Without live sports, some cable subscribers want a refund on their hefty sports rights fees

The New York Times

ESPN, Fox Sports and other cable sports networks have become shells of their former selves without live sports amid the coronavirus pandemic. And yet, reports Kevin Draper, "already sports leagues, television networks and television distributors are firing the opening salvos in what will be an exhausting war to determine who should pay for hundreds of millions — perhaps billions — in economic damages." Draper adds: "Television is the biggest source of revenue for American sports. When people pay their monthly television bills, their money goes to television distributors, like Comcast, which in turn pay television networks, like ESPN, which in turn pay sports leagues, like the N.B.A. Along the way, everybody keeps a cut. But even if customers do not watch a single game, the majority of what they spend on bundled television packages goes to sports networks. This is because of the structure of the bundles, where customers pay one monthly price for dozens or hundreds of channels."

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