After Nashville courtship, Atlanta fans blacked out of Predators playoff game (UPDATE)
When the Atlanta Thrashers left for Winnipeg, the Nashville Predators made an aggressive move to court those disenfranchised fans with "Thrash To Smash" ticket offers. Late in the season, some Atlanta fans even made the trek to Nashville to throw their old Thrashers jerseys on the ice to protest the Jets.
Yet as the Predators begin their Western Conference quarterfinal against the Detroit Red Wings, Atlanta fans have been left in the dark.
Here's PD reader Chris from Atlanta:
Good to know that after all the promises of the NHL Commissioner that for the first time every game was going to be seen nationally without blackouts, that the Nashville/Red Wings Game 1 (and presumably the series) is blacked out here in Atlanta.
I should have known this was coming. A few weeks ago, I couldn't get the Wings/Carolina game on GameCenter. I did some checking an found out that BOTH Carolina AND Nashville claim Atlanta now as a local market. Now, the games are broadcast by Fox Sports South, but as you can guess, not both games at the same time. Nashville was on that night, do the Carolina/Wings game was blacked out.
Tonight, because of Fox Sports South, the game is blacked out in CNBC. But what are they showing on Fox Sports South? The Atlanta Braves.
So there is a real chance Nashville or Detroit Fans in the Atlanta area won't be able to see the entire series.
Chris has taken the pirated feed route to watch the game. Former Thrashers communications guy Ben Wright reports that DirecTV (and Dish Network) have the game; Comcast does not. As if hockey fans in Atlanta haven't been through enough.
UPDATE: Atlanta fans made a difference. From Chris: "FYI - at 9:41 pm, CNBC finally picked up the game with less than 2 min in the 2nd period. I guess someone finally got through to the NHL to get this ironed out."
