US pay-television provider Dish Network has dropped carriage of the National Football League’s NFL Network cable-television channel and NFL Red Zone game-day service.
Although the NFL did not disclose the reasons behind the decision, the Reuters news agency said the move came after a disagreement over distribution fees. Dish stopped broadcasting the NFL services on Thursday.
“Our contract with NFL Network has expired,” Dish said in a statement. “We remain open to a fair offer that allows us to carry this content at an appropriate value to our customers.”
The NFL said the decision marks the first time in the 13-year history of the NFL Network that a pay-television provider has opted to drop the service.
The NFL added that its NFL Network channel is still distributed to over 60 million households across the US. The league has distribution partnerships in place with a number of other major satellite service providers such as DirecTV, Comcast Xfinity, Charter Spectrum, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon FiOS.