Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The game between the unbeaten New England Patriots and the New York Giants will air on network television after the National Football League arranged to share the feed from its in-house outlet with broadcast partners NBC and CBS.

Both networks will carry the NFL Network's feed, the first three-network simulcast in league history and the first time since the league's initial Super Bowl in 1967 that more than one network has televised a contest.

The move, announced in an NFL news release, ends the possibility that fans without the NFL Network wouldn't be able to watch the Patriots go for a 16-0 season record on Dec. 29 against the Giants (10-5) in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The league's network reaches only about a third of the more than 100 million U.S. TV households.

``We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans,'' NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said.

The last NFL team to go unbeaten was the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who won 14 regular-season and three playoff games to finish 17-0.

The NFL is locked in a dispute with some of the nation's largest cable providers over the price of carrying its network, which is airing its eighth and final game this season.

Cable Stand

The NFL wants its network carried on basic cable packages with channels such as ESPN or CNN, where it can reach the broadest possible audience. Cable companies including Time Warner Inc. say it belongs on a sports package, or tier, where its audience would include only those fans willing to pay extra.

``We are pleased that the NFL has made this decision,'' said Maureen Huff, a spokeswoman for Time Warner, the second- largest U.S. cable operator, with 13 million subscribers.

Ratings for the NFL Network were up 31 percent through its first seven games, the league said. Its Nov. 29 game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers, which Dallas won 37- 27, was watched by a larger percentage of viewers with access to the channel than any cable telecast since 1993.

The NFL was ``capitulating to pressure,'' Karen McCallum, media director for Esparza Advertising in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said in an interview. ``Obviously the winners are the viewers and sports fans everywhere.''

Seeking Spots

McCallum said she was seeking to buy advertising spots from the local NBC and CBS affiliates during the game. The New York Times said neither CBS nor NBC would pay a rights fee for the game, and that each network would get to sell 18 30-second commercial spots.

The Patriots also have proven to be a ratings draw this season, as the team's games have attracted the largest audience in cable television history, the most viewers for a Sunday night NFL game and the biggest audience for a Sunday afternoon game in at least two decades.

``The Patriots have been a great story for us,'' CBS Sports President Sean McManus said in an interview last week. ``They're the driving force behind our ratings.''

Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, said in an e- mailed statement that he was ``delighted'' to hear of the simulcast. Leahy and other members of Vermont's congressional delegation had written the NFL asking for broader access to the game. Leahy and Sen. Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, also sent a Dec. 19 letter to Goodell saying they were concerned that the league was using its ``substantial market power to the detriment of consumers.''

Ski Slopes

``All week in Vermont, people have been stopping me in the stores and restaurants, on the ski slopes, and at the gas station with the same question: Will we get the game Saturday night?'' Leahy said.

The NFL has withheld games from its $3.7 billion annual broadcast package for the past two seasons in order to provide its channel with desirable programming, according to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who heads the committee overseeing the network. Goodell said today the league's commitment to NFL Network ``is stronger than ever.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kuriloff in New York at akuriloff@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 26, 2007 17:55 EST