Now this is not going to be a rant against FOX so I will state that first and foremost. When I was checking out what areas will get a chance to see our game it was looking pretty good until I saw that Tampa Bay was in London this week. So after the jump I will tell ya what I think will occur.
First thing is I think the NFL needs to revise its TV rules for New York. There is no reason at all for NY to be banned for showing the FOX and CBS games at the same time. To have the Jets at 1pm and the London game at 1pm its quite silly to have the biggest TV market be banned from airing that game. Now what games will Fox be airing at 1pm. Well since they have a double header they can air all of the 1pm games across the country however 3 markets will be blocked. First is New York, the next is Nashville, and lastly is Miami. Next is the games themselves. We have Seattle at Cleveland which should get the Northwest and Ohio along with Toledo market (I checked and last year when both Detroit and Cleveland hosted games Toledo went with Cleveland). Georgia and the South save for Florida should get Detroit. Texas and the southwest going into southern Cal could go either Chicago vs Tampa or our game. As for Northern Cal it may go Detroit or Seattle I would bet on Seattle at this point. The Carolina's to Maryland will go Washington vs Carolina however north of Maryland could go Detroit. Its going to be toss up but we shall find out soon enough. Outside of that I think the Lions will end up getting roughly 17 out of 50 areas, Chicago vs Tampa another 17 or so with Washington vs Carolina getting 8 and Seattle vs Cleveland getting 8 or so.
I think the 506 may have the maps up pretty soon and as such I will give a breakdown of the top 50 areas. BTW using my power poll, I think Detroit vs Atlanta and Chicago vs Tampa Bay are two pretty good games. However the close game of the week will be the Seattle vs Cleveland game.
Here is the top 50 as of right now. Some changes did occur, Detroit is getting California!
- New York - blocked
- LA - Detroit
- Chicago -Chicago (London)
- Philly - Detroit
- Dallas - Washington
- SF/SJ - Detroit
- Boston - Detroit
- Washington DC - Washington
- Atlanta - Detroit
- Houston -Washington
- Detroit - Detroit
- Seattle - Seattle
- Phoenix - Chicago
- Tampa - Chicago
- Minneapolis - Detroit
- Miami - blocked
- Denver - Detroit
- Cleveland - Seattle
- Orlando - Chicago
- Sacramento - Detroit
- St Louis - Chicago
- Portland - Seattle
- Pittsburgh -Chicago
- Raleigh - Washington
- Charlotte - Washington
- Indianapolis - Chicago
- Baltimore - Washington
- San Diego - Detroit
- Nashville - blocked
- Hartford - Detroit
- Kansas City, MO - Detroit
- Columbus, OH - Seattle
- Salt Lake City - Washington
- Milwaukee - Chicago
- Cincinnati - Seattle
- San Antonio - Washington
- Greenville, NC - Washington
- West Palm Beach - Chicago
- Birmingham, AL - Detroit
- Las Vegas - Detroit
- Harrisburg - Washington
- Grand Rapids - Detroit
- Norfolk - Washington
- Oklahoma City - Washington
- Albuquerque - Chicago
- Greensboro, NC - Washington
- Austin, Tx - Seattle
- Louisville - Detroit
- Memphis - Detroit
- Jacksonville - Chicago
Now lets see for the top 10 Detroit has 5, Washington has 3, Chicago has 1, and 1 is blocked. For the top 25 Detroit has 9, Washington has 5, Chicago has 6, Seattle has 3, and two are blocked. Finally for the top 50 TV markets Detroit has 17, Washington has 13, Chicago has 11, Seattle has 6 and 3 markets are blocked. Frankly that looks impressive for Detroit considering the games on tap and where they are located. BTW Toledo has been given to Detroit this year. That is great for some folks in Michigan. I will keep this updated as the week progresses.