Only three of the 35 bowl games have been on regular network TV

[Poiuyt]

The rest (including the national championship game) have been or will be on ESPN. I don't recall it ever having been this plutocratic before. Not real nice for people who don't have cable.

[JonLP24]

1. Yes

The only game I watched so far this bowl season was the Sun Bowl. One of my favorite bowls but it wasn't a very good game. I will be able to watch the Cotton and National Championship game. I was really upset that I couldn't watch the Rose Bowl though. :(

On edit-You're right. The NC is on ESPN. Only the Cotton Bowl is on Fox. I wonder what the third game was that was on National TV.

[taterguy]

2. The Outback Bowl was the other one on broadcast

We have very basic cable and our package doesn't include ESPN.

We don't feel the need for many channels since we can watch Hulu and Netflix on Demand on our TV.

Live sporting events are the only thing we miss out on, thanks to ES fucking PN.

Not too long ago every major bowl was on network TV.

I'm just glad CBS somehow retained the rights to the NCAA Hoops Tourney.

[RockaFowler]

3. And ABC is pissed

A ton of the local ABCs are upset that all of the good sports have now gone to ESPN. Heck the Rose Bowl used to always air on ABC - now they lost that too.

[KamaAina]

6. As well they might be

ABC (Disney) owns ESPN. All the regular season games on ABC are really "ESPN on ABC". You'd think they could do that for the big bowls, too. :eyes:

[CatholicEdHead]

9. That is what I thought

But I guess some VP thought they would be money ahead by forcing everyone to get cable to watch it. New Years games should have followed the normal weekend pattern, one on ABC, one on ESPN, one on ESPN2. The Rose Bowl should have been on ABC, no exceptions, followed by the Fiesta Bowl on ABC.

[Iggo]

4. 35?

:rofl:

[Upton]

5. Times change..

Instead of complaining..why not pony up a few bucks for ESPN?

[dakota_democrat]

7. Because a "few bucks" is more like $500+/yr

Which isn't an insignificant amount of money for many people.

[Upton]

11. 10 bucks a week?...BIG DEAL.

I bet easily half the folks complaining spend that much a day either smoking or scarfing down junk food.

[JonLP24]

12. E-cigarette juice is what I buy

Not as expensive as tobacco but it can be pricey. I don't eat much junk food or much food at all. All I ate today was a salad. Drink nothing but water except for coffee when I woke up.

[Poiuyt]

14. Sounds like something Ronald Reagan would say

Unfortunately, some of us are genuinely struggling. Not everyone can afford a $50 a month luxury.

[Upton]

15. Whatever...

My SO and I aren't rich. I'm just saying if folks are spending their cable or satellite TV money on cigarettes and junk food instead, perhaps they ought to reset their priorities if they wish to see all the bowl games..

[RockaFowler]

8. What about the people who can't afford it??

All of the bowl games were on Network TV in years past. This year for some odd reason ESPN aired all of the games instead of sending some of the games to ABC (Rose Bowl has aired on ABC for decades, except this year). Don't they want more people to watch their games?? In my area 85% of the population has cable or satellite, but there are parts of the country where it is less than 50%. So those parts of the country miss out on the games.

[LisaM]

10. Write a letter of complaint

I plan to. And we do have cable, and spend a small fortune for it.

[Threedifferentones]

13. All those can be viewed for free on espn3.com

Although connecting that to your TV to watch in the living room costs even more than cable :(.