DirecTV is letting some customers "cancel subscriptions to its Sunday Ticket package of NFL games and obtain refunds if they cite players' national anthem protests as the reason," according to Flint, Sharma & Beaton of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The regular policy "doesn't allow refunds once the season is under way." But DirecTV reps said that they are "making exceptions this season ... in response to the protests." Sunday Ticket is a "major customer draw for DirecTV and one of the NFL’s premier franchises," earning it $1.5B a year in "licensing revenue." Flint, Sharma & Beaton note some DirecTV service reps had "different understandings of the policy." One said that refunds to those concerned about the protests were "only offered to subscribers with certain offers or plans." But one rep said that full refunds were "available for those who complained about anthem protests." Another said that such people could "only get prorated refunds for the remainder of the season." Yet other reps said that the policy "hadn't changed and that no refunds were allowed for any reason." Meanwhile, NFL-owned channel RedZone, which "provides live action and scoring from every game on Sundays, is also experiencing some cancellations due to the protests" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/27).
