After the typical excellent service, my wife paid at the cashier with her check card. She got a copy of the receipt so that she could write the amount down in the check register when we got home. After writing down the amount, she noticed something odd about who checked us out at the register.... it was Ron Mexico. Since we live South of Atlanta, we're all too familiar with the Ron Mexico name: it is the alias that former Falcons quarterback, Michael Vick, would use when traveling. Since I'm pretty sure Michael Vick isn't back in the Atlanta area, this is probably just a Chic-fil-a employee having a little too much fun in their spare time. We'll definitely bring it to the attention of the local store manager, but we thought that Consumerist readers may find it amusing.

Hey, what if that guy's name really is "Ron Mexico"? Wouldn't that be sad?

Arien O'Connell, a fifth-grade teacher from New York City, had the best time in last Sunday's marathon, in fact, she beat the next best time by 11 minutes. So why isn't she the winner?

From SFGate:

In the statement, Nike officials said that "because of their earlier start time, the runners in the elite group had no knowledge of the outstanding race Arien was running and could not adjust their strategies accordingly."

Weary of the backlash growing against them, Nike declared Ms. O'Conell "a winner." Not "the winner." This appears to have made things worse.

It turns out that there was really no need for an elite group of runners, because no one was running an "elite" time.

...the Nike marathon in San Francisco doesn't have anyone running a world-class time - which would be something around 2 hours and 20 minutes - for the 26.2-mile course. Only O'Connell broke 3 hours - and she'd never done it before.

"I think that's what it comes down to," O'Connell said. "There is not a real definition of what it means to be in an elite field."

That's where the Nike event got in trouble. If it had recognized that there was no need for an elite pack, and everyone had lined up and run, the fastest time would have been the winner. No argument.

In fact, that was the other part of Nike's announcement Wednesday.
"Learning from the unique experience in this year's race," it said. "Nike has decided today to eliminate the elite group from future Nike Women's Marathons. Next year, all runners will run in the same group, and all will be able to win."

Marathoner 'a' winner; Nike looks like a loser [SFGate] (Thanks, Guy!)

A Modern Monopoly

Did you know you aren't Ticketmaster's primary customer? Sure, you and your friends bought 141 million tickets last year, but Ticketmaster's loyalty belongs to their true customers: venues and promoters. Ticketmaster secures its monopoly by goading them into multi-year agreements that empower Ticketmaster to act as their exclusive vendor. In exchange, Ticketmaster gives them money. Lots and lots of money. Several million dollars upfront, sometimes.

Ticketmaster doesn't earn a cent from a ticket's face value. It all goes straight back to the venue, promoter, and talent. To sweeten the deal, Ticketmaster also shares a slice of its exorbitant fees, giving venues and promoters an incentive to support Ticketmaster's outrageous markups. "It's not us!," they can whimper. "It's that damn TicketBastard!"

Ticketmaster's 9,000+ exclusive agreements makes them the gatekeeper to 90% of the nation's arenas and amphitheaters, 70% of our clubs and small theaters, and most of our basketball, hockey, and football games.

So What Am I Paying For?

• The Service Charge

  This is Ticketmaster's cash cow. The majority of their $1.2 billion in revenue comes from this all-encompassing charge. It appears on all tickets, and cannot be escaped.

• The Facility Charge

  This is the venue's cash cow. Sure, they also take a slice from the ticket's face value, but they want more, dammit, and they get it here.

• The Processing Charge

  Wait a minute... didn't you pay a service charge? What's the difference between processing and service? Right, there is none. Well, technically that's not true. The service charge is refundable and the processing charge is not. Ticketmaster claims that the processing charge covers their expenses for taking your order and finding you seats. Sounds like service to us.

• The Convenience Charge

  By far, the most annoying name for a fee. It's the price you pay for printing out the tickets you bought, even after paying a service and processing fee.

It's supposedly an accomplishment that Ticketmaster is even willing to disclose its fees, but knowledge in this case leads to anger, not power. In any other instance, pricing transparency by itself is a good thing because it empowers consumers to compare prices and shop around. Ticketmaster's exclusive agreements, however, undercut any potential price shopping.

Why Hasn't Anyone Destroyed Ticketmaster?

Pearl Jam tried and failed. The band landed before Congress to publicly brand Ticketmaster as an evil monopoly.

The heart of their issue was ticket pricing, but Ticketmaster had a history of screwing Pearl Jam:

• For a Seattle concert, Ticketmaster agreed to donate $1 of their $3.25 service charge to charity. Right before the tickets were set to go on sale, Ticketmaster reneged and threatened not to sell the tickets unless they could boost the service fee by $1 to cover the cost of their "charitable" contribution. Ticketmaster ended up stiffing the charity.
• Ticketmaster then wanted to charge a $3.75 service fee on an $18 ticket. Pearl Jam forced them to list the charge separately, and it wasn't until the band threatened to go to another venue that Ticketmaster acquiesced.
• When Pearl Jam tried to bypass Ticketmaster in Detroit by selling tickets through their fan club, the ticket giant threatened to sue the concert promoter for violating their exclusive agreement. Ticketmaster ended up disabling the promoter's ticket machine.
• In New York, Ticketmaster threatened the Paramount Theater for violating their exclusive agreement after Pearl Jam told fans over the radio to visit the theater to buy tickets at the box office.

For the band's 1994 tour at the height of their popularity, they tried to cap prices at $18 and limit surcharges to 10%. Ticketmaster refused and the tour was canceled.

How The !@#$ Is This Not A Monopoly?

We dunno, but President Clinton's Justice Department thought Ticketmaster's arrangements were a-ok. Pearl Jam retained the über-corporate lawyers at Sullivan and Cromwell to needle the Justice Department into investigating Ticketmaster for antitrust violations. After a brief investigation, the Justice Department ruled that people were only indirect buyers, and that Ticketmaster's true customers were venues, since they were the ones consuming Ticketmaster's services. The venues weighed in on Ticketmaster's side and seemed to voluntarily hand over their business, so there was apparently no monopoly.

