FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 20, 2007 |
Contact: Joy Fox
(401) 732-9400 |
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(Warwick, R.I.) In an effort to ensure that New England Patriots fans throughout Rhode Island have a chance to watch the Patriots take on the New York Giants on Saturday, December 29th, Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation has asked the National Football League (NFL) to reconsider the boundaries of the primary broadcast market for the upcoming game. In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), U.S. Representatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), and Jim Langevin (D-RI) wrote: “The New England Patriots are assuredly a regional team, with many loyal fans in the state of Rhode Island. The state welcomed the Patriots for many years when they held their training camp at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and Gillette Stadium is a short twenty-five minute drive from downtown Providence. Unfortunately, limiting transmission of the game to Boston excludes many of the team’s biggest fans from this event. Therefore, we urge you to make the final game available on over-the-air television across New England to ensure that the region’s Patriots’ fans will be able to watch this highly anticipated game.” The Patriots-Giants game, which could potentially culminate in the Patriots having the first undefeated regular season in the NFL since 1972, will be broadcast on the NFL Network. Currently the NFL Network is available in fewer than 40 percent of the nation’s homes with televisions. When a game is nationally televised on a cable channel, the NFL requires the game to also be simulcast on a widely available broadcast channel in the team’s primary market. However, the NFL has ruled in this case the primary markets are Boston and New York City, leaving fans in Rhode Island and all across New England, out in the cold. Text of the letter follows: December 19, 2007 Mr. Roger Goodell Dear Commissioner Goodell: U.S. Senator Jack Reed |
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