# Professional sports and broadcast television. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296 "2011-10-11T14:32:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/1 "2011-10-11T14:32:56Z")
Of the major pro sports (baseball, basketball, hockey, football), only football is broadcast on a regular basis on over-the-air (OTA) television such as ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. Everything else usually requires access to a cable station. A network may show an occasional game on a weekend, but (by my estimate), 95% of baseball, basketball, and hockey are not OTA, yet (again, my estimate), about 85% of pro football is OTA. Even so, when the Patriots play on Monday nights, the Boston ABC affiliate broadcasts the game for OTA only viewers. I assume this happens in other markets as well??? Are any pro football games other than Monday Night broadcast only on cable? Yet, when we get to the playoffs, especially the finals, everything shifts to OTA. Fox has the AL playoffs as well as the World Series this year and (I believe) the Stanley Cup and NBA finals were on broadcast television. Has any NFL playoff game been cable-only? So why does football treat OTA television differently than other pro sports? And why does everybody else shift to broadcast television at the end (and only the end) of the season? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/2 "2011-10-11T14:45:23Z")
In the NFL, the league negotiates a common contract for all teams, both regular and post-season. One of the clauses in that contract (and it’s been there for something like 50 years) is that when a game is sold out, it will be offered for broadcast in its local market. In MLB, local teams own their own rights for the regular season. Some will sell the rights to OTA broadcast, some to cable systems, some to a mix. The rights to post-season games belong to MLB, who divides them up anyway it wants. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/3 "2011-10-11T14:52:19Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > In MLB, local teams own their own rights for the regular season. Some will sell the rights to OTA broadcast, some to cable systems, some to a mix. Sometimes they even [start their own](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YES_Network) cable channel. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/4 "2011-10-11T14:55:53Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > Are any pro football games other than Monday Night broadcast only on cable? Late in the season the NFL Network broadcasts Thursday night games which can only be seen on cable. Before Monday Night Football went to ESPN they had the Sunday night game, so there has been a cable-only game on for around 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/5 "2011-10-11T15:10:32Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Sometimes they even [start their own](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YES_Network) cable channel. Sometimes, [the cable network buys the team](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Turner#WTBS). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/6 "2011-10-11T15:40:40Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > Even so, when the Patriots play on Monday nights, the Boston ABC affiliate broadcasts the game for OTA only viewers. I assume this happens in other markets as well??? Are any pro football games other than Monday Night broadcast only on cable? When a team plays on cable the NFL allows a channel in the teams home market to rebroadcast the ESPN/NFL Network feed over-the-air so that people in that market without cable can watch the game. (Though of course, if the game isn’t a sellout, the home team market folks get blacked out both on cable and broadcast TV). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/7 "2011-10-11T16:00:54Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Late in the season the NFL Network broadcasts Thursday night games which can only be seen on cable. Specifically, by the NFL Network, which is owned by the league (though, as with Monday Night Football on ESPN, the NFLN games are also run on over-the-air stations in the home regions of the teams playing in those games). In answer to the OP’s question: I don’t believe that we’ve yet had an NFL playoff game on cable, though I may be mistaken (it’s possible that there’s been a first-round game on ESPN at some point). ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/8 "2011-10-11T18:46:18Z")
There haven’t been any NFL playoff games on cable. The issue here is the number of games. Each NFL team plays just 16 games, and about 90% of the games are played on the weekends (ie, not prime time). They’re a very attractive option for the broadcast networks. NHL and NBA teams play 80 games, and MLB teams play 162. The vast majority of them are on weekday nights. This makes them completely undesirable for national broadcast networks but a very attractive product for regional cable networks. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/9 "2011-10-11T18:54:03Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > Of the major pro sports (baseball, basketball, hockey, football), only football is broadcast on a regular basis on over-the-air (OTA) television such as ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. Not true. During the MLB regular season, Fox broadcasts a Saturday afternoon game. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/10 "2011-10-11T19:16:05Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Not true. During the MLB regular season, Fox broadcasts a Saturday afternoon game. True, though, unless “your team” is the Yankees, Red Sox, or Cubs, you might see your team on Fox once a season. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/11 "2011-10-11T20:11:51Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > Of the major pro sports (baseball, basketball, hockey, football), only football is broadcast on a regular basis on over-the-air (OTA) television such as ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. Everything else usually requires access to a cable station. Although you’re obviously talking about the United States, I just wanted to point out that this isn’t quite true in Canada. There is a regular Saturday night broadcast of OTA hockey on the CBC, the national broadcaster (although technically everything is switching to digital television in this country, it’s still available with a converter box as a basic/free channel). If I understand correctly, Rogers Sportsnet acts as a local OTA provider of NHL games 5 of the 7 NHL markets (with TSN/RDS having the Habs and Jets rights). TSN/RDS are NOT OTA though; you need a cable subscription for these channels. It is true, however, that the majority of games are on TSN as they own the national rights. I think the CBC has the rights to playoff games involving Canadian teams, TSN/RDS have everything else (on RDS, the regular season has all the Habs games and some 20-odd Senators games, IIRC). Also, NBC has picked up 100-odd games starting with the Winter Classic, so hockey fans in the States will get some regular-season NHL games after January 2nd. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/12 "2011-10-11T20:57:50Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Also, NBC has picked up 100-odd games starting with the Winter Classic, so hockey fans in the States will get some regular-season NHL games after January 2nd. Yes, but the vast majority of them are on NBC’s Versus channel, which is cable-only. Here’s the schedule: > **[NBC Sports - news, scores, stats, rumors, videos, and more](https://www.nbcsports.com/)** > > Stay up-to-date with the latest sports news and scores from NBC Sports. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/13 "2011-10-11T21:22:28Z")
☹ Wish the OP had posted this a day earlier. I don’t have ESPN in HD, and could have watched the Lions in High Def if I’d known. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/14 "2011-10-11T21:38:22Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Yes, but the vast majority of them are on NBC’s Versus channel, which is cable-only. Here’s the schedule: > > [NBC Sports - news, scores, stats, rumors, videos, and more](http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44193703/) Oh, I didn’t realize that. That is unfortunate. Hockey fans really have it tough in the States; even with the NBC/Versus cable deal it’s so hard to get games, it seems! Tonight I have the choice of either of the two games being played in the league, 3/4 of tomorrow’s games, though only two on Thursday… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/15 "2011-10-11T21:55:10Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Not true. During the MLB regular season, Fox broadcasts a Saturday afternoon game. And local teams may have their own broadcast deals with local stations- although most Mets games are broadcast by SNY, about 25 or so are carried by WPIX , a local OTA station and I think about the same number of Yankees games are shown on WOR ,another local station ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professional-sports-and-broadcast-television/599296/16 "2011-10-11T21:58:46Z")
> [@bizerta](#): > > Of the major pro sports (baseball, basketball, hockey, football), only football is broadcast on a regular basis on over-the-air (OTA) television such as ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. Everything else usually requires access to a cable station. There’s a third type of television–over-the-air but non-network. Originally, these stations were prime outlets for non-football sports, for the reasons given by **anson2995** –other sports play more frequently and on weeknights (prime time for the major networks). When I grew up in Chicago, every Cubs game was on WGN, every White Sox game was on WFLD (a UHF channel), and the Bulls and Blackhawks road games (home games weren’t televised, for fear of harming attendance) were on either WGN or various UHF stations. All the networks showed, even then, was pro football, post-season baseball games, and a weekend “game of the week” for baseball, football, and (for a time) hockey. With the advent of cable TV, some but not all of the WGN and UHF games moved to cable networks. But even today, WGN and WCIU carry a large number of Cubs and White Sox games over the air.