Fantastic finish

27 December 2007 By John Christy

The NFL Network may pull off a stunning comeback this season. By televising one of the most important games in its history, it gains an important bargaining chip in negotiations with cable companies that balked at carrying its games.

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The National Football League's cable television channel, NFL Network, is televising a game this Saturday between the New England Patriots and New York Giants. The game was originally set to be shown only on the NFL Network and locally in the New York and Boston metropolitan areas.

Because of the game's potentially historic implications – the Patriots would be the first team to complete an undefeated regular season since
1972 – and pressure from fans and politicians, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decided to allow additional networks, CBS and NBC to televise the game nationwide.

Most major cable companies, including Time Warner and Cablevision, have refused to carry the NFL Network because of the relatively high cost that the league demands for its programming. Some, such as Comcast, carry the NFL Network as part of a premium sports package.

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