Earlier this week, MSG warned that Comcast customers were in danger of losing access to New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils and MLS’s New York Red Bulls content. This morning, Comcast dropped MSG Networks when the two companies were unable to reach a carriage agreement.
MSG Networks gave the following statement:
“Right when fans are looking forward to the start of the NBA and NHL seasons, Comcast dropped MSG Networks to try to force us to accept terms they’d never agree to for their own regional sports networks, including SNY in New York. They rejected proposals that are consistent with their current deal and deals we have with other major providers, as well as our offer to keep our programming on air under existing terms so we could continue to work on a longer-term agreement. And even though they’ve taken away hundreds of live Knicks, Devils, Rangers and Islanders games, they continue to charge Xfinity customers the same monthly rate — in addition to a regional sports fee that they increased 22% in January to more than $10 per month. Comcast’s refusal to negotiate is deeply disappointing.”
Comcast’s response was: “We don’t believe that our customers should have to pay the millions of dollars in fees that MSG is demanding for some of the most expensive sports content in the country with extremely low viewership in our markets.”
Customers who want to continue watching MSG can subscribe to fuboTV for $64.99/month or DirecTV Stream‘s Choice plan for $84.99/month.