Comcast suffers setback in NFL dispute

A New York appeals court today tackled Comcast Corp. for a loss of yards.

The court said the Philadelphia cable company might not have the authority to place the NFL Network in a sports-focused channel package, undoing a lower court's ruling.

Yesterday's decision found that the lower court went too far in finding that the organizations' contracts "unambiguously" allowed Comcast to put the NFL Network in the $5-a-month, specialized tier. The suit initially was filed in Manhattan in 2006 and has been sealed.

The appeals court said the contract language between Comcast and the network was too ambiguous to rule in favor of either side.

The NFL Network said in a statement today that it was pleased with the court's action and hoped six million Comcast customers who had lost the channel when the company moved it from a general-interest digital tier to the digital sports tier in 2007 would have it restored. About a million Comcast subscribers view the network on the sports tier.

Comcast said that the NFL Network channel would remain on the sports tier while the case was litigated and that the company would take the dispute to a jury. The ruling reversed yesterday had been a summary judgment, or a procedural move by the judge, the company said.

"We look forward to pressing ahead with discovery and trial in this case to vindicate our right to carry the NFL Network on a sports tier, which is the fairest and best result for our customers," said D'Arcy Rudnay, Comcast's senior vice president for communications.

The public legal battle has been bruising for both 300-pound organizations. Fans missed football games and Comcast claimed that the NFL Network's tactics had persuaded subscribers to drop the cable provider.

The issues between Comcast and the NFL Network are similar to ones between the Big Ten Network, a college sports network, and the Philadelphia cable company.

The Big Ten says its channel should be placed on a tier with wide viewership. Comcast says it belongs on a specialized sports tier, which costs extra each month. If viewers want to watch the college games, Comcast says, they should pay for the service.

At stake for the NFL and the Big Ten member colleges is the ultimate value of their respective sports networks.