If Only They Weren't So Evil

Ticketmaster might be less reviled if it wasn't so frustratingly difficult for consumers to beat out resellers and other middlemen to buy tickets for themselves to popular events. Chicagoist's failed attempt to get tickets to the American League Championship Series is all-too familiar:

A refresh of the page gives us a new scrambled word to fill in and then we're thrown into a que. Wait time estimated at 15 minutes or more! WTF? We watch in anticipation for the number to get smaller and after a few minutes, it does. Now it says 11 minutes. A few minutes more, and it's down to 7 minutes.

But wait! Now it says 14 minutes! What's going on here? We think something fishy's going on, so we open another browser window to see what those wait times do. It remains at 15 minutes. The first one keeps jumping from a short as 6 minutes all the way back to 15 minutes again. Not good

Finally, we seem to be getting close. Now this is about 25 minutes after Noon, but it's finally at 4 minutes. Then 2 minutes, back to 4, then 2, now 1 and then...

We get some sort of warning because another Ticketmaster window is open! We close that window, but in the meantime the first window sends us back to the original event page to select quantity and level again. We're shit out of luck! There will be no ALCS tickets for Chicagoist, all because Ticketmaster's computer system isn't built to handle exactly the type of transactions that are most critical to their business.

The same thing happened to us last year when we tried to buy playoff tickets for the Rangers. We were working computers, phones, anything with a hook into Ticketmaster, but we couldn't connect to anyone. Within 10 minutes, all the available tickets were gone. Real fair.

Are There Any Viable Alternatives?

Cracks are finally starting to form in Ticketmaster's money-encrusted shell, but the competition doesn't inspire confidence. Everyone looks at Ticketmaster's 30% surcharge and thinks how good all that undeserved cash would look in their pocket.

Live Nation, the largest U.S. promoter, is in the process of ditching Ticketmaster to build their own ticketing system, but only because they want to upsell junk and expensive packages while keeping the lucre for themselves.

Major League Baseball bought up a stake in Tickets.com, which will soon become their primary ticketing agent, but Tickets.com also levies a 30% service fee. MLB also ditched Ticketmaster for secondary ticket sales in favor of StubHub, which charges the buyer and seller a combined 25% fee.

TicketWeb was once an alternative for smaller shows, but they were gobbled up by Ticketmaster. Bandsintown is still around as an aggregator for small shows. While they don't sell tickets directly, the site will point you to Ticketmaster alternatives, if any are available.

You can also try using Brown Paper Tickets, which bills itself as "Fair Trade ticketing," but it can be difficult to find a participating venue.

Oh Come On, There Has To Be Some Viable Alternative

For the committed, there is really only one true alternative: abandon hope and the internet and take an urban field trip to the box office.

PREVIOUSLY: Why Do Ticketmaster Events Sell Out Instantly?
Ticketmaster Levies Entirely Believable $327 Per Ticket Convenience Charge
Live Nation To Challenge Ticketmaster, Sell Fans More Junk

The multiyear deal announced Wednesday allows the St. Louis-based cable company to carry the network's programming throughout Big Ten territory, including systems in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and northern Illinois.

Charter spokesman John Miller says the network will be included in Charter's expanded basic level of service for the upcoming Big Ten sports season. After that, Miller says the company will re-evaluate the best place for the channel.

Charter strikes deal with Big Ten Network [Chicago Tribune]

From JS Online:

The agreement came only days before the start of the Big Ten football season. The Big Ten Network has the broadcast rights to this Saturday’s game between the University of Wisconsin and the University of Akron at Camp Randall.

If not for the agreement-in-principle, the game would not have been made available to Time Warner customers.

As recently as Friday, Mark Silverman, the president of the Big Ten Network, said he was pessimistic that a deal could be reached in time for the start of the football season.

For months, the cable giant and the network differed on the merits of a channel devoted to Big Ten sports. The network argued that, particularly in the Big Ten states, there was a demand for Big Ten programming. Time Warner argued that such a channel belonged on a special sports tier, in which customers who wanted Big Ten athletic events to watch should have to pay extra to see them.

With Time Warner now in the Big Ten Network fold, that leaves Charter Communications, which has extensive cable operations in Wisconsin, including Madison, without a deal with the Big Ten Network.

A Charter Communications spokesman could not be reached for comment.

The network, which went on the air last August, has national agreements with Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network, AT&T U-Verse, Verizon FiOS and more than 230 smaller cable operators.

We expect a lot of distraught Charter customers to email in the coming days, but it's still good news for Big Ten fans.

Time Warner adding Big Ten Network [JS Online]

(AP Photo/ Morry Gash)

Based on the chart provided at Surfline.com, the U.S. carriers are some of the worst culprits. Delta charges $150 each way, United charges between $100-$200 each way depending on board length, American charges $100 each way, and Continental charges $95 each way. (As you might expect, Jet Blue and Southwest are both more affordable, at $25 and $50 each way respectively.)

According to the Los Angeles Times, Delta says surfboards require too much special handling, and of course they blame fuel prices:

The surfboard fees are high because the boards require special care and extra handling, Delta said. They don't go through the normal baggage carousel but must be carried on special elevators to the claims area.

"There are handling costs associated with surfboards that we have to account for," Delta spokesman Kent Landers said. The hike in charges also reflects a general increase in fees to "cover and reflect the unprecedented increase in fuel costs," he added.

Surfers disagree:

But surfers contend that the fees for their boards are unfairly high compared with other items. Although they are large and need special handling as an oversize bag, a typical short board weighs about 4 pounds while a larger board may swell to only 15 pounds.

"It's not the weight thing," said Marcus Sanders, a Huntington Beach surfer and editor of surfing website Surfline.com, whose airline fee guide received 20,000 hits in the first two days it was posted last month. "They just think that it's an extra pain on their employees, that the boards take up extra space on their planes and that we make up a small percentage of its passengers."

The article points out that the combined fees from Delta and Hawaiian airlines cost one traveler about half what a new kite board (think smaller surfboard) would cost:

"You know, I just realized I'm going to be paying $360 to take my board along," Cowan, a Ridgway, Colo., resident, said after checking in his board, which was 4 feet, 9 inches long and weighed about 11 pounds.

Both the LA Times and Surfline.com suggest you look at foreign carriers if you want to avoid or minimize fees.

"Airlines' Fees for Surfboards are Dinging Surfers" [Los Angeles Times] (Thanks to David!)

