The Comcast Saga: Nothing New, Getting Old

Comcast/Xfinity raising its prices on opening night for the Kraken and the Blazer’s preseason is a low-brow move, sure. But screwing people is also normal for them, and something the Blazers have been fighting (or saying they’re fighting) for the better part of 16 years.

To younger Blazer fans, this may seem like a unique problem. It isn’t. Nor is the team making a generic statement about looking for solutions. [This has happened consistently](https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/2010/11/trail_blazers_as_team_continue.html) since 2007, when the Blazers made a deal with Comcast that put all games on Comcast Sports Net – one of the more expensive TV viewing options in the region at the time, with no access for Dish/DirecTV customers.

As time went on, CSN became more accessible to streaming services like YoutubeTV. But the popularity of streaming didn’t really take off until 2019 – Blazer fans had already been watching games on the high seas, at bars, or at their ONE friend who actually had Comcast’s house for well over a decade. For all of the talk about fixing accessibility of games through Comcast by the Blazers, nothing significant was achieved for the entirety of that first 10 year deal – and in 2017, the Blazers turned around a re-upped with Comcast.

That deal still provided no coverage for Dish and DirecTV customers. A CSN/NBCSN standalone stream was available for streamers, but you had to have a Comcast login to access it. (This is all very similar to Pac-12 Network, although not completely the same – even Pac-12 is accessible to other cable providers, like Charter, as well as DISH). **This deal also came with an agreement to nix all KGW broadcasts** \- the only outlet, besides the occasional national game – that many Blazer fans held on to in order to still (legally) watch their team.

[Again, the Blazers launched this deal with promises](https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/2016/07/trail_blazers_television_deal.html) to expand coverage. Again, that didn’t happen.

So, forgive the fans for not holding their collective breath in 2021 when the Blazers touted their deal with ROOT Sports – a network exclusively held on – you guessed it! – Comcast – as a new and improved broadcast strategy. The Blazers can throw distribution numbers in your face and boast about how good this deal will be, but ultimately, we are in an even worse place than we were 3 years ago. [ROOT has less streaming options](https://www.kgw.com/article/sports/nba/blazers/blazers-fans-frustrated-streaming-options/283-6576b819-2779-4139-90be-a784ed8f9116), including a geofenced requirement to be in OR, WA, or AK to watch their streams on mobile. DirecTV and FUBO offer the channel for streamers, which I concede, does at least open up more avenues for folks, although [DirecTV is the most expensive](https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/best-live-tv-streaming-service-for-cord-cutters/) streaming service available and FUBO – through both personal experience and Reddit anecdote – is low quality.

Blazer fans are used to getting screwed. Whether it’s Bavetta and Javie in Game 7, knees (just, like, in general), the Soviet Union – you name it. If not for those things, we’d likely be entering the fourth decade of the Great Blazers Dynasty. Sheed would have a statue out front. The 200 level would still come with all-you-can-eat *anything*. It would still be called the Rose Garden.

Back to my point: the Blazers’ statement yesterday rings hollow, and the defense from insiders like [Marang](https://x.com/DannyMarang/status/1712159156726354304?s=20) and [Highkin](https://x.com/highkin/status/1712156052320637064?s=20) seems [patronizing](https://x.com/DannyMarang/status/1712177805537268071?s=20) and [misguided](https://x.com/DannyMarang/status/1712162670202540175?s=20). Fans are in an entirely helpless position and wrestling with the fact of either watching low-quality streams, buying a VPN and praying, or paying the same price as 300 level half-season tickets to buy a streaming service to watch their favorite team.

The Blazers have fudged this up for 16 years, continue to fudge it up, and, despite what they say, seem uninterested in fixing it. They continue to attach their broadcast deals to Comcast and then hope it gets better. Usually, when we get screwed, we can at least fall back on the organization for some nostalgia and optimism. Hard to do that when it’s the organization that keeps screwing you. The schtick is getting old.

by B_89