I guess you don't worry about things till it hits you

So I guess DirecTV ISN'T the end all, be all sports cable provider. DirecTV dropped the channel Versus before this NHL season. I only found out at the end of promos for the opening weekend games. Normally this wouldn't affect me because either A) Blackhawks games are usually on Comcast SportsNet or B) I'm watching it at home (through Comcast cable) and have Versus.

But I'm at work and I have people (one of them me obviously) that want to watch the Hawks play the Flames, and I have to turn them away because the game is ONLY on Versus in the US. It kind of reminds me of when the Big Ten Network was in it's infancy, and Comcast was the last to hold out on putting it in it's Basic package. Of course money was the issue, and it's the same here. DirecTV prides itself on have the best sports package among cable/satellite providers, so I really can't see why they wouldn't just bite the bullet and take the rate hike.

I actually found out that Versus is wholly owned by Comcast, and they want more money from DirecTV to put it in their package, and DirecTV didn't think it was worth it. The problem with that is Versus is one of the fastest growing cable networks in the country. They carried games of the NHL Conference Finals in 2008-09 for Christ's sake! I know the NHL is the smallest of the Big 4 sports in the US, but I would still be willing to guess that a lot of money was shelled out to have the broadcast rights to those games.

DirecTV actually launched a whole email address for fans to voice their opinions on the issue, so for the handful of people who might just maybe follow this, follow my lead and send an email to versus@directv.com and call 1-800-DirecTV