NFL Network Blackout Ends As Comcast, Disney Reach Deal

Comcast and Disney reached a carriage agreement restoring NFL Network and NFL RedZone to Comcast platforms after the channels went dark on Xfinity TV in late April, according to Front Office Sports and Awful Announcing. The blackout lasted more than three months, persisting through the NFL Draft and into the summer window.

The dispute marked the first major carriage fight involving NFL Network since ESPN acquired the channels in early February as part of a broader deal that gave the league a 10 percent equity stake in ESPN, per Front Office Sports. Financial terms of the new carriage agreement were not disclosed.

During the standoff, Comcast stated that Disney and ESPN were "demanding double the fees for the same content" and making distribution demands that "would also make millions more pay for a channel they don't watch," according to Awful Announcing. A Disney spokesperson countered that the company had "proposed keeping these channels available while we continued good-faith negotiations, but unfortunately Comcast declined and took them down."

Xfinity TV serves roughly 11 million subscribers, per Awful Announcing, while Comcast reported 10.67 million cable subscribers in its most recent quarterly earnings, according to Front Office Sports. The resolution comes as YouTube TV is poised to become the country's top pay TV distributor as soon as next year, per Front Office Sports, putting pressure on traditional cable operators to retain premium content.

The agreement notably did not result in moving NFL Network to a cheaper, more widely distributed tier of Comcast service, according to sources cited by Front Office Sports. NFL Network will air a preseason game on Thursday between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers.

This is the second carriage dispute between NFL Network and Comcast in three years, per Awful Announcing, signaling recurrence risk despite the resolution.