RELATED
"Breakdown of boardbag charges by airline" [Surfline.com]

I bought a baseball glove at Modell's a couple of weeks ago (in Manhattan.) I was in a hurry and so didn't have a lot of time to shop around or wait for delivery. I found one I liked at paid $49.99 for it. On the back of the receipt, it says the following: "MO'S LOW PRICE GUARANTEE" WE WILL BEAT ANY AD... ANY DAY AND REFUND 25% OF THE DIFFERENCE See stores for details." A little while later, I noticed that Dick's Sporting Goods and the Sports Authority were both selling the glove for $29.99. So, I went back to the store with a copy of one of their ads and asked about the guarantee, hoping to get either the difference, 25% of the difference, or, most logically, 125% of the difference - that would be "beating" the price, right? The response I got was surprising, to say the least.

According to the clerk, they would only match their own prices. That is, if the price drops later, they'll match it... I think. This seemed wholly inconsistent with the idea of "beating any ad." After all, wouldn't their policy be more like, "We'll match our own subsequent lower price!" ??

My gut instinct told me that this couldn't be right, or perhaps it was just an NYC thing. After all, we get screwed on specials all the time. So, I called their corporate number to find out what the official policy was. I spoke with a very nice lady named "Melanie" who said that the clerk was in fact slightly misinformed. Here's the actual policy:

Modell's will beat a competitor's REGULAR price. However, since I was looking at a sale price, they couldn't match it.

I politely asked her how often competitor's advertise their regular prices - isn't the whole point of the advertisement, typically, to show what's on sale? She said that yes, in fact, that did seem odd, but that that was the policy. No price match for me - it was on sale.

Essentially, Modell's will guarantee that their products are being sold at MSRP. Hooray!

Ah, we get it now. See store for details means "see store for the details of our non-participatory caveats and disclaimers." If that's the way they're going to play, I definitely don't "Gotta Go To Mo's."

Last week, my dad was headed off to the dump with his old (4-5 years) cross country skies. They had become delaminated as a result of plain wear and tear (and storing them in the hot attic probably didn't help). My brother had to pick up a jacket for summer camp, so my dad figured he's see if REI would take them back to dispose of (saving him 20 bucks that the dump would have cost). Not only did REI take them back, but they gave him a full refund. Kudos to REI for honoring an abnormally long warranty that we didn't even know existed.

Tom's story isn't unique. We found others online that mention a similar no-questions-asked (other than, "Is this used?") return/exchange policy. This forum thread on the backpackinglight website suggests you should try going into a store or calling rather than using the contact form on the website—here's a typical entry: "I never had any luck thru email with a pack I had, but when I called them, they jumped on it. Let me use the defective pack until the new one came in, and sent me a return label."

(Photo: Getty)

Judging from the number of comments, I get the feeling that this will be welcome news for baseball fans that are, or are considering becoming, FiOS TV subscribers.

We are currently working with MLB Extra Innings and we’re optimistic that we’ll begin offering the package soon. It won’t be everywhere, all at once unfortunately, but we are working hard to get MLB EI on FiOS TV for as many fans as we can as soon as possible.

Though Verizon didn't actually announce anything in the post, it was picked up by a few blogs and websites and more than a few Verizon customers and potential Verizon customers took the post's headline to heart, signing up for FiOS with the belief that Extra Innings would be available by the start of the 2008 season.

The "announcement" (or lack thereof) turned out to be premature and for months a steady stream of enraged baseball fans have been leaving vicious comments on Verizon's post. Here are a few:

Thanks for getting us jacked up for nothing.

Well, since the season starts tomorrow morning, I signed up for MLB EI through Cablevision this season. By draging your heals, Fios has lost out on this willing subscriber for another 7 months. I'll check in with you again next winter - hopefully the landscape will have settled somewhat by then. I can only switch if I can be sure I will be able to get MLB EI. It seems silly to give up customers like me who will pay tons of money for extra services, but so be it.

I too have left and contacted Directv as the seasons starts tomorrow. you've lost another customer not so much becuase you didnt get the deal done but becuase you've mislead us. i would have just signed up for mlb.tv if it werent for your misleading statements.

Wow, Red Sox kicked off the season today and I'm sitting here in Portland, OR with no Extra Innings even though I was told the package would be offered when I agreed to leave Comcast.....If I knew it was going to be like this I would have never left as now I have NO Red Sox games probably for the season!

Please send information about MLB Extra Innings. My husband almost divorced me last year because I switched our TV service to you guys and then I couldn't get extra innings. If you don't get it this year, I will be forced to discontinue service with you and start up with our cable company that does offer extra innings.

Very disappointing Eric. Why would you EVER make an announcement like this and then go to ground and ignore us. I have bounced around among a number of cable companies over the years as I move from place to place and each one is more disappointing than the next. But, this takes the cake. You started this thread - you owe us an explanation IMMEDIATELY!

Why would you even announce that last month unless a deal was imminent. That was a reckless act by whoever authorized it. I'm guessing the reason why we haven't heard from Eric again, is b/c he's been fired. The only legitimate reason for announcing the potential deal that I've read on this blog, was to keep people around for at least one more month. What a terrible way to do business.

What really makes me angry is that back in January, the salesman that sold me Fios told me that Fios would be getting EI. Had I known, I would not have switched.

No salesman should ever promise something like that just to make a sale, that is just bad business...I should have known better as he also said that Fios would be getting Sunday ticket in '09. I am not holding my breath on that one either.

You'd think at some point Verizon would decide enough is enough and treat their subscriber's interests as a priority. While they're debating how they'll split up millions, the baseball season is now well under way. You guys had all winter to hammer this out and you didn't. When I signed up for Verizon I was specifically told they'd have the EI package, so I left Comcast and signed up, thinking I was sacrificing nothing. Baseball is an important part of cable for a lot of viewers, and we're willing to pay hundreds of dollars a year to watch these games. Wake up, Verizon. We're sitting here willing to give you our money. Wait much longer, and I, like a lot of others, will just walk away. This is one of the most despicable things I've ever seen a cable company do, promise their customers over and over a service is coming yet never delivering it.

This was a total scam on your part and you should be ashamed of yourself. I live in the Boston area and if you don't have EI by May, I am going back to Comcast.

