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Gophers' bowl game available to more Comcast customers
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The NFL Network has reached an agreement with Comcast that will enable additional homes in the Twin Cities to see the Gophers play Kansas in the Insight Bowl at 5 p.m. on Dec. 31.
Under the agreement, Comcast will air a 24-hour free preview of the network to subscribers who get the "digital starter" tier. The NFL Network ordinarily is only available to Comcast customers who subscribe to programming that includes a sports/entertainment package.
The network, which is in 42 million homes nationwide, does not have carriage agreements with Charter Communications or Mediacom, which also serve large portions of Minnesota. In a press release issued Tuesday, the NFL Network said it initially offered the free preview to Comcast to show the game to all of its 560,000 subscribers in the Twin Cities.
Comcast customers in Minneapolis-St. Paul can tune to channel 180 beginning at 4 p.m. on Dec. 31 for the free preview. Subscribers will need to have digital box in order to receive the programming.
In Kansas City, the NFL Network reached an agreement with the local Fox affiliate for an over-the-air broadcast of the Insight Bowl. That might have been in part because Time Warner is the dominant cable provider in that area and does not carry the NFL Network at all.
The network also plans to run its "America's Game: The Missing Rings" series featuring the 1969 and 1998 Vikings during the 24-hour period. The programs focused on teams that came close to Super Bowl championships. The '69 Vikings will be featured at midnight and 2 p.m. on Jan. 1 and the '98 Vikings will be featured at 1 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the same day.
JUDD ZULGAD
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| Date/Opponent | Time | W | L | Score |
| Sep 13 - at Cleveland | 12:00 PM | 1 | 0 | 34-20 |
| Sep 20 - at Detroit | 12:00 PM | 2 | 0 | 27-13 |
| Sep 27 - vs. San Francisco | 12:00 PM | 3 | 0 | 27-24 |
| Oct 5 - vs. Green Bay | 7:30 PM | 4 | 0 | 30-23 |
| Oct 11 - at St. Louis | 12:00 PM | 5 | 0 | 38-10 |
| Oct 18 - vs. Baltimore | 12:00 PM | 6 | 0 | 33-31 |
| Oct 25 - at Pittsburgh | 12:00 PM | 6 | 1 | 17-27 |
| Nov 1 - at Green Bay | 3:15 PM | 7 | 1 | 38-26 |
| Open | ||||
| Nov 15 - vs. Detroit | 12:00 PM | 8 | 1 | 27-10 |
| Nov 22 - vs. Seattle | 12:00 PM | 9 | 1 | 35-9 |
| Nov 29 - vs. Chicago | 3:15 PM | 10 | 1 | 36-10 |
| Dec 6 - at Arizona | 7:20 PM | 10 | 2 | 17-30 |
| Dec 13 - vs. Cincinnati | 12:00 PM | 11 | 2 | 30-10 |
| Dec 20 - at Carolina | 7:20 PM | 11 | 3 | 7-26 |
| Dec 28 - at Chicago | 7:30 PM | 11 | 4 | 30-36 |
| Jan 3 - vs. NY Giants | 12:00 PM | 12 | 4 | 44-7 |
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