Meh. Philosophically, I think they did absolutely the wrong thing. Perfect time to leverage the cable providers who don't carry the NFL Network to pony up and add it next year.
THEN offer the game as a minimal cost PPV, say $1.99. Solves all the problems, gets a sample of their product in front of a wide audience (though Bryant Gumbel as a PBP guy is mega-weak), and sets up for next year.
Channel 5 (ABC) in Boston got jobbed big time. They sold huge amounts of add space under the assumption that they'd be the sole free provider. They have to have some legal recourse against the NFL.
And I won't even start on that moron Kerry ("My favorite Red Sox player is Manny Ortez").
