NFL Refutes Claims EchoStar Can Keep NFL Net On Sports Tier

By John Ourand, Staff Writer

The NFL reacted angrily to a claim by EchoStar that a court denied a league motion and would allow the satellite operator to keep NFL Network available off of its expanded basic tier. The league in a statement said, "Last night Dish Network issued a highly misleading statement. The court decision referred to in that statement actually granted summary judgment to NFL Network on the key issue that led to this dispute. The court ruled that the simulcast of the historic Patriots-Giants game in December 2007 did not trigger the specific contract provision allowing EchoStar to drop the NFL Network to a lower level of service last February." NFL Network President & CEO Steve Bornstein added, "This is an important ruling for us." EchoStar late last night released a statement saying, "As a result of the ruling, the NFL Network will continue to be offered to DISH Network customers in only our AT200 and AT250 packaging tiers. This will give our customers a choice of programming packages and will not burden all our customers with the cost of the NFL Network."