The last update on Verizon's blog instructed the angry customers to order MLB.TV (Major League Baseball's internet service) in lieu of Extra Innings. FiOS customers could then "see games with the broadband speed and clarity that FiOS makes," whatever that means.

Did a Verizon CSR promise you Extra Innings when you switched to FiOS?

MLB Coming to FiOS, Mom and Apple Pie Rejoice! [Verizon Policy Blog]

From the Denver Post:

The unidentified man was pronounced dead at the Vail Valley Medical Center after a skiing incident on the intermediate run In The Wuides in Blue Sky Basin on Vail Mountain.

A call came at approximately 10:50 a.m., and Vail Ski Patrol responded immediately.

The ski patrol provided advanced life support and transported the patient to an ambulance at the bottom of the mountain.

The skier was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident. Officials didn't provide more details of the incident.

The previous record for deaths was 16, set in the 2001-2002 season.

That record was tied last weekend when a Kansas man became the 16th skier or snowboarder to die in a crash on the slopes.

The death of skier Michael Howe, 43, of Andover, Kan., on March 30 pushed the state to tie the dubious record. It was the fourth death at Keystone this season.

Industry officials say skiing remains statistically safer than many other outdoor activities, including bike riding and swimming, and every resort runs into safety programs.

"Not to sound cliché, but safety is the No. 1 priority at our resorts," said Nick Bohnenkamp, spokesman for the trade group Colorado Ski Country USA.

17th ski-resort death sets record [Denver Post via BuzzFeed]
Ski Safely [National Safety Council]
(Photo:randomduck)

I guess I will never get tickets to the Masters, because I am not sending them my SSN.

"The deadline for 2009 applicants is July 15, 2008. If you are not on the Practice Rounds mailing list, and would like to be added for 2009, please send your name, address, daytime telephone number, email address and Social Security Number no later than May 1, 2008 to..."

Why do they need your SSN? Is this normal behavior for golf-types?

Tickets [Masters]

And they might do it again tonight.

Reader Frank says:

Last night I cooked dinner and made sure it was ready and I was sitting in from of my TV at 7pm Pacific, just in time for the Sharks game. I knew it would be blacked out on the "Versus" sports network, because they would be showing it on our local "Comcast SportsNet Bay Area" sports network. So I turn on the game, and they are showing the end of the baseball game. Ok - thats understandable. Until the baseball game gets tied in the 9th inning, and then goes 20 long minutes into the start of the NHL Playoff game that was supposed to be on instead.
Long story short: Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (which used to be Fox SportsNet) burned every single Sharks fan in the entire Bay Area last night to show the end of the baseball game, game 8 out of 162, an APRIL BASEBALL GAME. Are they joking? The Sharks are one of the favored teams to win the Stanley Cup this season and here we are stuck watching the end of a baseball game instead of the first 3 goals of the hockey game.

Who do I have to email at Comcast SportsNet to get through to them to let them know that this is not ok? I work over here at Google and we have an entire mailing list of pissed off people from last night that were stuck watching baseball instead of our home team.

It gets worse though, as the people on Dish Network didn't get to see the game AT ALL for some reason! Thank god I have DirecTV.

Thanks!
-Frank

Obviously we were not happy with the situation (just as our fans were not). We were in communication with CSN throughout, pressing to get on the air. We understand the dilemma CSN was in, there are many potential pitfalls that can't be avoided when televising live sports. This puts them in a difficult situation trying to serve many masters and fans of the different sports teams they cover. However, I will say that our position is that a playoff game should trump a regular-season game. I believe the A's would feel the same if the situation were reversed. We will work with CSN in an effort to assure we can avoid this situation for future playoff games.

Comcast SportsNet has more sports than it can handle [SJMN]

My name is Steven [redacted]. This isn't your typical rant about lousy customer service but I think it qualifies anyway.

I live in the Harrisburg, PA area - "Comcast Country" so I shouldn't have to explain my decision to subscribe to DirecTV. As part of my DirecTV service I also subscribe to the NHL Center Ice package so I can watch the Philadelphia Flyers games. I was happy with my service and my TV provider choices until about a week ago...

The NHL in its infinite wisdom (does a sports league qualify for your Worst Company in America contest? If so, I nominate the NHL for next year.) decided to start its own network. They also decided to broadcast 2 of the last 3 Flyers games before the playoffs on that network while also letting the local regional sports channels broadcast them. Therefore, due to the NHL blackout rules and Comcast's policies (more on that later) I couldn't watch the games even after shelling out the extra money. Seems that when a game is on a national network and a local channel, the national network gets blacked out in the local market. Besides the inanity of starting a TV station that fans of the game can't watch, the NHL is also screwing anyone with DirecTV in a Comcast market. Why? you ask. Because Comcast won't allow DirecTV to show ComcastSportsNet on their service. I guess it's not bad enough that Comcast drives customers away (like they did with me) with their corporate greed and stupidity but now they have to screw me again by not allowing a competing service carry their channels. I have emailed DirecTV, the NHL (through their website) and the Flyers with responses from the first two. DirecTV actually responded over a weekend. Their response was to tell me to lodge a complaint to the FCC about Comcast not allowing them access to their channels. I have yet to do that. I was actually somewhat satisfied with their response as it seemed slightly more personal than I really expected (perhaps the threat to turn to FiOS had something to do with that, I don't know.). The NHL actually responded as well, with the previously mentioned blackout rules. The fact that I actually got a response was so shocking that I guess I shouldn't have expected any better answer than what I got. My question is this, do I really have any recourse in this matter or do I just have to suck it up and accept this? I knew when I signed up for the CenterIce package that I wouldn't be getting the Flyers telecasts which I have learned to live with. I didn't read and fully understand the blackout rules when the games were on national TV because, up to this point, I could always watch the national channels showing the games. By the way, they're doing the same thing to me with the first round of the playoffs by showing the games on Versus and ComcastSportsNet. Thank you for your time. Steve

I really do hate to tell you this, but there's essentially nothing you can do. When these sorts of conflicts come up it usually takes intervention or the threat of intervention by a fancy Senator before anything gets done. (Arlen Specter (R-PA), for example, likes to gripe about the Eagles and the NFL, and John Kerry (D-MA) gets embarrassingly emotional over the Boston Red Sox.)

