Cox Communications technician Nelson Oliveira watches Tom Brady in a Providence home he had just upgraded to digital cable. The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

If the New England Patriots make football history Saturday night by beating the New York Giants and becoming the first undefeated team since 1972, Patriots fans throughout Rhode Island — and across the country — will be able to watch, thanks to a broadcasting reverse called yesterday by the National Football League.

The league had planned to broadcast the game only on its NFL Network, which is available to a fraction of cable television subscribers because of a marketing dispute with several cable companies. But in the face of criticism that included letters from U.S. senators and congressmen, the NFL decided to also make the broadcast available nationwide on NBC and CBS. That guarantees the game will make history, as it is the first NFL game simulcast on two broadcast networks since the first Super Bowl, in 1967.

For Rhode Islanders, the NFL’s change in broadcasting plans means watching the game will be a lot less complicated.

Cox Communications, the cable provider available in all of Rhode Island except on Block Island, includes the NFL Network on its sports and information package, which is available to digital cable subscribers for a monthly fee of less than $10. So Ocean State Patriot fans without NFL Network would have had to find a friend or public establishment that had it.

Now, the game will be carried on Channels 10 and 12.

For viewers in other parts of the country, where cable companies have not signed on to the NFL Network, the only option would have been to install a satellite television dish or find some place with one. They will not have to take that step now that the NFL has agreed to let CBS and NBC carry the NFL Network’s signal.

“We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement yesterday. “We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game.”

“This is great news,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said yesterday through a spokeswoman. “I’m glad the NFL and the networks were able to reach an agreement that puts the Patriots’ fans first.” Whitehouse and the rest of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation sent Goodell a letter last week asking him to make the game available to Rhode Islanders.

Under the NFL’s usual broadcasting policy, any game shown on cable TV, including the NFL Network, is also available on a local station in the home broadcast markets of the two teams playing. The Patriots’ home market is the Boston-Manchester, N.H. market. That meant ABC affiliates in Boston, which is 21 miles from the Patriots’ home stadium in Foxboro, and in Manchester, which is 63 miles away, would have been the only New England stations carrying the game. Providence, 20 miles from the stadium, would have been shut out because it is part of the Providence-New Bedford market.

The market boundaries are determined by the federal government and Nielsen Media Research, the company known for its television ratings. Mileage to the stadium is not a factor in considering the home market for a football team.

The ABC stations in Boston and Manchester will still carry the game.

The broadcast is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m., with kickoff around 8:15. NBC and CBS will carry the NFL Network broadcast with announcers Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth.

This will be the first NFL game ever carried simultaneously on three networks in the United States. The first Super Bowl, in 1967, was carried on CBS and NBC because each had separate contracts with the old National Football League and American Football League.

Besides finishing the regular season undefeated, the Patriots could set several records Saturday. Those include the longest regular-season win streak, the most points scored by a team in a season, the most touchdown passes thrown by an individual quarterback in a season and the most touchdown passes caught by an individual receiver in a season. Any touchdown the Patriots score would extend the NFL record for touchdowns in a season the team set on Sunday during a win over the Miami Dolphins.

The 1972 Dolphins won 14 regular season games and three in the postseason to finish 17-0. With a win Saturday, the Patriots would become the only undefeated team since the NFL went to 16 regular season games in 1978. If they go on to capture the Super Bowl title, they would be 19-0.

Yesterday’s announcement was not a win for everyone in Rhode Island.

Cox Communications had been doing a brisk business installing digital cable service and activating sports and information packages before the NFL’s announcement.

“We support the decision because we believe it’s in the best interest of all football fans,” spokesman John Wolfe said last night.

Wolfe said Cox will refund installation charges and upgrade fees of anyone who ordered the service that includes the NFL Network after Cox started marketing the package to Patriot fans on Dec. 17. Those wishing a refund must contact Cox customer service to cancel before the end of Monday.

Other losers are sports bar owners who counted on the limited availability of the NFL Network to pull customers through the door.

Managers at bars contacted yesterday by The Providence Journal put a game face on the situation.

“Either way, we’re going to be packed for the game,” said Trevor W. McCombe, bar manager at McFadden’s in Providence. “Definitely, it was going to fill the place a lot quicker. Unfortunately, the place is not going to be quite as full off the bat.”

At Casey’s in Wakefield, general manager Noelle K. Brousseau said, “It’s going to be a busy night as usual, but it’s probably going to be less busy than it would’ve been.”

She said Casey’s would still attract people who like to cheer alongside other sports fans. “They like the buzz, being in a bar atmosphere.”

pparker@projo.com