Comcast is Holding Trail Blazers Fans Hostage, You Could Be Next

People in Portland love their beer. At last count, Portland had more breweries than any other city in the country. But Portlanders also love their Trail Blazers. The city has one of the most passionate fan bases in the NBA. Yet, for the last few years they've been getting a raw deal. And not just at the hands of the Lakers.

Comcast is the biggest villain in Portland right now.

While Portland may seem pretty distant for those of us on the East Coast, the situation in Portland is actually a cautionary tale for the rest of the country. If the Comcast-NBC merger is successful, sports fans around the country may end up feeling like Blazers fans.

In 2007, the Trail Blazers signed a 10-year, $120 million agreement with Comcast, giving the company the rights to show Trail Blazer games on Comcast Sports Network. Not surprisingly, Comcast then jacked up the fees for other cable and satellite carriers in the region to show Blazers games. In effect, Comcast is forcing customers to switch to Comcast in order to see Blazers games. (Comcast has signed agreements with local cable carriers who don't compete with Comcast.)

Nevermind that Blazers fans in rural areas can't even get Comcast service (or local cable service) if they wanted to.

And bear in mind that fans in Portland kicked in $35 million to help build the Rose Garden.

While the Trail Blazers themselves are certainly not without fault, they are not happy about the situation and are fighting back against Comcast.

Blazers team president Larry Miller wrote the FCC stating that Comcast has broken its promise with the team to increase the Blazers' exposure. Miller complained that the Blazers fans were being "held hostage."

Without an NFL, MLB or NHL team, Portland fans - and fans around the state of Oregon - have only the Trail Blazers. Their fans are called Blazer Maniacs for a reason. It's crucial that all those Blazer Maniacs join SFC Portland chapter chair Sarah Moon and demand that Comcast quit holding Blazers fans hostage.

As for the rest of us, Portland should serve as a wake-up call for what can happen when content providers and cable/satellite providers merge. If the Comcast-NBC merger is ultimately allowed to go through, sports fans around the country who don't subscribe to Comcast may lose NBC Sports - NBC Sunday Night Football, the NHL, the Olympics, etc.

And if Comcast withholds The Office and 30 Rock ... watch out.

Join us in the fight against blackouts and high ticket prices at sportsfanscoalition.org. All you have to do is sign up -- no spam and no dues. Let your voice be heard!

Brian Frederick is the Executive Director of Sports Fans Coalition. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication and lives in Washington, D.C. His favorite teams are the Kansas Jayhawks, North Carolina Tar Heels, and whichever team his brother is coaching for. And the underdog. Email him at [e-mail]

 

Comments

[Jo Kurrent]

01:40 PM on 08/23/2010

Comcast has already stated its position quite clearly with its actions, both with the Blazers and in many other markets around the country where they've pulled more of the same price-gouging tricks.

If your company has any intentions to stop ripping off both its subscribers and nonsubscribers alike, please show them by dropping the shady business practices.

[LookingToHelp]

01:44 PM on 08/18/2010

This is new? Where have you been? Comcast has been doing this to the Philadelphia market for years.

[Joshua Cagle]

04:29 AM on 08/18/2010

I am a Portland Trailblazer fan that lives in Eugene, Oregon. Being on the outskirts of our city we do not have access to Comcast. We must rely on Directv or Dish Network for television. Comcast Sportsnet Northwest is not available on Directv or Dish Network. Games that are simultaneously broadcast on NBATV and Comcast Sportsnet are blocked in our area. So you turn it on and you get a black screen. They do not offer an internet video stream of the game either. You can try to find a pirate stream but they are very hard to find and rare. You can't listen to them on the internet either because it is blacked out as well. Then you can't listen to them on regular radio because down here in Eugene they don't rebroadcast the signals from Portland, Oregon. So Comcast has exclusive rights to the Blazer games. If you do not live in an urban area that has Comcast access then you can't watch them. This is rural discrimination in a way. Please, don't allow your teams to get into such an awful situation. I really don't understand why Comcast would be so horrible to the people of the Northwest. They are shooting themselves in the foot. They are losing out on advertisement money. :) I don't get it.

[jdmn17]

05:28 PM on 08/17/2010

Ah, corporate America at its finest. They want money for everything, even when the people who signed over the rights protest. HAHA, The laugh is on the Blazers and their fans. You have to wonder what it is about these "service" providers that can lay you open time and again, it just makes no sense. They squeeze every nickel they can out of us. Maybe boycott's are the only way to fight back

[Tim Fitzpatrick]

08:12 PM on 08/16/2010

Huffington Post space limits do not permit a full reply. For Comcast SportsNet's response see: http://bit.ly/cuAF6L
- Tim Fitzpatrick
Comcast SportsNet

[tompoe]

09:34 AM on 08/17/2010

If you represent Comcast, please go away. And, I hope fans of the blazers wake up, and boycott the team. It's time to bring down you corporate thugs, once and for all.

[DouglasTS]

07:10 PM on 08/24/2010

Tim,

I've read this stock PR response by Comcast for the past three years. How about some details?

1) How does the rate Comcast is offering the channel to these other carriers compare to the rates they pay for other comparable channels such as Fox Sports NW or other regional sports channels covering comparably sized markets with comparable programming (1 college, 1 pro team)
3) Are there any conditions upon these other carriers to carry CSNNW on a specific tier of programming such as a basic or all-subscriber tier? Or are the other carriers free to place the channel on a premium tier and/or in a sports subscription package?

If you want us to believe your claims that Comcast is offering the channel under fair terms, then answers to these two question are key. How about it?