CBS Refuses to Air NFLPA’s ‘Let Us Play’ Commercial

By Bob Marshall 

With the possible 2011 NFL lockout looming over Super Bowl XLV, fans, players and team owners are becoming increasingly more aware that Feb. 6 might be the last professional football game played this year (the arena league doesn’t count). In order to give light to the players’ side of the debate, the National Football League Players Association made the “Let Them Play” campaign, showing fans and players alike who just want to see the 2011 season unfold in a normal manner with the players’ disgustingly monstrous multimillion dollar contracts still intact.

As The Consumerist reports, the players’ union was attempting to buy some ad space the day before the Super Bowl on CBS, but the network is refusing the air their entry, with the network defending its position stating that it didn’t want to have to show the team owners’ counter-opinion, thus taking a side in the matter. Of course, the NFLPA is accusing television networks of showing their allegiance to the league and owners by not airing the players’ commercial, as networks like CBS, FOX, NBC, and DirecTV will still buy the television rights to the games whether or not the lockout occurs.

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Even if the NFLPA somehow convinces some network to air the spot, what with their Twitter hashtag campaign gaining support, it treats all fans as if they’re complete idiots who will blindly follow their favorite athletes’ whims (Lord knows those guys need new Escalades every year). The truth is that all fans care about is paying $100 per ticket, $10 per beer and $25 per parking to see their favorite team play the game they love to watch, so they don’t really care about making the players happy with contracts the average fan can’t even begin to comprehend. They also don’t support the wealthy owners for running their favorite sport like a cutthroat business where the rich get richer. They just want to watch some damn football, and if only there was an alternative, non-profit system to these mean owners and whiny players. Oh wait, there is, and it’s working in Green Bay.

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