Professional and college football fans across the country recently found themselves caught in the middle of an increasingly pitched struggle between the providers of sports programming and video distribution platforms. In a Super Bowl XLII preview, the New England Patriots sought to complete a perfect regular season against the New York Giants on Th e NFL Network and two national broadcast channels in the first multicast of an NFL game since Super Bowl I in 1967. Appalachian State’s historic victory over Michigan was carried on the fledgling Big Ten Network, but the spectacle at the “Big House” was not available to Comcast or Time Warner customers....