While NFL games are largely broadcast on CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and Amazon Prime, NFL Network is still a must-watch for football fans who enjoy a closer look at the league.
NFL Network’s coverage of events from the NFL Combine to free agency and the draft helps keep the league in the headlines and connect it to fans throughout the offseason.
Xfinity subscribers briefly lost NFL Network this week, knocking a huge source of round-the-clock football content off the air for a large number of fans. But a high-level intervention brought a quick end to the carriage dispute.
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Here’s what you need to know about Xfinity’s contract situation with NFL Network and whether subscribers are still able to watch the channel.
Is NFL Network available on Xfinity?
Xfinity is carrying NFL Network again as of Tuesday morning.
Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand said a Monday afternoon phone call between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts helped “push the negotiations over the finish line.”
“Typically, execs that have the stature of Goodell and Roberts do not get involved in cable channel negotiations,” Ourand noted.
The resolution ended a short-lived blackout for Xfinity customers.
Subscribers who tried to access the channel Monday were met with a message that stated, “Our programming agreement with NFL Network has expired. As a result, this channel is currently unavailable through Xfinity and Comcast Business.”
Comcast sent a statement to subscribers on Monday, apologizing for the change and claiming the network had “made reasonable offers that NFL Network has not accepted.”
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Terms of the new agreement were not immediately available.
Ourand reported that Comcast believed the carriage extensions the NFL proposed weren’t long enough and the company believed it had leverage against the NFL following the draft because the regular season doesn’t begin until September.