Overview
- Comcast and The Walt Disney Company announced a carriage agreement Monday that returned NFL Network for preseason games and committed to bring NFL RedZone back by the regular season.
- The channels had been off Xfinity since late April, leaving roughly 10.7–11 million Comcast pay-TV subscribers without access for more than three months.
- Negotiations focused on higher carriage fees and channel placement, with Comcast accusing Disney/ESPN of demanding steep price increases and Disney saying it had offered to keep channels live during talks.
- Companies declined to disclose financial terms, and multiple reports indicate the deal did not move NFL Network to a cheaper, more widely distributed Comcast tier.
- The dispute followed ESPN’s early-2026 acquisition of NFL Media and a reported 10% NFL stake, underscoring shifting distribution leverage for rights owners and the risk of recurring blackouts as pay-TV economics change.