ESPN Asks For "MNF" Extension In NFL Network Discussions
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ESPN Reportedly Asks For "MNF" Extension
During NFL Network Negotiations |
ESPN has "asked the NFL to extend its 'Monday Night Football' rights deal through 2018," which would make it the league's "longest-ever TV contract," according to sources cited by Kaplan & Ourand of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The current deal runs through 2013, and the NFL "has balked at agreeing to such a long-term deal." But the talks, which came during negotiations the two parties have had regarding merging NFL Network with ESPN Classic, "underscore how the league is looking at unique ways to fix NFL Network's distribution problems." Sources "expressed pessimism that an ESPN deal would be struck any time soon; talks have been occurring on and off since 2005." A source also said that the NFL is "talking with at least two of its other media partners about partnering on the NFL Network" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/7 issue).
COMCAST, NFL TRY MEDIATION: Comcast and the NFL last week said that they have “agreed to try to settle their legal dispute over carriage terms of the NFL Network out of court by turning to a mediator.” MULTICHANNEL NEWS’ Ted Hearn reported the agreement came at the request of New York State Judge Bernard Fried in April. Fried in May ’07 ruled in favor Comcast in a suit filed by the NFL, a decision which was reversed by a higher state court in February. The mediation will “focus on whether Comcast had a contractual right to place the NFL Network on a sports tier that around 2 million of Comcast’s 24.7 million subscribers buy" for about $5-7 per month (MULTICHANNEL.com, 7/7).
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