The San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders last played each other in the preseason on Aug. 13, 2023, in Las Vegas.
Ian Maule/Getty Images
Sunday’s NFL slate had two games in the late window for CBS: Chiefs at Raiders and Bills at Eagles. The network chose to split the two games pretty much evenly (as seen on 506sports’ map), showing the longtime AFC West rivalry to most of the western half of the country — including the Bay Area, where the Raiders spent the majority of their existence before moving to Las Vegas in 2020.
But given that the 49ers are set to have a massive NFC title game rematch in Philadelphia next weekend, CBS’ decision irked quite a few fans, according to social media posts. None seemed more upset than Rod Brooks, a longtime Bay Area media personality and current 49ers and Giants analyst at NBC Sports Bay Area.
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“Hey @CBSSports, stop being lazy and pandering to the few remain Raiders fans in the Bay Are[a] by continuing to show Raiders games,” Brooks posted. “THEY DON’T MATTER. Bills/Eagles is significantly more important to fans in Northern California.”
The tweet brought hundreds of comments, with 49ers fans and members of the Bay Area media scene alike agreeing with Brooks, a former KNBR-AM host. The Athletic’s Steve Berman posted that he agreed with Brooks, as did San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ann Killion. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)
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Of course, many of the replies to Brooks pointed out the various ways he could have watched an out-of-market NFL game if he wanted to. The RedZone channel operated by NFL Network was showing Bills-Eagles most often of the four afternoon games, while others pointed to the existence of NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV, including 95.7 The Game’s Bonta Hill.
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Still, while many NFL fans are paying for services like those, a lot of people clearly aren’t, putting a lot of power in the network’s decision. CBS chose the rivalry game, and given Chiefs-Raiders ended midway through the fourth quarter of Bills-Eagles, Bay Area fans had the chance to watch the Eagles pull out the overtime win over the Bills in the end.