ROCKFORD, IL. (THECOUNT) — Rockford, Illinois fans will get stuck watching the Bears at the Vikings game Sunday at noon and not the Packers at the Lions game.

MyStateLine reports the reason is Rockford has been designated as a Chicago Bears TV market by the NFL.

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MyStateLine claims they are mandated to air every Bears game that is televised by the Fox Network.

Fox 39 claims they “have no say over this matter.”

Via For 39:

If you think about it that designation make sense because Rockford is located in the state of Illinois and it’s only an hour from the Chicago suburbs as opposed to a three hour drive from Green Bay which is in another state

Yes we know there are many, many Packers fans in the Rockford area. This is not news to us. That’s why we show every Packers game that we are allowed to on Fox 39. That’s why we show Packers highlights every week on our news.

We understand that the Bears are not going to the playoffs and that the Packers are and that the Packers will be playing Sunday for home field advantage in the first round and possibly the number one seed in the NFC. That doesn’t matter to the NFL which again has designated Rockford as a Bears market.

Plus, keep in mind Packers fans, even though the Bears aren’t in the running for the playoffs you’d better believe that Bears fans absolutely still want to see the Bears-Vikings game Sunday. Think back a year ago Packers fans when the Bears were playoff bound and the Packers were not…I’ll bet you still absolutely wanted to see the Packers final game against the Lions right???

So these are the reasons why Fox 39 will be showing the Bears-Vikings game at noon instead of the Packers-Lions game. Again this is not our call…it is the NFL’s call.

DEVELOPING??

Geo quick facts: Rockford is a city in northern Illinois. Downtown, the Burpee Museum of Natural History features a dinosaur exhibit. Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum offers rotating exhibits in a Victorian home. Rockford Art Museum exhibits regional American works. The sprawling Anderson Japanese Gardens is across the Rock River. Northeast, Rock Cut State Park shelters muskrats, raccoons and waterfowl – wikipedia.