Soon after ESPN took over ownership of NFL Media as part of an equity deal with the league, the NFL Network and linear RedZone Channel agreements with Comcast expired. As Disney took over at the negotiating table, the two sides couldn’t immediately reach a new deal, and the NFL channels went dark on Xfinity TV at the end of April.
“Disney/ESPN acquired NFL Network and Red Zone just months ago and are already demanding double the fees for the same content,” read a statement from Comcast at the time. “Their distribution demands would also make millions more pay for a channel they don’t watch.”
“We understand how disappointing and disruptive this is for football fans who have lost access to NFL Network and RedZone Channel as part of their Xfinity TV lineup,” a Disney spokesperson said. “We proposed keeping these channels available while we continued good-faith negotiations, but unfortunately Comcast declined and took them down. Despite this, we remain fully committed to reaching a fair agreement and restoring access to our best-in-class NFL programming as quickly as possible.”
With preseason football officially underway and the 2026 NFL season looming, things were starting to get a little sweaty for Xfinity TV’s roughly 11 million subscribers. However, cooler heads have prevailed, and it was announced Monday that the dispute was over.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. It’s also unclear whether any of Disney’s stated demands regarding fees or channel tier status were met.
Whatever the solution, Xfinity TV subscribers can at least breathe easy knowing they won’t have to sweat it out right up until the first week of the NFL season. However, this is the second time in three years that NFL Network has disappeared from Comcast following a 2023 dispute that required NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts to get directly involved. The hope has to be that we’re not all back here again in another two or three years.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.