[Racspur]

Cuban blasts NFL for scheduling Cowboys game at same time as Mavericks


09:28 PM CST on Tuesday, January 5, 2010

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News


Mark Cuban is upset with the NFL and its television partners – for scheduling Saturday's Cowboys playoff game in direct competition with the Mavericks' home game against Utah.
The Cowboys will play Philadelphia at 7 p.m. in Arlington. The Mavericks play the Jazz at 7:30 p.m.
"I know we're [small potatoes] compared to the NFL, but seriously, the NFL is turning into the ugly American when it comes to sports leagues," Cuban said before Tuesday's game against Detroit.
"They don't [care] about anybody but themselves. There's not much I can do, obviously, in terms of the schedule."
The Mavericks play Friday night at San Antonio, which eliminates the possibility of moving Saturday's game up earlier in the day.
Cuban made it clear that he has no beef with the Cowboys or owner Jerry Jones.
"It's not a Jerry Jones issue – Jerry's great," Cuban said. "But at some point in time, that will catch up to [the NFL] and hurt them in a big way."
Cuban said the NFL has never shown any interest in developing a scheduling cooperative with the NFL or the NHL and perhaps having designated days for each league to avoid overlapping.
The Mavericks have sold out all but a couple of hundred tickets for the Utah game, meaning their sellout streak (334 games) will stay alive. But Cuban expects to have a large number of no-shows because of the Cowboys' game starting 30 minutes before the Mavericks' game.
Things like this, he said, infuriate owners in other leagues.
"The owners in the NBA aren't the only ones taking notes," Cuban said. "There's a balance between all the leagues, and it's going to bite them in the end."