Appeals Court Remands NFL Net-Comcast Decision To Lower Court
NFL Network received a rare bit of good news yesterday when the New York Supreme Court reversed a lower court's ruling that would have allowed Comcast to tier the channel and remanded the case back to New York State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Fried. The ruling stated: "Contrary to the motion court's finding, we conclude that the agreements are ambiguous with respect to the scope of the tiering provision and that neither party has established a definitive interpretation as a matter of law." Accordingly, the motion court's holding that the agreements unambiguously permit Comcast to tier NFL Network is reversed, and summary judgment is denied to both parties. In short, neither party has established that its interpretation of the relevant contracts is correct as a matter of law." The NFL in a statement said, "We are pleased that the lower court decision was reversed. We believe that today's decision ultimately will lead to the restoration of NFL Network service to the millions of fans who received it before the Network was moved to an expensive sports tier." A Comcast spokesperson said, "We are pleased that the Appellate Court agreed that Comcast's main argument is a strong one and denied the NFL's request to enter judgment in their favor. We look forward to pressing ahead with discovery and trial in this case to vindicate our right to carry the NFL Network on a sports tier, which is the fairest and best result for our customers" (John Ourand, THE DAILY).
MORE DISPUTE: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir notes one "crucial issue is what action Comcast could contractually take once it failed to buy the right to carry eight regular-season games" for its Versus net. Comcast's view is that "once the games went to the NFL Network, it could relegate the league's channel to the sports tier." However, the NFL insists that Comcast's "agreement to pay a surcharge for its subscribers to watch the games on the NFL Network caused it to lose its right to move the channel to the sports tier" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/27).
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