We can't think of any fancy government officials who have a taste for hockey, but if you know of any, we'd suggest starting a letter writing campaign right away. Since you're from Pennsylvania, we'd at least try writing Senator Specter. Who knows, maybe he likes the Flyers? (We suspect it's actually Comcast he likes, but maybe we're just cynical?) If enough like-minded fans join you, perhaps he'll take notice. After all, these are playoff games, are they not?

As much as it pains me to admit this, DirecTV was 100% correct when they suggested you complain to the FCC. Between complaining to them and complaining to your elected officials, it's really all you can do.

From Consumer Affairs:

The ticket applications for the early rounds for next year's men's basketball tournaments are due March 1 and require the consumer to pay about $200 plus a $9 service charge for each ticket. Consumers can apply for as many as eight tickets.

For the next three months the NCAA will sit on all that money before finally drawing applications in June. If a consumer's application is drawn, he or she will receive the tickets they paid for back in March. If not, they will receive a refund for the tickets while the NCAA keeps the service charge - as much as $72 total - and presumably all the interest earned in the meantime.

NCAA Ticket Lottery Ties Up Fans' Money for Months [Consumer Affairs]

The NFL says they must offer the channel on basic cable or not at all.

Comcast says they can do whatever they damn well please because they are the cable company and the NFL channel is the NFL channel.

Consumers just wish they'd work it out.

From Sports Illustrated:

The appeals court said the contract language between Comcast and the network were too "ambiguous" to rule in favor of either side.

The NFL sued Comcast in October 2006 after the cable company told the NFL that it had decided to move the network from a regular digital tier that is seen by seven million viewers to a sports tier with about 750,000 viewers.

NFL, Comcast headed back to court [SI] (Thanks, Ferio!)
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Offer valid only while supplies last and not applicable to canceled orders due to out-of-stock merchandise. Discount applied when TSAWIN is entered as the promo code at checkout. Order must be confirmed by 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on February 24, 2008 to receive discount. Discount does not apply to taxes, shipping and handling charges, gift wrapping or similar charges. Discount not applicable with returned merchandise; total discount will be deducted from the value of any returned item to which the discount applied. Discount excludes the following: Atec,
Bauer,
Bladez,
Bowflex,
Butterfly,
Callaway,
Carhart,
Casio,
CCM,
Cobra,
Coleman Boats,
Columbia,
Crocs,
DeMarini,
Easton,
Escape,
Etyomic Research,
Fly Flot,
Footjoy,
Front Porch Classics,
Future Beach,
Garmin,
Goaliath,
Goalrilla,
Goalsetter,
Ground Control,
Hi-Tec,
Heelys,
Jugs,
K2,
Kettler,
K-Swiss,
Leatherman,
Leisure Life,
Louisville,
Louisville Slugger,
Magellan,
Magnum,
Miken Sports,
Minolta,
Mission,
Mizuno,
Mongoose,
Motorola,
Muzono Golf,
Nike,
Nike Golf,
Oakley,
Penn,
Pelican,
Pro Feet,
Rawlings,
Razors,
Roces,
Rollerblade,
Salomon,
Shimano,
SKB,
Spira,
Spring Step,
Taylor Made,
The North Face,
Tippmann,
Titleist,
Trend Sports,
Under Armour,
World Industries,
and Worth brands,
Treadmills,
Bikes/Ellipticals,
Home Gyms,
select table games,
trampolines & accessories,
and electronics/optics.
Cannot be combined with any other promotional offer nor is this offer valid on previous purchases. Entire order must be shipped to a single address and customer is responsible for all shipping costs for returned merchandise. Any illegal posting of this promotional code will result in immediate disaffiliation. This promotional offer may be modified or terminated at any time without notice.

Related: After reading this post a former Sports Authority manager wrote in with 9 confessions, including "the coupons are always a sham."

Ticketmaster won an injunction in October barring RMG from accessing their services, but RMG is countersuing, claiming that Ticketmaster is an illegal monopoly. We're torn because Ticketmaster is an illegal monopoly, but $195 is way too much to pay for tickets to the Police.

Man claims agency helps scalpers horde tickets for Hannah, Police, sports [AP]
(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
PREVIOUSLY: Why Do Ticketmaster Events Sell Out Instantly?

Stop us if you have heard this one before: Comcast and the BTN still don't have a deal. Nothing has changed since the football season, when many fans were upset at not being able to see the Wisconsin-Ohio State game, which aired on the BTN.

In early January, BTN President Mark Silverman said he was "optimistic" an agreement would be reached with Comcast. Now another month has passed, and nary a grand signing ceremony has been seen.

Silverman acknowledged Thursday that talks continue, but he didn't want to add anything more. That's probably a smart decision because it probably isn't a good idea to get everyone's hopes up again.

The BTN also doesn't have an agreement with Charter Communications, the main cable carrier in Madison. In an effort to accommodate Badgers fans, it appears Wisconsin will open the Kohl Center free of charge and air the game on the big scoreboard TV screens.

Big Ten Network, Comcast continue battle [Chicago Tribune]

Tivo says that for the fifth year in a row (since the company started tracking viewership data, in fact) the commercials were more watched than the game, with the most popular ads enjoying a 5 to 30% larger audience because they're re-watched repeatedly.

Nielsen disagrees and lists an entirely different set of winners—"Budweiser's horse/Dalmatian spot, Coke's parade balloons, Diet Pepsi's Max, FedEx's pigeons and Pepsi's Timberlake." Their data, however, comes from "200 people who were polled online," so it sounds like typical Nielsen nonsense.

"TiVo: E-Trade Won Super Bowl" [BrandWeek]

RELATED
"How About Those Super Bowl Ads!"

Comcast is working to make things right after 8,000 customers in the North Valley lost their signal in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.

The company will be sending out apology letters, and is offering a full day's worth of credit to people who lost their cable during the game.

Comcast is also offering video on demand coupons and the sports package free for three months.

