NFL Shows Blacked Out on Dish, Sling TV Over Fees Dispute
NFL Shows Blacked Out on Dish, Sling TV Over Fees Dispute
(Bloomberg) -- Two National Football League shows are no longer available on the second-largest U.S. satellite-TV provider, Dish Network Corp., and its Sling TV online service after the parties failed to agree on contract terms.
NFL Network and NFL RedZone, which offer programs including Good Morning Football and NFL Total Access, won’t be available to Dish and Sling subscribers, the NFL said in an emailed statement Thursday. The programming is still available via providers including DirecTV, Comcast Xfinity and Charter Spectrum.
“NFL Media remains committed to negotiating an agreement and has offered terms consistent with those in place with other distributors,” it said in the statement.
The U.S. professional football league, American TV’s biggest draw, was temporarily blacked out on Dish last year as part of a dispute over the company’s deal with Fox Corp. channels. NFL games, played in the North American fall and early winter, accounted for 47 of the 50 most-watched TV shows among all programming during the 2019 regular season, giving the league clout in negotiating fees.
“We are working with the NFL to continue carrying their channels,” Andy LeCuyer, Dish’s senior vice president of programming, said in an emailed statement. “Our goal is to reach a fair agreement, bringing NFL channels back before the season begins.”
The NFL is preparing to play in 2020 despite widespread pandemic shutdowns of sporting events. The league has said it is instituting a rapid-result testing program and protocols for players and team personnel based on the guidance of public health officials.
The top U.S. infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci said the pandemic may force the league to call off its season.
Fauci told CNN’s Sanjay Gupta that “it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall.”
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