For the first month or so of football season last year, I kept hearing from my brother about this amazing new channel called NFL RedZone. The funny thing about it was that SB Nation started a campaign with Comcast to promote NFL RedZone, yet the only experience I had with it was through my brother, as I was at college with cable via U-M and he was at home with Comcast.
After weeks and weeks of hearing about this great channel, I finally got a chance to check it out when I came home for a weekend. Following a Sunday of sitting in front of the TV, watching loads and loads of football, I can safely say that he was right -- NFL RedZone is freaking amazing. Rather than having to wait around for highlights of all the games later that night or getting stuck watching whatever game was on FOX or CBS, NFL RedZone allowed me to keep track of every notable play from every single game, which was great as a football fan and a fantasy football player.
The basic concept for NFL RedZone is simple: Any time a team enters the red zone, that game is shown. If there is more than one game with a team in the red zone, then the broadcast switches between the two or is put into a split screen so no action is missed. When no teams are in the red zone, the channel will broadcast live action of a game currently being played. (For the later games, this often means you get a game on FOX, a game on CBS and a game on NFL RedZone.) Also, if any big plays happen, replay updates are immediately shown to keep you up-to-speed on all of the action.
Although I will once again only get to experience NFL RedZone when I return home from college, that is definitely one of the things I enjoy coming back to. When the Lions are playing, my focus is obviously on that game and that game only, but after their game is done I usually immediately switch over to NFL RedZone. It's a killer for my productivity, but that's only because I can't turn away from the constant action.
If I had to sum NFL RedZone up, I would say it's basically Sunday Ticket without the channel surfing. NFL RedZone does that for you, allowing you to keep track of all the important happenings from around the league throughout the day without having to do anything but turn to channel 182 (SD) or 741 (HD). Also, if you really only have interest in watching your team's game but can't because you're out of market or it's blacked out, NFL RedZone will show live look-ins and lots of highlights. To say the least, I could have used this channel for when Matthew Stafford was making magic against Cleveland last year, as a live look-in would have been much better than the radio.
If you don't have NFL RedZone and want to get it for the 2010 season, simply add the Sports Entertainment Package for $7.99 a month. Chances are you may already have it, but if you don't, I can tell you without any uncertainty that it's well worth the money, as it will change the way you watch football.