LOVERRO: NFL finds another way to stick its fingers in fans’ wallets

“The rich get richer, and the poor pay for the privilege of watching the rich get richer.”

You know who said that? Me. But everyone else who is a consumer of the NFL product is welcome to use it.

If the NFL has become our national religion, this weekend starts the five holy weeks of the playoffs leading up to the Super Bowl. 

It should be the reward for those consumers who have spent their Sundays, Mondays and Thursday nights being devoted followers, allowing the game to dictate their limited leisure time with family and friends from September to February.

They’ve spent money on jerseys, video games and other merchandise that has enriched both NFL owners and players alike, and some spend even more on thousands of dollars of tickets for the chance to worship in person week after week.

Now comes the payoff — or, for this first time, in this case, the payup.

It’s wild card weekend, and while five of the games will be on the traditional network programming — Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC — one game for the first time will be exclusively available on NBC’s Peacock streaming network.

If you want to watch the Kansas City Chiefs and the Taylor Swiftettes face the Miami Dolphins on Saturday night, (and you don’t live in the Kansas City or Miami markets) you’ll have to buy a Peacock streaming subscription to watch — $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year.

This one should go down in history as “The Greed Bowl,” remembered for the avarice of NFL owners.

The league made a one-year, $110 million deal with NBC to show this wild card game solely on streaming because the owners just can’t wait for the chance to reach into your pockets and take more money.

“We are excited to work with a great partner in Peacock to present the first-ever exclusively live-streamed NFL playoff game this upcoming season,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president and chief operating officer of NFL Media, said when the announcement was made in May. “Expanding the digital distribution of NFL content while maintaining wide reach for our games continues to be a key priority for the League, and bringing the excitement of an NFL playoff game exclusively to Peacock’s streaming platform is the next step in that strategy.”

The strategy is they will take more of your money at a time when they are already taking more of your money than ever. 

The NFL took in $18 billion in revenue last year and will likely surpass that number this season. 

And to put the “G” in greed, they are doing this while at the same time asking more than 200 of its employees to take buyouts and quit their jobs — or likely face layoffs.

Hopefully, fans will spend their money on something more worthy — a whoopee cushion or a rubber chicken.

Streaming is not a new venture for the league. They began streaming Thursday night football games with Amazon Prime last year in a deal that pays the NFL $1 billion a year for the next decade. 

But it’s Thursday night regular season. 

You still sometimes have to go out of your way sometimes to remind yourself there’s a game on Thursday nights. It’s often an afterthought. Peacock did have one regular streaming game — a regular season Dec. 23 Saturday night contest between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers.

This time, though, we are talking about the playoffs, games supposedly with significant implications that should be the reward for fans who remained loyal to the product all year. Instead, you are indeed paying for the privilege of watching the rich get richer.

I understand streaming may be the future of television and that Netflix, Amazon and other streaming networks have already become part of the home viewing experience. 

But not for everyone. 

Cable television is still how most people watch TV, and streaming is still a product with production issues. There is no reason for the league to experiment while the streamers work out their bugs — no reason except greed.

There has been mixed reaction to the telecast. 

A Front Office Sports-Harris Poll found a majority of potential viewers are okay with a streaming game for pay. The poll revealed that 61% of NFL fans (45% of adults) would be likely to pay to watch an NFL game. But there are six playoff games this weekend. Would they be so willing to pay for all of them — not just the novelty of one game?

Fans have pushed back on social media, sharing ways to bypass paying for the game, according to the New York Post. One fan wrote on social media, “Peacock doesn’t offer a free trial, but Instacart+ offers a free 14-day trial for new members, and Peacock is included with the service. Cancel your service within that 14 days.”

Even Chiefs players have expressed outrage over the Peacock deal. 

Chiefs defensive end Charles Omenihu called the Peacock-exclusive scenario “insane” and said he’s giving away 90 three-month subscriptions to the streaming service. And the players actually share in this revenue — 48%.

NFL fans should pluck the Peacock’s feathers Saturday night. There must be “Law and Order” reruns on somewhere.

You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.