There's several issues with the government -- like how they apply their laws (or force their influence, on trivial things, on our daily lives) -- that I passionately disagree with; weighing in on media distributions with a business (NFL) that's allowed to practice within a monopoly, and the exemptions that favor the NFL in terms of the television contracts, seems to be a waste of time for our government.
The FCC (who's more stiff than Frazier's ex-wife Lilith) recently ruled that Comcast MUST carry the NFL Network based on a certain price, through their digital tier. A quick history. Comcast carried the NFL Network on their Digital Tier (starting in early November in 2006) until they decided to move it to their sports tier in early August, 2007. The NFL took Comcast to court, which favored Comcast. The appeals process lasted until this week, which favored the NFL Network, forcing Comcast to carry the NFL Network back to the digital tier.
I've watched the NFL Network, and to this day, other than the live NFL games, I've little seen little benefit for it (and perhaps I'm better off that I don't have to listen to Warren Sapp speak out of his ass... thank god Inside the NFL went to Showtime). I rarely watch football programming during the week -- unless it's a game -- so I'm well aware I'm in the minority, and in the end, it doesn't matter to me personally. But I'm just one. Then again, I wouldn't mind having the abbreviated replays on the Network.
On the other hand, I find it ridiculously hypocritical that one satellite provider is exclusively allowed to carry the NFL Ticket, while a significant majority of the NFL population is blacked out. The fact that people in other countries (like Iran) can watch more NFL games than I, in a given week, is appalling. Like many of you, I stick it to them, watching NFL games, on internet broadcasting sites (god, I love the internet). The crazy thing is that I'd gladly pay for the NFL Ticket, so think of the money they're losing. And I'm just one. And no, based on idiot regulations and policies, I can't switch to a satellite.