Well, I just went from "I'm seriously thinking about DTV and ST this year" to "Nope, not gonna happen yet again". This is a direct result of their new exclusive agreement with the NFL and I am not gonna support this specific monopoly. I was waiting anxiously for the time I could get the ST on cable or DISH, but had resigned myself when DTV signed the contract. The price increase and HD fee on top was the last straw in my decision making process though. I can drink a lot of beer and still buy tickets to the game when the Vikings visit the Lions for $320.
DirectTV's "exclusive" agreement isn't new. The previous company which DirectTV bought (forget the name) that originally started up satelite offering signed the first contract with the NFL that had a right of first refusal in it. So DirectTV pretty much will get a $ amount the NFL wants from them, and if they take it, they will then be the only service that can offer it. So until the NFL price becomes too prohibitive for DirectTV to stomach (but being it's their biggest money source, probably unlikely) the ticket will remain on DirectTV for some time... This last time round, the it was quite expensive for DirectTV to extend the years on the contract, so it's not surprising they are passing that cost down to the subscribers of their NFL package... if the rank and file keep paying whatever costs, the more likely DirectTV can keep using the additional money to keep their money making NFL contract going. Simple economics, which sux for any non-Direct TV users.
I'm just surprised they can do what they can, but from I have read, the contract with the NFL is pretty solidly worded... so the NFL screwed the pooch on signing this one. Probably figuring at the time that satelite TV wouldn't grow too big... oops!