Dish and Sling TV have lost the NFL Network and the RedZone Channel due to a carriage dispute with the NFL, which owns the channels.
Update: Dish and Sling sign new deal with NFL.
The channels were removed from both services around 9 p.m. ET last night and the league issued a statement saying Dish had rejected its carriage terms. (Dish owns Sling TV, the live streaming service.)
“As of 9 pm ET NFL Network and NFL RedZone are no longer available to DISH and Sling TV subscribers,” the NFL stated. “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.”
Dish responded with a statement saying it hopes to return the channels before the NFL season is scheduled to start this fall.
“We appreciate your patience as we continue to work with the NFL,” the satcaster said. “Our goal is to reach a fair agreement with the NFL, bringing their channels back before the season begins so that you don’t miss any live sports action.”
Dish said its customers should consider other alternatives to watch the NFL Network’s programming.
“In the meantime, below is a free alternative viewing solution that may work for you:
The NFL App – live streaming of NFL Network on mobile devices, available for free (NFL Network is available to stream using a cellular network on phones.),” Dish said.
Dish has been involved in numerous programming battles over the last several years, particularly with sports channels. Charlie Ergen, Dish’s chairman and co-founder, has repeatedly said sports channels are overvalued because many viewers do not watch them.
Dish does not carry the Fox regional sports channels due to a separate carriage scrap.
But the prospect of not being able to watch the NFL Network’s live broadcasts of pre-season and regular season games has many Dish subscribers upset this morning. The NFL Network plans to offer 65 pre-season games this year as well as Thursday night regular season contests.
@dish First Fox Midwest, Now @nflnetwork ?? As soon as my contracts up youve lost a customer for good. Greedy,clueless,spineless morons.
— Dusty Murray (@murraydusty17) June 19, 2020
Can't watch Reds games on Fox Sports either. I'm done with @dish .
— Adam Vaught (@Permin21) June 19, 2020
@dish @nflnetwork now is not the time to play around and drop channels, we all stuck in side with nothing better to do but yell and start switching things around, get my NFL channel back I pay for it, I want it, put it back on and go work out the money some other wY #nogreediness
— Jeff Morris (@jeffmorris1775) June 19, 2020
“We know that this is a frustrating time without your channels. Our goal is to keep these at a fair rate for our customers and hope to have these back up for you soon!” Dish’s Twitter customer service team said this morning.
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— Phillip Swann
Charlie Should tell ALL sports he will carry them “IF” they are in a SEPARATE PACKAGE.
This way NON Sports viewers will NOT have to pay for Channels they do NOT want.
Excellent Idea.
This is main reason I won’t switch to Dish… Charlie loves to fight, cuts off nose to spite face always. It isn’t just the NFL network, it’s every time anything comes up….