Most years, the Vanderbilt Commodores squaring off against the Mississippi State Bulldogs wouldn't be watched by anyone outside of these two schools, if that. Both teams are usually the dregs of the SEC. But this year, with Vanderbilt 5-0, and having just come off an impressive win over Auburn on national TV, people are clamoring for more. There's just one problem, Saturday's game in Starkville, Mississippi isn't televised.
So, how has Vanderbilt decided to solve this problem? Why, Pay-Per-View, of course.
Yep, if you live in Tennessee and want to watch the Commodores play on Saturday, you'll have to fork over $29.95 to get the game. Seems sort of unreasonable, doesn't it? I mean, most of the time you actually have to pay people to even watch a Mississippi State game.
Well, David Williams, Vice Chancellor for University Affairs and Athletics at Vanderbilt doesn't think it's unreasonable at all.
“We have worked hard to put this arrangement together as a service to our fans [emphasis mine]. We realize there is tremendous interest in our team and wanted to bring this game into the living room for those unable to travel to Starkville.”
Let me translate those last two sentences for you: "We've worked really hard to set up a way for us to finally make some money off of a traditionally terrible football team and we're going to milk you suckers dry on it. As for that 'service to our fans' line I used, I was lying. Suck it fans."
Truth be told though, it's amazing that more stuff like this hasn't happened yet. Imagine BCS games being shown only on Pay-Per-View. Because who am I kidding, I'd totally pay through the nose to watch those games, even while complaining non-stop about doing so.
Although, you know what, I'm just going to shut up now before I give anyone any ideas.
Vandy-Miss. St. game will be on PPV [The Tennessean]
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