In case you don’t have the NFL Sunday Ticket or live in New York and Minneapolis, the NFL is offering two ways to watch the Giants-Vikings game later this evening.

Starting at midnight Eastern, the entire game will be posted online commercial-free at NFL.com for 24 hours. And if you aren’t in front of your computer, you can catch the game at the same time on The NFL Network.

Good luck avoiding the score until then.

Michael Wilbon is a featured columnist for ESPN.com and ESPNChicago.com. He is the longtime co-host of “Pardon the Interruption” on ESPN and appears on the “NBA Sunday Countdown” pregame show on ABC in addition to ESPN. Wilbon joined ESPN.com after three decades with The Washington Post, where he earned a reputation as one of the nation’s most respected sports journalists.

Nice column, though, (In other news, yes, it’s Friday afternoon.)

The NFL and Sirius XM Radio announced on Tuesday a five-year extension of their satellite broadcasting and marketing agreement.

Sirius XM will continue to carry every NFL game live nationwide through the Super Bowl in 2016. The satellite network has been the official radio partner of the league since 2004.

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with Sirius XM,” said Steve Bornstein, the NFL’s executive vice president of media. “They have been an excellent partner and have become part of NFL fans’ daily lives, not only on game day, but also throughout the year.”

In addition, Sirius NFL Radio (Channel 124), the first and only 24/7 radio channel dedicated entirely to the NFL, will continue on the airwaves.

(H/T Sports Media Watch)

On Sunday, November 28, “The NFL on CBS” will celebrate a major television milestone, when it broadcasts its 5,000th NFL football game.

Gus Johnson (read The SportsNewser Interview with Johnson here) and Steve Tasker will call the game between the Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins.

The first “NFL on CBS” game saw the Pittsburgh Steelers crush the Washington Redskins 30-13 in Pittsburgh. That game was broadcast September 30, 1956, with Jim Gibbons and Arch McDonald calling the game for the Redskins audience, and Joe Tucker and Bob Prince calling it for Steelers viewers.

The NFL has been a staple of CBS programming since that game, save for a four-year break from 1994-1998. All told, “The NFL on CBS” has been televising the game for 51 years, an amazing feat by today’s standards.

“When you think of all the television firsts and the great broadcasters that have called all those games for CBS Sports, it is a tremendous contribution to sports television history,” said CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus, in a statement. “We are extremely proud to be broadcasting our 5,000th NFL game. And we look forward to broadcasting our next 5,000.”

More information, including CBS Sports’ Thanksgiving Day plans, after the jump.

Read more

Apparently, a lot of people. According to Sports Media Watch, ABC and ESPN saw massive spikes from last year, with their telecasts up 70 percent and well over 100 percent, respectively.

They have Zenyatta to thank. The horse came into the race undefeated in 18 previous outings and was the recipient of massive hype. As a result, “ESPN earned a 3.1 overnight rating for coverage of The Breeders Cup Classic Saturday evening (6:15-7:15 PM ET), up a whopping 182% from last year (1.1).”

The event actually lived up to the hype, with Zenyatta’s last-ditch effort coming up dramatically short. But don’t worry; she’s still welcome to tour the Guinness factory.

Game 4 of the Tampa Bay-Texas series was the least-viewed Major League Baseball postseason game in TBS history.

Going head-to-head against the NFL, the Rays-Rangers game had just 2.2 million viewers (1.5 rating).

San Francisco-Atlanta (2.6/4.2 million) and Philadelphia-Cincinnati (2.8/4.6 million) did slightly better in the afternoon.

The NFL appears to be king … except in the city of Philadelphia.

The Phillies victory over the Reds averaged a a 27.7 local rating (835,000 house holds) on TBS compared to the Eagles-49ers Sunday Night Football contest, which earned a 24.1 local rating (725, 000 households) on NBC.

Major League Soccer has had a good year. Attendance is up. Attention is up. Interest is up. Stars such as Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez joined MLS and are helping to improve the level of play.

But what about revenue?

Well… not so much. According to Tim Leiweke, chief executive of AEG, only a couple of squads will make a profit in 2010. MLS is on solid financial ground, but recruiting big-name players – who come with enormous pricetags – isn’t the route to making money. Sports Business Daily offers three ways teams can improve their cash flow.

The first is relatively obvious: ticket sales. Although the league averages around 16,000 tickets per match, it could be doing better, especially as more teams get their own soccer-specific stadiums. MLS is the first league to offer ticket sales training, so we may see the results soon.

And the other two? Read more

For the fifth straight week, Sunday Night Football was the top rated program on Sunday night, earning an 11.7 overnight rating and 19 share.

San Francisco vs. Philadelphia was eight percent higher than last year’s Sunday Night Football Week 5 contest between Indianapolis and Tennessee (10.8/17).

It was also the second-best NFL primetime overnight during the MLB Divisional Playoffs in eight years, since Green Bay-Chicago did a 12.1/18 on Oct. 7, 2002 on ABC. Philadelphia’s 2-0 victory over Cincinnati last night did a 3.9.

Below are the Top 10 metered markets for Eagles-49ers: Read more

Fresh off their first playoff birth since 1999, the Texas Rangers have agreed to a 20-year contract extension with Fox Sports Southwest beginning in 2015.

The deal is reportedly worth $1.6 billion and is among the most lucrative in Major League Baseball for a team without their own regional sports network.

USA Today first reported the deal was worth $3 billion, but a Fox spokesman said that amount was “wildly inflated.”

The Rangers current deal is worth roughly $45 million a year, compared to $80 million a year as part of the extension.