Sunday's title game tilts aren't sexy?!? From ESPN (1 Viewer)

[SSOG]

I think ESPN's (and all east-coast media's) worst nightmare is a Seahawks-Broncos superbowl.

I thought ESPN loved USC though?J

The East Coast Media Bias is a myth. You know what the two most common Monday Night Football matchups are? Broncos-Raiders, and Cowboys-Redskins. Unless I'm mistaken, only one of those teams is on the eastern seaboard.

I don't think it's East Coast snobbery. I'm sure ESPN and the rest wouldn't have minded seeing Dallas or Green Bay in the NFC Title Game right now, and Indianapolis isn't on the east coast last I checked. The sports media, and presumably NFL execs, will always prefer some combination of: (1) teams with nationwide fan followings; (2) marquee players (Favre, Manning); and (3) compelling storylines, i.e. Colts/Patriots again, with all of the various subplots. That helps grab the casual fan. True football fans of course will always be interested in championship football no matter who is playing. Our (non-homer-type) interest is simply in quality NFL action.

It's all about the $$, and aside from Pittsburgh, the Carolina, Seattle, and Denver markets are terrible.

Even Pitt is small potatoes compared to Philly, NE, or Chicago.

What are you talking about? Denver has a whole time zone dedicated to it (because noone likes Arizona). In addition, Denver is probably top five favorite in Nevada where I live. You must live in the east somewhere.

Not saying it's a small market. They just won't spend the $$ on licensed product that fans do in Chicago, NE, Philly, or Pitt.Pitt also has the added plus of not having won in 30+ years.

I'm not making this up. I'm in the licensed sports industry, and the numbers right now for Denver are not great, and haven't been great all year. There may be a situation like Chicago with the White Sox with a large number of "fans" buying Champ product that didn't buy product previously. But, right now, the NFL is not thrilled with the numbers from Denver, Seattle, or Carolina...especially compared to what they could have been with Chicago.

Who cares what the merchandising is like? TV ratings are going to be pretty much the same no matter WHO is in the playoffs. I mean, it's playoff football. I'd watch a Lions-Texans superbowl, just because it's the superbowl.

 

[Limp Ditka]

Love how they come off like this.If Pitt / Den were an ESPN broadcasted week 6 matchup, with both teams at 3 and 3, they would be blowing so much smoke up our collective asses about how this was the most important game of the year.

 

[SSOG]

Love how they come off like this.

If Pitt / Den were an ESPN broadcasted week 6 matchup, with both teams at 3 and 3, they would be blowing so much smoke up our collective asses about how this was the most important game of the year.

Haha, great point.Of course ESPN can whine about how unsexy the matchup is- they know we're all going to watch anyway.

 

[GRIDIRON ASSASSIN]

From ESPN:"CHICAGO -- Here at The Toilet Seat, otherwise known as the unfortunately shaped Soldier Field, the Carolina Panthers flipped the lever and flushed the Chicago Bears out of the playoffs. I don't want to push the lavatory metaphor too far, but the Panthers made the Bears play at times like, uh, No. 2."I agree the Bears Charles Tillman played like cr@p on Sunday, but to actually say it 'in print' is pretty harsh. C'mon, they could have tied the flippin' game up with a TD and 2pt conversion. I'm still perplexed why they didn't double down on Steve Smith after Deshaun Foster went down....and once Bernard Berrian got injured, the Bears #3 option a wideout was the immortal "Eddie Berlin".....and Texas Stadium looks more like a toilet to me. There's no 'toilet seat' atop Soldier Field. I could live with The Flintstones meats the Jetsons - but inside that stadium, it's incredible.

 

[gump]

Who cares what the merchandising is like? TV ratings are going to be pretty much the same no matter WHO is in the playoffs. I mean, it's playoff football. I'd watch a Lions-Texans superbowl, just because it's the superbowl.

I think merchandise sales indicate 2 things about the Broncos, Panthers, or Seahawks as compared to Pitt, NE, Philly, or Chicago:1) The casual fans don't care as much about the former

2) The fanbases are not as national for the former as the latter

 

[Franknbeans]

ESPN is the suck