Comcast apologizes after Super Bowl outage [KOB]
(Photo:cmorran123)

• Buy direct from the venue, which can guarantee the ticket you purchase online will be valid to attend the event.
• If you buy tickets through an online auction, choose a seller with a long, continuous history of satisfied customers. Scammers can hijack old accounts, so make sure they have recently bought or sold other items.
• When buying from an individual through an online exchange don't be lured away from the Web site by the seller. Even if you met the seller on the exchange Web site, the company may not guarantee any lost money if a transaction occurs outside their domain.
• Never pay with a cashier's check or wire money to a seller. Instead, use a credit card or PayPal, which offer some protection and potential reimbursement.
• Scrutinize photos of the tickets closely for any inaccuracies or alterations, and cross-check the seat assignment with the map on the venue's Web site.

Beware of phony football tickets [All Consuming]
BBB Advises College Football Fans: Be Smart When Buying Bowl Tickets Online [BBB]
(Photo: veganstraightedge)

How brokers can jump to the front of the line is described in supplemental documents filed in Ticketmaster v. RMG Technologies, an active Federal District Court case asserting that the defendant's automated ticket-buying software violated the Ticketmaster Web site's terms of use. The papers describe a subterranean world of software designed to enter Ticketmaster's online ticket-purchasing system at will and to scoop up tickets without limits.

The lawsuit was filed in April, after Ticketmaster had tired of what its spokesman, Joseph M. Freeman, called a "cat-and-mouse game" between Ticketmaster's security systems and automated ticket-purchasing robots, or "bots."

"We began detecting an increase in attempted online purchases by automated programs about two years ago," Mr. Freeman said, adding that the company thinks RMG is not the only maker of this type of software.

Kevin McLain, Ticketmaster's senior director of applications support, estimates that on some days, 80 percent of all ticket requests that arrive at its Web site are generated by bots.

The company looked for purchase anomalies and found four individual brokers who had bought a total of 115,000 tickets online. One of the four, Chris Kovach, agreed to cooperate and led investigators to RMG and its Web site, ticketbrokertools.com, which was open only to its clients. Mr. Kovach also agreed to permit security specialists to make a copy of his PC's hard drive.

Ticketmaster said it had found evidence that RMG clients, with the help of RMG's "PurchaseMaster" and related software, submitted millions of automated ticket requests, in Mr. McClain's estimation. The RMG software disguised the clients' Internet addresses to create the appearance that their ticket requests had originated in many different places, Mr. McClain said.

A federal judge granted Ticketmaster an injunction against RMG, but nobody knows how many evil ticket-gulping bots exist. Not that we like Ticketmaster and their 30% markups, but next time a concert or playoff game sells out in less than five minutes, we know where to direct our anger.

Hannah Montana Tickets on Sale! Oops, They're Gone [NYT]
(Photo: themikelee)

This suit follows a cease and desist letter sent by Comcast warning the NFL to stop trying to coerce the company into placing the channel on a different package. A previous lawsuit decided that Comcast had the right to offer the channel on whatever package it wanted, including a premium "sports tier."

From Broadcasting & Cable:

In the suit, which was filed Thursday, according to a copy supplied to B&C, Comcast said the NFL had breached its agreements "through what has been described as a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign to drive Comcast's customers to its competitors and, thereby, to wrongfully coerce Comcast into abandoning its bargained-for tiering right."

In May 2007, the New York State Supreme Court upheld Comcast's right to carry the channel on a sports tier after a dispute between the two parties over whether Comcast's right to tier the network had been triggered. The operator had initially carried the network on a more highly viewed tier per its contract.

"We haven't seen the lawsuit so we can't address specifics," NFL spokesman Seth Palansky said, "but they seem nervous. An educated consumer is a good customer."

Meanwhile, Senator John Kerry of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts thinks the upcoming Patriots-Giants game is a matter of national interest and has sent a letter to the NFL, Comcast, and Time Warner offering to help them negotiate a truce that will allow more viewers to see Tom Brady's enormous forehead go undefeated. The Patriots-Giants game is the final regular season game for the Pats, and it seems more than likely that Brady and the boys will join the '72 Miami Dolphins as the second team to finish a season without a loss, and the first to go 16-0.

Sen. Kerry has a history of personally interceding when his sports viewing is in jeopardy; he pulled a similar stunt earlier this year, when he encouraged the FCC to get involved in DirecTV's deal to become the exclusive provider of MLB's Extra Innings package. So far the Senator has shown little interest in the heinous NFL Sunday Ticket Monopoly, so his sudden obsession with a single Patriots game is sort of... lame.

Also, to be perfectly frank, we find the current Dolphins' potential "perfect season" much more interesting (and hilarious), and Tom Brady's hair makes him look like a Lego.

Comcast Sues NFL Alleging Breach of Contract [B&C]
Kerry Wants to Huddle with NFL, Cable Operators [B&C]
(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

I just tried to call Comcast, and the recording tells me they are " too busy" to actually connect me to a customer service, due to the high volume of calls they are receiving. Like many other people, I am unfortunately taking the bait and trying to get the NFL network for tonight's game. We waited until the last minute on purpose, as we want to keep this extra service for the shortest amount of time possible. I am actually trying to call a company to give them my money, and they are disconnecting me on purpose?! Huh. Is that a common practice these days?

Dana

(Photo:silwenae)

Comcast, which recently sent a cease and desist letter to the NFL demanding that they stop encouraging customers to switch to their competitors (even though Comcast does offer the channel, albeit on a "sports tier" and not on basic cable like the NFL Network demands), has issued a statement condemning the NFL Network for "enriching themselves" at the expense of their fans.

David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast says:

"Comcast offers the NFL Network to all of its interested customers today and they can watch every NFL game the league makes available on cable television. The fact is that the vast majority of our customers have elected not to receive NFL Network. Under our agreement with the NFL, which the league negotiated and signed, we offer the NFL Network as part of our Sports Entertainment Package. This is the best and fairest way to provide the NFL's expensive programming to customers, because viewers who want to watch the channel will be able to see it, while others who prefer not to receive it will not be forced to pay.

While the NFL claims that it wants its games to be seen by the widest possible audiences, it's actually their rules that limit which games fans can watch. It's the NFL that designates which cities can have over-the-air broadcasts of specific games. It is also the NFL that decided to take these eight games off of free broadcast television and to try to enrich themselves at the expense of their fans by creating a multi-billion dollar asset called the NFL Network."

