this good: ------------------------------- Nice brackets:

I like GMF though and Kyle Brandt.

https://nypost.com/2024/01/12/sports/espn-nfl-in-advanced-talks-on-agreement-that-could-give-league-equity-in-tv-giant/amp/ "ESPN, NFL in advanced talks on agreement that could give league stake in TV giant" "ESPN and the NFL are in advanced talks that could result in the league taking an equity stake in ESPN, The Post has learned. As part of a potential agreement, Disney-owned ESPN would take control of NFL Media, which includes NFL Network, and the league would receive equity in ESPN. For the long-term viability of ESPN aligning with the most powerful sports league would enhance its position as the network plans to move to direct to consumer by 2025. While the idea of an ESPN-NFL alliance has been mentioned before, discussions between Disney-owned ESPN and the NFL are far enough along that sources said that owners and the Players Association are being informed about the talks [...] The NFL has been trying to unload its network for years now. In its recent talks that resulted in its $110-plus billion deals with ESPN, Amazon, CBS, Fox, NBC and YouTube, the NFL searched for a buyer, but was unsuccessful. NFL Media consists of NFL Network, NFL.com, Red Zone, NFL Films and NFL+. Since ESPN covers the league thoroughly, there would be synergies if the two sides are able to reach an agreement. Disney/ESPN might be able to secure better carriage arrangements for NFL Network. ESPN has targeted 2025 as the most likely year it will go direct-to-consumer. It is still possible it could move up the date to end of this year. When it does, it plans on offering all its programming without a cable subscription. A subscriber could choose to pay for the service directly through ESPN’s app or would still be able to opt for the ESPN channels through a cable or satellite provider.

I will if you pay for my flight from Nevada! 😅

They will come for the free tickets and food.

UPDATE: there is no update:

Alert to sports bar and restaurant owners who don't have Peacock: EverPass states the deadline for bars to sign up last minute through UPShow is 5 PM Saturday for the special residential Peacock code or the payment process after the deadline is not guaranteed: https://www.joehandpromotions.com/content/wildcard-access/

Example from a fan:

Tweet was deleted, but true:

Rep. Pat Ryan from New York is upset the game is being shown only on Peacock:

Here is the tweet: NBC New York’s Twitter/X page has a history of doing this. Twitter/X user Mike Beauvais shared a screengrab of Thursday’s tweet about Belichick, as well as three others that NBC New York tweeted about Belichick’s longtime quarterback with the Patriots, Tom Brady. See if you notice a theme. Sept. 14, 2022: “Gisele Bündchen candidly revealed the sacrifices she has made for her husband Tom Brady, who lost two Super Bowls to the New York Giants.” Sept. 20, 2022: “The Florida mansion that 5-time World Series champion Derek Jeter built in 2012 and recently rented to Tom Brady, who lost two Super Bowls to the New York Giants, soon could be demolished, according to reports.” Feb. 1, 2023: “Tom Brady, who lost two Super Bowls to the Giants in what was otherwise a noteworthy NFL career, says he’s retiring (again) from football – and this time he means it.”

There may not be another photo as McD will be here for a very long time.

This is the full video:

Wait...do they show the NFL in Taiwan? Or do you get Armed Forces Network?

Well, Michael Irvin faces more trouble: https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/allen-texas-pd-investigates-allegation-against-michael-irvin "Allen, Texas PD investigates “allegation” against Michael Irvin The Allen, Texas Police Department has confirmed the existence of an investigation, based on a vague and unspecified “allegation.” “There has been an allegation, but we are not prepared to release any details at this time due to our investigation being in its very early stages,” Allen PD Public Information Officer Jonathan Maness told PFT by email, in response to a question regarding whether Irvin is currently facing any type of allegation or investigation. (Obviously, we asked the question based on a tip that there is something going on.) Irvin’s lawyer, Levi McCathern, told PFT by phone on Thursday that Irvin “vehemently denies” the allegation. “He didn’t do anything wrong or inappropriate,” McCathern said. McCathern added that there’s “absolutely no truth” to the allegation, and that the situation “saddens me.” He predicted that this allegation, like others made in the past against Irvin, “will turn out to be much ado about nothing.” https://nypost.com/2024/01/11/sports/michael-irvin-under-police-investigation-over-undisclosed-allegation/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=nypost_sports&sr_share=twitter "NFL Media spokesperson Alex Riethmiller told The Post, “We’re aware of the report but don’t have any additional details at this point.”"

