Blackout?

Today I would like to talk about a very personal topic. This topic is very personal to me because I have encountered a serious problem recently. I want to talk about that rights that big media have and whether these rights are ethical or not.

Here is the exact scenario: I am a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan. My family has had season tickets to the Flyers since the team was founded in 1967 and I have watched every single Flyers game since I can remember, that is, until I came to Penn State. Last year, my freshman year, I was hoping that the dorm rooms would have Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, which carries a majority of the Flyers games. The dorms disappointed me. I listened to all the games on the radio last year, well almost all of them. I got to watch 6 games last year. When the Flyers played the Penguins, I was able to watch on FSN Pittsburgh. So, I listened to 76 of the 82 games on the radio. This year I live in an apartment which features Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. I was ecstatic when I learned about this. So, when the Flyers season started in early October and I sat down to watch my first game of the year what happens? Comcast SportsNet is blacked out. It would be for every Flyers game for the entire season. I own Comcast cable, but cannot get Comcast’s own channel, Comcast SportsNet, during Flyers games. Any other time of day, no matter what, the channel comes in crystal clear, but when Flyers games are about to start, a beautiful striped colorful pattern appears on CSN Philly. That is ridiculous.
I tried to figure out what was going on. After extensive research, I came to Comcast SportsNet’s website. Under the FAQs on the website reads “I have Comcast SportsNet, but cannot view Flyers games. Why?” The response, “Flyers games are blacked out in the following areas in Pennsylvania due to National Hockey League rules regarding home team markets:
Huntingdon, Lewistown, Lykens, Mount Union, Philipsburg, State College.” It says State College, awesome. I later called Comcast and they attempted to tell me the reasoning behind this phenomenon, but they seemed to be just as confused as I was. This is the one thing I do know: Comcast and the NHL blackout the Flyers because we are in a Pittsburgh area. Hello! Are we not in a Philadelphia area also? Comcast owns Comcast SportsNet; they do not own FSN Pittsburgh. To me, and please someone tell me if I am wrong about this, wouldn’t it make sense to black out FSN Pittsburgh, and not your own network?

In my opinion, Comcast, or the NHL should absolutely not have the right to black out games, unless they are available on an alternate channel. For example, if a game is on versus and CSN Philly, it would be okay to black out one or the other, but not both. Hockey fans have a right to watch hockey games, especially when a team is in their market. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are both close to State College. Both teams should be broadcasted. What the NHL and Comcast do, and in my opinion, is just stupid. People pay good money, almost $40 a month for cable services. No one can take away a channel every time a hockey game comes on just because they feel like it. No one.