BeIN Sports is moving forward with additional legal action against Comcast through the media bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The broadcaster took the action because it says that Comcast is unwilling to negotiate concerning the restoration of beIN to the Comcast platform.
BeIN Sports was removed from Comcast/Xfinity platforms on July 31st, 2018, denying subscribers access to premium soccer, tennis and motorsports content.
After trying to negotiate with Comcast, Antonio Briceño, BeIN Sports’ Deputy Managing Director for the US and Canada, said: “We are extremely disappointed that after over a year spent attempting good-faith negotiations with Comcast, they have ignored customer demand, refused to negotiate and continued their practice of discriminating against beIN and other independent networks in favor of their own affiliated networks. While we remain hopeful and willing to come to an agreement, we are steadfast in our desire to reinstate beIN SPORTS at the same levels of distribution as Comcast’s own sports networks with which beIN SPORTS simply seeks to compete on a fair basis.”
BeIN Sports is the exclusive broadcast partner in the US and Canada for the global soccer leagues LaLiga, Ligue 1 and Süper Lig, as well as premium competitions such as Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Copa del Rey and CAF Africa Cup of Nations; yet through its discriminatory practices Comcast is denying sports fans this content.
“As the last few months have revealed, the vast majority of our carrier partners have operated in good faith working with us to find mutually beneficial terms for all parties involved. In fact, Comcast is only one of two partners with whom we have yet to reach an agreement, and the only carrier partner who has showed no interest in coming to an agreement, effectively leaving millions of subscribers without access to the sports programming they want and demand such as LaLiga, Copa Libertadores and CAF Africa Cup of Nations which takes place this summer,” added Briceño.
The new FCC filing is in addition to the ongoing FCC Complaint filed by BeIN Sports against Comcast on December 13, 2018.
