The lingering dispute between NFL Network and Comcast Xfinity won’t hit full boil until Week 1, when Xfinity customers won’t have access to NFL RedZone. Still, with training camps opening in the coming days, Xfinity customers who want to watch NFLN coverage of training-camp practices won’t be able to do so, barring a resolution.
In every carriage dispute, each side blames the other. ESPN, which now runs NFL Network, wants too much, in the opinion of Comcast. Comcast, in the opinion of ESPN, doesn’t want to pay enough.
The problem is that the consumer gets caught in the middle of the back-and-forth until a deal gets done.
And while PFT has a licensing deal with NBC, which is owned by Comcast, the reality is that no one will miss NFL Network until they miss RedZone. There’s not much original content on NFL Network. It’s highlights, game rebroadcasts, and a morning and evening studio show.
Training camp coverage, based on the online listings, doesn’t commence on NFL Network until Saturday, August 1. And even if NFLN isn’t back on Comcast by then, customers interesting in training camp coverage will just watch ESPN.
As a result, the situation won’t become a significant problem until Sunday, September 13, when the first full Sunday of the football season arrives. That’s when Xfinity customers who want to watch RedZone will be SOL — and when they’ll begin to complain loudly enough to possibly break an impasse that dates back to May 1.
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