DEADLINE's Patrick Hipes reported Dish Network "has reached a deal" with the NFL to carry its NFL Network and NFL RedZone channels. The multiyear deal comes "more than than six weeks" after the channels "went dark in a carriage dispute" (DEADLINE.com, 8/2). In Denver, Tamara Chuang notes the channels "vanished" from Dish's lineup at 6:00pm ET on June 16. The companies did "not share details on what led the NFL Network to pull its channels from Dish" (DENVER POST, 8/3).
FIELD & STREAM: In Philadelphia, Jonathan Tannenwald noted CONCACAF will live-stream its Champions League broadcasts on Facebook, which will be "free of charge and available worldwide." The production quality will be as it "would be for TV." CONCACAF's move is in response to the league having not had an English-language TV rights partner in the U.S. since its last deal with Fox "expired at the end" of the '15-16 Champions League season. Tannenwald noted there will be "Spanish-language television coverage on Univision Deportes." Univision's coverage will "only be available" in the U.S. (PHILLY.com, 8/2).
TWO SIDES TO THE STORY: Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, asked if the feeling of ESPN and Fox pushing back might cool off the desire for expansion, said, "Nothing has changed. I have put no time frame on the process. I am not planning to comment on the processes until they are complete." In Austin, Kirk Bohls noted it is "hard to blame ESPN and Fox for balking at paying the league so much for new teams without sizzle." Bohls: "I wonder why the two networks ever agreed to such a one-sided term in the first place, but ESPN and Fox operated in good faith when they did not reduce their Big 12 payments after the conference shrank to 10 teams" (MYSTATESMAN.com, 8/2).
I CHOOSE YOU: Former Vanderbilt QB Jordan Rodgers will join the SEC Network this fall as a college football commentator and studio analyst. Rodgers will begin Aug. 23 on "SEC Now." Rodgers is most recently known for his participation on ABC's "The Bachelorette" (ESPN). YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg noted it "didn't take long for ESPN to utilize 'The Bachelorette'" winner Rodgers in a college football role (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/2).
