Houston game moved to Monday Night

[fyo]

In a totally unsurprising move, the Texans have had to move their Sunday home game against the Ravens. Considering that Ike is currently tracking straight towards Houston, that would seem to be a bare minimum.

Somewhat surprising is the TV side of the game. CBS will keep the game, exclusively, and only air it in the areas that were supposed to get it anyway, i.e. the following affiliates: WJZ Baltimore, WUSA Washington, WBOC Salisbury, WHP Harrisburg, KHOU Houston, KFDM Beaumont and KBTX Bryan.

Why the rest of us shouldn't profit from the move is beyond me.

(I'm not convinced moving the game to Monday night is the right decision. There's a very real chance the area is going to be a complete mess on Monday and the NFL could be faced with having to move the game again).

[CF DolFan]

This is common. We moved a game to Friday night a couple of years ago and it wasn't broadcast nationally.  I'm not even sure it was live on Direct TV. Maybe one of the subscribers remember? 

We lost the game to the Chiefs but it was a fun experience in an empty rainy stadium.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

If the game was televised nationally ESPN would get pissed. They paid a lot of money to have the right to televised the Dallas game.  This move will dilute the number of people watching and their ad revenue.

So the short answer to your question is: $$$$.

[Philly Fin Fan]

This is common. We moved a game to Friday night a couple of years ago and it wasn't broadcast nationally.  I'm not even sure it was live on Direct TV. Maybe one of the subscribers remember? 

We lost the game to the Chiefs but it was a fun experience in an empty rainy stadium.

No, it wasn't on Direct TV. I called to complain, and they gave me this BS about how its called "Sunday Ticket" for a reason, and when games are moved to other days, they can't do anything about it.

[StL FinFan]

This is common. We moved a game to Friday night a couple of years ago and it wasn't broadcast nationally.  I'm not even sure it was live on Direct TV. Maybe one of the subscribers remember? 

We lost the game to the Chiefs but it was a fun experience in an empty rainy stadium.

When the Dolphins game was moved, the only way to see them live was to be in one of the local markets.  Sunday Ticket showed it on Sunday.

[Phishfan]

I agree why move it to after the hurricane hits? Shit could be a mess on Monday. It doesn't make sense to me.

[CF DolFan]

When the Dolphins game was moved, the only way to see them live was to be in one of the local markets.  Sunday Ticket showed it on Sunday.

They couldn't show it nationally  because of High School football. Saturday is college.  They have some kind of agreement set.

[fyo]

The latest on Ike is that it's going to be relatively weak, but HUGE and LONG LASTING. And that's just the wind. The storm surge could be catastrophic.

In terms of wind, Houston is expected to see tropical storm force winds in a couple of hours and continuing for the next 24 hours!! Hurricane force winds are expected for the middle third of that period (8 hours of hurricane winds).

Yikes.

I really don't get why they just moved the game to Monday. That's a huge gamble in my mind. They had the chance to make changes in good time, but now they could easily find themselves in a position where the game needs to be moved AGAIN or be played in an atmosphere of suffering where the last thing you're thinking of is football.

Not to mention the stadium could suffer significant damage.

[Philly Fin Fan]

The NFL and ESPN have decided to allow this game to be shown on Direct TV throughout the country (Except BAltimore and Houston, where it'll be on regular TV).
Not sure why they decided on this, or why it took them so damned long to decide it. I wish they had done this several seasons ago when it affected Fins games! Hopefully this will set a precedent in case any future Fins games have to be moved.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

Hopefully Reliant Stadium is in playable conditions by then. 

[Philly Fin Fan]

This game has been rescheduled for November 9th.

[fyo]

Yeah, didn't see that coming...

Houston basically got hit with a "best case scenario" and they still can't pull off the game. What does that say about their decision?

When was the last time a game was moved 2 months back? Or even just "not played within a few days"... I'm sure there are some instances, but they're very rare occurrences (or I'd remember!).

EDIT: Looking at it, this has disrupted the whole schedule. Houston and Baltimore will both take their bye weeks now (!) and the Bengals are then drawn in to solve puzzle, moving THEIR bye week from October 26 to November 9. The Texans had their bye on the 26th, so that'll allow the Texans-Bengals game to take place there. That move frees up the Ravens to play the Texans on November 9.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

^^^ 2001, The entire week 2 schedule was played at the end of the season. 

[YoFuggedaboutit]

According to published reports, the roof of Reliant Stadium was badly damaged from Hurricane Ike.  Pieces of the roof blew away in the wind.  I'm surprised they had to reschedule the game so far on down the road.  They could've considered an alternate site, such as, say, San Antonio.

[Brian Fein]

i'm surprised they didn't consider an alternate site.  Now, a lot of people who draft fantasy teams with bye weeks in mind just got screwed royally.