This is an exclusive interview by Ryan Glasspiegel with NBC Sports President Ric Cordella about the Peacock playoff game, with comments by NFL Executive Vice President of Media Distribution Hans Schroeder why they agreed to put the game behind a paywall. Also, NBC admits they used the Bills at Chargers game as a test run, for both their technology and to see if fans would bite! https://nypost.com/2024/01/11/sports/inside-nbcs-100-million-peacock-nfl-playoff-game-gamble/ "Inside NBC’s $110M Peacock NFL playoff game gamble as outrage grows" "NBC sees the $110 million NFL playoff game airing exclusively on Peacock as a doorway into a much bigger house. The Chiefs host the Dolphins on Saturday night on the NBC streaming service which is in about 30 million homes, less than half the reach of NBC and the other three broadcast networks, and voices ranging from sports radio legend Mike Francesa to Chiefs defensive end Charles Omenihu already have griped about it. Asked by The Post in an exclusive interview what he would say to the detractors, newly minted NBC Sports president Rick Cordella understood the consternation but emphasized the “halo effect” of all the other sports and entertainment properties for subscribers to enjoy on the platform. “Look, I think any time there’s change there will be people that talk about it. We saw that with WWE and English Premier League,” he said." “We survey our users on Peacock every month, and know that [their fans] are two of the most highly satisfied cohorts overall. I think the big thing with our game on Saturday night is we have to do a great job explaining all the great content that we have on our platform.” Therefore, Cordella, 47, explained, it’s “not a pay-per-view.” The playoff game the streaming service is airing features a lot of star power, including generational talents such as Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, as well as Tua Tagovailoa who has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL since Mike McDaniel became the Dolphins’ head coach last season. In addition to the aforementioned WWE premium live events, including the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, and English soccer, Peacock has exclusive Big Ten football and basketball and simulcasts of NBC Sports properties such as “Sunday Night Football” and the Olympics. Entertainment-wise, Peacock has original series such as “Poker Face”, “Bel-Air” and “The Traitors”, next day airings of NBC and Bravo shows and library content including the full archives of “The Office”, “Yellowstone” and “Saturday Night Live”. “It’s more or less, get them in the door with football, and expose them to the library, which we think is one of the best — if not the best — in streaming,” Cordella said. “It’s a lot more than just this football game. You see reasonable people complaining, and then they realize what it is beyond a one-time NFL streamer.” [...] As far as how they made the decision to take this expensive plunge, Cordella said the NBC Sports group did their “math and modeling” on a playoff game as soon as it came up for bid last spring. “Luckily we have a lot of data on how sports has performed on Peacock, and how people have behaved once they’ve gotten into the ecosystem. Of the people that come in from sports as their first view, nine out of ten of their consumption hours are not sports,” he said. “There’s a halo effect that we see once they’re in the platform. You apply that into the model. you understand what we’re paying for it, and see if that makes sense over the course of a longer term strategy to make this move — and for us it did.” Peacock has had a test run with both the technology and fans’ appetite to splurge for yet another streaming subscription, airing Bills vs. Chargers exclusively in Week 16. They were able to use a lead-in game on NBC to promote the Peacock matchup in the company’s doubleheader, as they will be able to do again on Saturday with Texans-Browns airing earlier in the afternoon. More than any other professional sports league, the NFL has emphasized maximizing total reach, airing a much higher proportion of its games on broadcast TV as compared to the other leagues, which is one of the myriad factors in why the NFL dwarfs all other leagues’ viewership. On an NBC conference call on Wednesday, NFL Executive Vice President of Media Distribution Hans Schroeder explained the rationale of agreeing to put this particular playoff game behind a paywall. “We’re still very committed to broadcast. That is still and continues to be the broadest possible reach. The viewership we get, you can’t reach 190 million people throughout the course of the year without having very broad distribution of your content, and that’s always been a bedrock for us and I think a real differentiator for us versus other sports,” Schroeder said. NBC Sports president Rick Cordella.