PHILADELPHIA -- The Eagles' Thanksgiving night home game against the Arizona Cardinals will be available to subscribers of cable systems in eastern and central Pennsylvania.
The NFL confirmed Sunday that cable companies will carry the game after a letter from Sen. Arlen Specter on Friday to Commissioner Roger Goodell thanked him for allowing the recent Pittsburgh-Cincinnati game to appear on cable TV in areas around the Pittsburgh market. The letter also asked for a similar arrangement for Eagles fans outside the immediate Philadelphia area -- where fans were already set to get the game on over-the-air TV.
The Eagles' game will be the fourth straight NFL Network game to be carried in secondary markets. The league's channel, which reaches fewer than 40 percent of U.S. homes, is scheduled to show four more games after this one.
Most major cable companies refuse to carry the channel on a basic tier.
NFL vice president Joe Browne said Sunday that cable stations serving the Harrisburg and York areas, as well as the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton areas would carry the feed broadcast by WPVI in Philadelphia.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
