Comcast sues NFL to block slanderous emails

Comcast yesterday filed suit against the National Football League, claiming it was acting in breach of contract for encouraging Comcast subscribers to drop their service.

In e-mail blasts and on a dedicated Web site, iwantmyNFL.com, the football league attempts to rally its fans against cable companies who refuse to put the NFL Network in their basic cable packages. It has even gone so far as to encourage Comcast's subscribers to drop their service in favor of DirecTV and Dish Network satellite providers.

The widespread rejection of the NFL Network has been attributed to the across-the-board rate hikes that would affect all subscribers if the network was included in the basic package. Comcast feels that the 70 cent monthly increase its basic subscribers would incur if the channel was included is not justified, and has therefore relegated it to the sports tier.

Other major cable providers, like number two Time Warner, do not include the NFL network at all. This includes providers Charter Communications, Cablevision, Bright House Networks, Suddenlink, and Mediacom Communications.

Comcast said it bargained fairly for the right to distribute the NFL Network on its sports tier, so the NFL's backlash against it is a breach of contract, attempting to coerce Comcast out of that right. Its suit, therefore, is to block the NFL from publishing slanderous remarks about the cable provider.

As it stands, the disagreement between cable providers and the NFL leaves both sides responsible for short-changing fans. If the New England Patriots defeat the NY Jets and Miami Dolphins, the NFL network will have exclusive rights to a December 29 game that could result in an event that has not occurred in the NFL in 35 years: a team going undefeated and untied in the whole regular season.

And because of the NFL Network's exclusive broadcasting right, many viewers will have no choice but to pay extra, or watch that milestone only in the highlight reels.