John Kerry (D-MA) earlier this year inserted himself in the middle of a dispute over broadcast of Major League Baseball games, and now he’s doing the same in over broadcasts of National League Football games. At issue is the exclusive carriage of certain games by the NFL Network, in particular an upcoming game featuring the undefeated New England Patriots v. the New York Giants scheduled for 12/29/07. The problem is the lack of a carriage agreement between the NFL and cable giants Comcast and Time Warner. Kerry has invited all concerned parties to attempt to broker a deal so that fans everywhere will be able to watch the game. The situation follows an earlier match-up between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, when both teams had 10-1 records and had inspired a great deal of interest among NFL fans.
The baseball situation involved an exclusive arrangement between MLB and satellite service DirecTV which made a substantial number of games unavailable to cable subscribers.
Kerry’ colleague from the other chamber, Ed Markey (D-MA) also weighed in to make the game generally available to football fans.