Comcast Statement About NFL Network Carriage [CNNMoney]
(Photo:*Jame*)

The Raiders have until 1:15 p.m today to sell the tickets. Will they do it? If they do, many Bay Area pro football fans will be "crying in their beer," according to the SF Chronicle.

Which would you rather watch? Raiders (2-5) vs Texans (3-5) or the ultimate Brady/Manning showdown?

"We are always interested in showing the Raiders' game because that's mainly what people want to see," said local station spokesperson Akilah Monifa said. "But at this time, it doesn't look like that will happen. It doesn't look like it's going to sell out, although that could change."

The Chronicle does a really excellent job trying to explain the "Byzentine" NFL blackout rules, so if you're ready for a headache, head on over. Patriots match ups are drawing a lot of eyes this year, and stations that don't show the big ones are besieged with angry phone calls.

Although it was not aired by a Bay Area station, the Patriots-Cowboys game was the most watched TV show in the nation that week. Its audience of 29.1 million viewers dwarfed that of the second-most watched show, "CSI," by 9 million viewers.

It also was the most-watched regular-season Sunday NFL game in a decade, drawing slightly fewer than the 29.7 million who watched the Cowboys-49ers game on Nov. 10, 1996.

The Patriots-Colts telecast should beat those numbers. Even without the Bay Area, it will be available to 94 percent of the country. The only markets that definitely won't get it are Houston and Cleveland.

"The regular-season average for a Sunday NFL game was 16.3 million last year," league spokesman Seth Palansky said. "This game is likely to come in around double the average."

IS BLACKOUT A BOON ON SUNDAY? [SF Chronicle]
(Photo:minds-eye)

But you can only get it on DirecTV. So it sucks. And it makes the NFL into a bunch of hypocrites when they whine that Comcast and Time Warner are relegating its "NFL Network" to a sports tier. And they whine an awful lot.

From ESPN:

The doublespeak here is rich. The NFL restricts its magnificent Sunday Ticket product, which enables viewers to choose for themselves which game to watch, to the lucky few who get the satellite service DirecTV. Millions of homes cannot receive DirecTV for technical reasons or can pull in the signal only after expensive special installations. Frank Hawkins, the NFL's chief negotiator for television contracts, told me that when he lived in Virginia, his home could not receive DirecTV until he had a tall metal pole installed in his backyard. Yet although the NFL won't let anyone in the U.S. except DirecTV subscribers watch Sunday Ticket, the league is furious that Time-Warner and Cablevision won't buy the NFL Network and Comcast will buy the NFL Network for its premium sports tier only. The NFL wants NFLN on every basic cable system, which was the path to success for ESPN and CNN. A war of words has broken out, in which the NFL is denouncing the cable carriers in consumer-rights language while asking that Congress intervene to force the NFL Network onto basic cable. The cable carriers are firing back, accusing the NFL of all manner of perfidy. Meanwhile, 35 million households already get the NFL Network, while only 1.6 million get Sunday Ticket — and the consumer's barriers to Sunday Ticket are much higher than the barriers to the NFL Network.

It's time to open up NFL Sunday Ticket to everyone [ESPN]

A Massachusetts judge ordered StubHub to release the names last year, a ruling that was affirmed last week by the state Appeals Court.

Diane, a season ticket holder who asked not to be identified for fear of being targeted by the Patriots, said she sold some of her seats on StubHub to help defray the cost of purchasing them.

"It's my ticket, and I should be able to do whatever I want with it," she said.

The Patriots view their tickets as revocable licenses that they control. The team currently prohibits resales anywhere but on the team's website, which is run by Ticketmaster and requires fans to sell their tickets at face value.

Mike, another season ticket holder who attempted to sell tickets on StubHub and requested anonymity, said he didn't appreciate the Patriots going to court to obtain private information about him.

But other sports fans applauded the Patriots for trying to prevent season ticket holders from making enormous profits on their tickets.

"Whatever happened to buying tickets for the games you want to go to, rather than buying them so that you can resell them and essentially price the average blue collar fan out of going to a game," said Sean Duke-Crocker of Brookline.

Patriots season ticket holders fear being put on hot seat [Boston Globe]
(Photo: Paul Keleher)

Hi guys,

Longtime reader of the site. Not sure how you see this email, but I find it to be insulting to my intelligence.

The NFL telling me I'm being held hostage by someone else, when in fact they are holding me hostage by not allowing me to buy the NFL Sunday ticket without switching to satellite.

The irony is, er, ironic!

As much as we love the NFL (and let's face it, we are obsessed with it), between the NFL network debacle and the Sunday Ticket Monopoly.... ugh! NFL, we love you, please fix this crap so we don't have to write about it anymore.

(For a refresher on the NFL vs Cable issue, click here. Long story short: NFL wants to charge cable companies to carry the channel for all of their subscribers. Cable companies refuse to raise their rates for an unpopular niche channel that only nerds like us watch (all hometeam broadcasts will still be available to local fans who don't have cable,) so they've moved the package to a "sports tier." )

PREVIOUSLY: Leaks: "Time Warner Cable Vs NFL Network" Customer Retention Document

NFL Network Continues To Cause Drama, Pain, Anger

He seems very distraught:

As you know, the Cubs are in the playoffs. The National League playoff series will be shown ONLY on TBS. Comcast does not carry TBS HD! Are Comcast viewers in Chicago going to get Cubs in HD? Comcast in Boston just added TBS HD for playoffs. What about Chicago?????? Is this what we are paying for? No Cubs in HD????

I can't get satellite due to living in an apartment. Help us Consumerist!

Dan

(Photo:Meghann Marco)

Instead of the home team call, they were forced to watch the game on MASN2, whatever that is. Lancaster Online explains, sort of:

The game, a 6-0 Phillies' win, was on MASN2, which is picked up on Comcast Lancaster on channel 65. The channel is normally reserved for CSPAN2, but is used when the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals are playing at the same time. MASN and MASN2 cover Orioles and Nationals games. Because Philadelphia was playing the Nationals, Phillies fans could see their first-place team as it competes for a National League division title and a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 1993.

The Phillies Web site — Phillies.com — had the game listed on Comcast Sportnet, further confusing and frustrating local fans. The team changed the listing to CW 57 at 5 p.m. Friday.

