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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/sports/15sandomir.html?_r=3&ref=sports&oref=slogin
Fried agreed that Comcast had the contractual right to shift the NFL Network to its sports tier if it could not make a deal for (a) the cultish Sunday Ticket package of out-of-market games, which remained exclusive to DirecTV, or (b) a new eight-game, late-season package of N.F.L. games for Versus. The N.F.L. rejected Comcast’s offer of about $400 million a year for the eight games last year, then added them to the NFL Network with a monthly surcharge of 55 cents a subscriber.
Versus, which is owned by Comcast, no doubt would have upped its fee from its current 13 cents a subscriber, according to Kagan Research, if it had gotten those games.
The league has filed a notice of appeal of Fried’s decision to the state Appellate Division, and Comcast is telling its affiliates to get ready to move the channel to a sports tier. “We’re not going quietly and will continue to fight for what’s right,” said Seth Palansky, a spokesman for the NFL Network.
(Some level of quiet will continue; Fried sealed the case early on at the N.F.L.’s request. Only a hearing transcript is public record, and the league is unlikely to ask for the file to be unsealed.)
Fried’s ruling, if it is upheld, would do away with the NFL Network for about 6.5 million Comcast subscribers, while 750,000 would be able to see it on a sports tier for about $5 a month. The decision will almost certainly lead Time Warner, Cablevision and Charter, the largest cable operators that do not offer the channel, to seek the right to carry it on a sports tier.