NFL Goes Dark on Dish in Distribution Dispute

The Dish satellite operation has over the years taken on HBO, Fox News Channel and Univision, blocking carriage for days, even weeks, until executives were satisfied with new contract terms. Now Charlie Ergen’s company is going toe to toe with another big entity: The National Football League.

“As of 9 pm ET NFL Network and NFL RedZone are no longer available to Dish and Sling TV subscribers,” the NFL said in a statement Thursday evening. “While NFL Media remains committed to negotiating an agreement and has offered terms consistent with those in place with other distributors, Dish has not agreed.” A spokesperson for DIsh could not be reached for immediate comment.

The dispute comes to light just as sports leagues are scrambling to return to the field of play despite the nation’s ongoing battle with the coronavirus pandemic. The NFL has unveiled plans to mount a full 2020-2021 season, but skepticism remains that the the close-contact sport will be able to function without a significant number of players contracting the illness. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN in an interview released Thursday that “Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall.”

For football die-hards, NFL Network and RedZone are must-haves. The NFL Network offers 65 pre-season games as well as a spate of in-season contests, which include a trio of games at season’s start and two Saturday doubleheaders in the season’s 15th and 16th weeks. The cable network also offers an original morning program and pre-game coverage on Sundays. RedZone, a premium add-on service, lets fans see live look-ins on all the games being telecast Sunday afternoons on CBS and Fox, particularly when a team gets to the 20-yard line and near a scoring opportunity. The coverage is commercial free.

More to come….