Carriage Disputes Leave New York Sports Fans in the Cold

More than a million sports fans in New York and New Jersey are now unable to watch Knicks, Rangers and Devils games because of a carriage dispute between Time Warner Cable and the MSG Network. The dispute has also affected fans in Buffalo, as the Sabres games are carried on MSG. There appears to be no end in sight for the dispute.

MSG officials are encouraging fans to seek other providers while Time Warner Cable has stated it is “committed to the negotiation process and are still waiting for MSG to come back to the table.”

Sports Fans Coalition strongly opposes these types of programming takedowns during contractual disputes between programmers and distributors. Back in May, we filed comments with the FCC asking the Commission to prohibit the taking down of sports during so-called retransmission consent disputes. Our comments in that proceeding still ring true: “Sports fans have become a political football in retransmission consent disputes. In the recurring smack-down negotiations between big broadcasters and big pay-TV companies, games are pulled right before the action starts, leaving fans in the cold. Fans who are vital to the success of sports and who have contributed through multiple public and private expenditures are treated like fumbled pigskins.”

A copy of the comments can be found here.

Sports Fans Coalition strongly encourages both sides to seek an immediate resolution to this dispute so fans can watch the games they love.

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