The American Cable Association "lashed out against" ESPN's new eight-year contract with the NFL worth an estimated $1.9B, according to Claire Atkinson of the N.Y. POST. The ACA, which represents 900 smaller cable operators, said in a statement, "ESPN has struck a bad bargain for consumers. The sports network’s financially wanton deal will push the cost of pay-TV service into the stratosphere, making the product less and less affordable during a time of severe economic stress and high unemployment." ACA President & CEO Matthew Polka "accused ESPN of refusing to give consumers the ability to opt out of programming they don’t want." Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett "also waded into the debate, pointing out that ESPN and ESPN2 alone account for almost 20 percent of the wholesale cost of the average pay-TV subscription -- but account for just under 2.5 percent of total viewership." ESPN and ESPN2 "cost pay-TV distributors $4.69 and $0.62 per subscriber per month," respectively. Needham & Co. analyst Laura Martin: "The new NFL deal raises the likelihood that sports must be sold on a separate tier, because non-sports viewers are subsidizing sports fans. Sports is so expensive, and everybody is paying even if they don’t watch" (N.Y. POST, 9/10). Moffett suggested that the "cost for ESPN could push" the percentage of cable bills tied to sports networks even "higher if Dish balked at the increase, dropped the channel and ESPN's cost was spread over 14 million fewer subs" (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 9/9). ESPN in a statement said, "As we’ve stated, there is no NFL surcharge in our affiliation agreements. We have long-term deals with our operators and ESPN does not set retail pricing. No one does more to drive our affiliates’ business than ESPN. ACA’s statement does nothing to support the extraordinary value that the industry affords consumers" (THE DAILY).
