Pay per view - good or bad?

I've given the Ottawa Senators thousands of dollars over the years. I have purchased ticket packages of various sizes (including a full season's ticket for three years), various souvenirs, almost a dozen jerseys (none with a price under $100) and have likely spent a few thousand dollars on concessions, parking and 50-50 tickets that benefit the Ottawa Senators Foundation.

I had to give up my season's ticket after the 2004-05 season because I had to save up for a June 2006 wedding. I didn't get a package this year because I was still feeling the after-effects of the wedding in September (and beyond!) but I have managed to see a couple games in person.

What I have done to make sure I see as many Senators games as possible (not all games are televised locally) is invest in the NHL Centre Ice package with Rogers Cable. It costs about thirty dollars a month and, while the cable companies and Centre Ice officials state that the original purpose is to make "out of market" games accessible to fans across North America. I'd buy that, but for all intents and purposes, all televised games are accessible through this package.

The Ottawa Senators decided to jump onto the "pay per view" bandwagon this year, joining some western Canada teams in yet another ploy to siphon more money out of fans' pockets. The problem? The four or five games scheduled to be broadcast on "pay per view" were already scheduled to appear on NHL Centre Ice, which again, I pay around thirty dollars a month to get.

While people outside the Ottawa viewing area will get to watch the Sens play the Leafs tonight on regular TV or with NHL Centre Ice, we're expected to fork out an additional $10.95 plus taxes for the privilege of watching the game. The Centre Ice feed will be blacked out. Will I get a refund? Of course not, because officials will fall back on the old excuse that the package wasn't made available so I could watch the Senators every night.

Ordinarily I would most likely pay the fee to watch the game or get a few friends together and watch it elsewhere. The catch tonight? I have a meeting to attend, resulting in my getting home some time around 8:30 or so - or mid-way through the second period. I have no intention of paying the full fee to watch half a game I've already paid dearly to see through regular cable charges and a fairly expensive sports package.

The straw that breaks the camel's back is that the Ottawa Senators foray into PPV is effectively preventing thousands of people from watching a game against of one of the Sens' biggest rivals. It makes sense from a business perspective as it is less likely that people would fork out their money to watch the Senators play St. Louis... but from a fan happiness perspective, I don't know.

I was once a rabid fan. I learned during the lockout that there are other things to do on Thursday and Saturday nights. While I have almost as much enthusiasm for the Sens as I always have now that the lockout is a fading memory, I will sit by the radio and listen to Dave Schreiber on Team 1200. The Senators can keep their pay per view game - I don't want it.