Comcast Agrees To Pay Surcharge To Carry NFL Network Games

Comcast has “quietly agreed to pay the NFL Network a surcharge that will allow it to carry the channel’s slate of eight Thursday and Saturday night NFL games,” but the sides are continuing to “negotiate how the network should be offered on Comcast’s cable systems,” according to John Ourand in this week’s SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Under a deal signed two years ago, Comcast carries NFL Network on its second level of digital service, Digital Plus, which has about 7 million subscribers. Comcast’s expanded basic service has more than 20 million subs. Ourand notes if Comcast, the nation’s largest MSO, “moves the channel to expanded basic, other operators will be pressured to cut a similar deal. However, if Comcast decides to keep the NFL Network on Digital Plus or move it to a digital sports tier, ... NFL Network would be pressured to allow other cable companies to follow suit.” Even though Comcast is paying a surcharge for the games, “its overall payout to the network would be lower if it’s placed on a sports tier.” While the exact surcharge is unknown, it is “less than the $2 per sub that NFL Network is seeking from smaller operators that carry the Network on a digital tier” (SBJ, 8/28 issue).