WLYH-TV CW 15 in Harrisburg often picks up Phillies games airing on CW 57, but, according to vice president and general manager Jim Berman, CW 15 could not preempt network programming Friday night

"If we knew the Phillies would come back in the race we'd plan things better," Berman said. "The Mets had this in the bag. It's unfortunate because we feel we've let Phillies fans down, but we have commitments to the network."

Word has it that armed Phillies fans have taken over the Comcast headquarters in Philadelphia and are pouring Cheez Whiz on Comcast's CEO, Brian Roberts.

Why Comcast customers didn't get to see home broadcast of Phillies Friday night [Lancaster Online]
(Photo:Phillies)

From the TaxProf Blog, where the question first arose:

If Bill were my client, I would advise him to claim the fine as a deduction subject to the 2% miscellaneous itemized deduction rules (under 162). A few considerations:

1. If it is ordinary and necessary, he may negotiate to turn the fine into his employer (the Pats) as an expense reimbursement under an accountable plan. I think Kraft would tell him to get out of his office, though.
2. It's been reported Bill has an annual salary of about $5 million, so let's use that as a rough approximation of AGI. Assuming no other miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to limit, that shaves $100,000 off his deduction right there, leaving him with $400,000.
3. The Pease phaseout will get him, as well. Assuming $5 million of AGI and $1 million of itemized deductions (about standard), the Pease phaseout will reduce his itemized deductions by $145,308. The pro-rated share (40%) of this assigned to the remainder of the fine is $58,123. That leaves him with $341,877 to deduct.
4. Assuming he is in the 35% bracket, the federal tax subsidy on this will be $119,657. The IRS will subsidize 24% of the Belichick fine.

Can Patriots Coach Belichick Deduct His $500,000 Fine? [TaxProf Blog via WSJ Law Blog]

NFL says:

"Time Warner wants the network on a sports tier — where fans would have to pay extra," he said. "That's not something we're willing to do — have our fans exploited for Time Warner's profits.

Nothing too scandalous: Basically TWC wants their CSRs to remind you that you can watch your home team's games without the NFL network because they'll be broadcast locally. They also put the blame squarely on the NFL. From their Q&A script:

I don't care just about my home team. I want to watch all 8 games the NFL Network is going to show- they're planning on showing the best of the NFL season!

It's unfortunate because these 8 games were free to you before the NFL moved them to NFL Network. We want to offer the NFL Network to all TWC customers today. Right now, the NFL is demanding unfair terms that would result in an unfair deal for TWC and you. TWC supports football and wants to reach an agreement with the NFL Network that provides the greatest benefit to you.

TWC and the NFL Network are two big companies, why can't you work it out?

You bring up a valid question. The NFL Network has refused our offer. Right now, they want to charge TWC and every customer a high price for eight regular season games. TWC is committed to providing all customers offers that are a good value and will resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Keep in mind, if you are in the local broadcast area of your home team, you'll be able to see your local team games on CBS, FOX, NBC or ESPN even when the game is shown on the NFL network.

Time Warner Cable - NFL Network Response (PDF)

Time Warner, NFL Network remain at odds [Caller-Times]

Here's the problem: The NFL network is wildly expensive for Comcast and other cable companies and, subsequently, the cable companies want to pass the charges on to only those consumers who want to pay extra for a 24/7/365 channel about professional football, rather than raise rates across the board. The NFL wants the cable companies to make the channel available to all of their customers.

It wouldn't be such a big issue, except the NFL network is now showing actual games and well, consumers are touchy about paying for live sporting events that they used to be able to watch for free. An even larger amount of customers are touchy about their cable rates going up because of a specialty channel that they don't want to watch.

Comcast and a few other cable providers have moved the NFL network up to a premium sports tier and are charging extra—against the will of the NFL, but in accordance with a ruling from a circuit court judge. The NFL is not happy. From NFL.com:

Some companies try to exploit fans' passion for NFL football to drive revenues for their pay-extra sports packages. This is why we do our best to have NFL Network distributed broadly and affordably to all TV viewers, so our fans will not have to pay unreasonable costs to view our programming. These core NFL Network principles - broad distribution without extra costs - are what we believe Comcast agreed to, and what we are attempting to protect in our legal dispute with Comcast.

Andrew Johnson, Comcast's senior vice president of communications, said the company bore the increased cost of last year's games "under protest" while the lawsuit played out. He says the constant rate increases for cable service have nothing to do with this fight.

"You'll be assured that NFL fans who pay for it will see it, and non-fans won't have to pay for it," he said.

Did they take away your NFL Network? [NFL.com]
Comcast shifts NFL Network [San Jose Mercury News]

The National Press Photographer's Association is having none of it:

After receiving the NFL letter, NPPA Executive Director Jim Straight said, "We reaffirm our dissension on the vest's logos based on our ethical standards, and we hope that our members - with the consultation of their employers - seek out professional and responsible ways to avoid endorsing a corporate product while acting in a journalistic manner."

But, in his e-mail to E&P, Zibluk made clear a boycott would not occur, at least not one organized by his group. "What we're more likely to suggest is that photographers cover the logos or turn them inside out. We'd recommend checking with their management, or clients if they're freelancers, to make sure they have support."

NFL Tells Photog Group: Vests With Ads Will Stay [Editor & Publisher]
(Photo:B & M Photography)

From the New York Times:

Several teams have also openly criticized the use of StubHub in the past. Last season, the New York Yankees revoked season tickets of fans who used StubHub, saying it violated the contract that the ticket holders had with the team. The Yankees even went so far as to ask its flagship radio station, WCBS, to turn down ads from StubHub, and security guards at Yankee Stadium regularly questioned fans arriving with StubHub envelopes.

Baseball Gets Into Resale of Tickets [New York Times]
(AP Photo/Jonathan Drew)

1. I take my own sodas and bottled waters in a small cooler.
2. I purchase tees, gloves, and balls online. If you wait until you are at the clubhouse to buy supplies, you'll pay two or three times the price for the same items.
3. I take my own snacks. For each round, I pack a 'power bar' and a piece or two of fruit. I skip the clubhouse restaurant and simply enjoy my snacks.
4. I never play for money.
5. I try to play after 4:00 PM when most courses give a twilight discount. One local course has a 50% discount for rounds after 4:00 PM.

Frugality On The Golf Course... Real