For years now I've railed against the stupidity of the NFL, and their rule that prevents games that aren't sold out from being broadcast in the local region. All this does is prevent those fans who can't afford to go to the game or can't get to the game from seeing said game. Since the fans are unable to watch the games the team slips further back in their consciousness making them less of a fan. That in turn makes the team less popular since by not broadcasting the games they are actively losing fans. I know I'm not much of a Seahawks fan anymore

Now I've got a new complaint though. In the MLB if a game is being shown on the local cable channel then I can't watch the broadcast of the same game on ESPN or ESPN-HD. I have a satellite dish and pay for High Definition broadcasts. Fox Sports Northwest doesn't broadcast in HD. I should be able to watch the game in HD if it is on a channel I am paying for. Additionally, even if it wasn't in HD I don't get FSNW. I don't even know if I can get FSNW through the Dish Network. Since I can't watch the games I doubt I'll follow the Mariners too closely this year.

I don't know if the NBA has a stupid rule like MLB but I do know that they still broadcast the games even if they aren't sold out. That makes me a fan right there since I can at least watch the game. Additionally their broadcasts are on an over the air channel, KONG so I can see them via the Dish Network local channels, over the air broadcast, or over the air HD broadcast. That is how every sport should be.