PBR CEO Urges Fans To Leave DirecTV Amid Versus Carriage Battle
By Ross Nethery, Managing Editor, SportsBusiness Journal
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Bernard's E-mail To PBR Fans
Promises Exclusive Dish Savings |
The Professional Bull Riders waded into the DirecTV-Versus dispute this week when PBR CEO Randy Bernard told his fans to dump the satellite provider if they want to watch the World Finals, which start October 30 in Las Vegas. In an e-mail sent to 250,000 fans registered in the PBR database, Bernard wrote, “Unlike DirecTV, Dish Network respects your passion” for the PBR and has a deal with Versus through '13. The e-mail promises exclusive Dish savings to PBR fans. Bernard hopes his note will pacify fans who have sent e-mails and left complaints on the PBR Web site. “In my 15 years with PBR, this is the issue we’ve got the most calls and emails on,” said Bernard. “There’s not even a close second.” Bernard decided to make the Dish deal when he saw how much the DirecTV-Versus dispute was affecting his fans. Research shows that as many as 8 million PBR fans were affected when DirecTV cut off Versus, which carries most events in the PBR’s Built Ford Tough series. “When you think about how many of our fans live on farms and ranches, you realize how important satellite television is to us,” said Bernard. PBR signed Dish Network to an 18-month deal as exclusive satellite provider. The deal is a relatively small one. Only a little money is changing hands, and much of that will come in the form of Dish Network signs at PBR events and production support for “PBR Now,” a weekly TV show carried on RFD-TV, which targets rural areas. Still, Bernard is happy to have a direction in which to point angry fans. “We tried to stay out of this as long as we could,” he said. “We didn’t want to burn any bridges and we thought it would fix itself. But in the end we had to do what was right for the PBR and our fans.” The deal also reflects Bernard’s pessimism that DirecTV and Versus will come to terms anytime soon. “I think it will be a long, drawn-out process,” he said.
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