So, just for fun, I reviewed the 506 Sports maps (https://506sports.com/nfl/2024.php) to see what games were assigned to the DFW television market... just to see the value of the NFL Sunday Ticket. I classified the carried games as one of the following:
- MUST CARRY - The team was playing the Dallas Cowboys. Per NFL rules, the game is carried on a local broadcast station in the primary market even if the game is being broadcast on a cable network or streaming service.
- NATIONAL - The game is being broadcast nationwide without blackouts on a broadcast network. While this usually means Sunday Night Football or the three Thanksgiving games, it can also mean Monday Night Football on ABC or a game carried nationwide on a late game slot.
- MNF - The game is carried on Monday Night Football on E$PN. Note that for games carried on both E$PN and ABC, it is considered a NATIONAL GAME.
- NFLN - The game is carried on the NFL Network.
- TNF - The game is carried on Thursday Night Football on Amazon prime. This is also for the Thanksgiving Friday game.
- STEAMING - The game is carried on a streaming service.
I also classified the non-carriage of the game as follows:
- CONFLICT - The game is airing at the same time on the same network as the Dallas Cowboys, thus cannot be broadcast.
- OPPOSITE - The opposite network has a single-header that week, and is not broadcasting the game as it is airing opposite the Dallas Cowboys.
- NO - Not being carried
My preliminary analysis is as follows:
- The only way to see a Tennessee Titans game in DFW was on MNF in Week 4. Not surprising since they were one of three teams with a 3-14 record.
- The Cleveland Browns also have a 3-14 record, but had seven games broadcast locally (Week One being a "MUST CARRY"), plus a MNF game, plus a TNF game.
- The Arizona Cardnals, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Las Vegas Raiders all had one game broadcast locally, with additional broadcasts on either MNF, TNF, or NFL Network.
- The Kansas City Chiefs had 12 games broadcast locally, plus a MNF, TNF, and a Netflix game.
- The Detroit Lions had 11 games broadcast locally, plus a TNF game.
- Both the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburg Steelers had 10 games broadcast locally, plus a TNF and a Netflix game.
As for the NFL East Games:
- The Philadelphia Eagles had 12 games broadcast locally, plus a MNF game, plus a TNF, plus a Peacock (Streaming) game.
- The Washington Commanders had 8 games broadcast locally plus a TNF game.
- The New York Giants, with a 3-14 record, had 4 games broadcast locally plus a NFL Network game on week 10.
Some of this surprises me, some of it... not. Of course, if you have a good team, you are going to be broadcast on more markets than if your team sucks. The theory about seeing more NFL East games was blown out of the water.
I'll finish up the spreadshet and make it available.
Obviously the Bears are a must show in Chicago, but the Colts are treated like a team that's 2000 miles away, despite the Chicago viewing area reaching within 100 miles of Indy.
We will get anybody but the Colts when they are an option on regional coverage. The Steelers seem to get shown a lot here.
Instead of buying NFL Sunday Ticket, I just subscribed to IPTV. I get local channels from every market at a fraction of the cost of Sunday Ticket.
Quote from: hotdogPi on September 23, 2025, 12:12:15 PMIs there any reason you're doing 2024 instead of 2025?
Only three weeks of data so far verses eighteen from last year.