Now everyone in America will have a chance to see history
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Originally scheduled to be broadcast on cable's NFL Network (to which the majority of the nation does not subscribe), Saturday's season-ending New England Patriots-New York Giants tilt will now be available for all to see -- for free. On Wednesday, NFL commish Roger Goodell announced that the game will be simulcast on CBS and NBC, as the Patriots have a chance to become the first NFL team ever to go 16-0 in the regular season.
"We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans," commissioner Goodell said in a statement. "What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever."
The NFL had stated that it was the cable providers' responsibility to allow fans to watch the game, but many lawmakers were putting pressure on the league as well. Last week, two prominent members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Goodell threatening to reconsider the league's antitrust exemption.
Upon hearing Goodell's reversal of course Wednesday, Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who co-wrote the letter with Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he was "delighted" by the NFL's concession. "I think it was a smart move on their part," he said in a phone interview.
"I never completely gave up hope, but I was getting a little discouraged Christmas afternoon when we still had not gotten a positive answer," said Leahy, who added that his staff members were talking with NFL officials during the holiday.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., had also urged cable and NFL executives to settle the dispute. "I couldn't be more thrilled that as the Patriots rush toward an historic undefeated season, football fans everywhere have won a victory of their own," Kerry said. "With today's announcement, the NFL showed their loyalty to the sports fans who made the NFL an empire in the first place.
"The best news of all is that now no die-hard Pats fans will be shut out from watching their team take aim at football history," Kerry said in a statement.
This will be the first three-network simulcast in NFL history and the first simulcast of an NFL game since the inaugural Super Bowl in 1967, when CBS and NBC televised the meeting of the champions of the newly merged National Football League and American Football League.
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