The NFL and DirecTV

[DolfanCole]

I called DirecTV up yesterday to cancel my service. My service included the NFL Ticket so I could watch my beloved Dolphins in Virginia. I asked for a refund for the remaining portion of the Ticket that I wouldn't see because of the cancellation. What I was told was that they couldn't give me any refund. The customer service rep. made some interesting statements:

1. The NFL defines the cost of the NFL Sunday Ticket. Not DirecTV.
2. All of the money taken in by the NFL Sunday Ticket goes directly to the NFL -- none off the top for DirecTV. After the NFL receives the money, they then give a kickback to DirecTV. This was the main reason given for not being able to provide any kind of refund.

Based on all of the different responses from DirecTV respresentatives from the KC/Miami game due to Hurrican Wilma, it's hard to tell if any of them really have a clue on what is going on. But, I just found the statements quite interesting.

Do any of you know if these statements are true?

 

[TorontoFin]

That's pure BS. I've never heard of such an awkward contract. think about it. If you order HBO, does the money go to HBO or to your service provider? the latter of course. Your service provider PAYS to carry the network, as DTV pays the NFL for the rights to offer Sunday Ticket. If you were paying directly to the NFL, what's the point? Why wouldn't they simply display ST on dish net or other providers as well and make more money based on the amount of subscriptions they get.
However, when I signed up with my cable provider, (I have a package that includes Centre Ice, college football, NASCAR, baseball -- although I only watch NFl and college football) I agreed to a 4th month contract -- meaning I could not cancel until then. serves me just fine, for reasons described above. You may be in a similar situation, just that the pimply-faced CS rep on the other end didn't know how to explian it to you

 

[CanadaPhinsFan]

It's the same in Canada with Rogers. If you purchse ST they will not give you a refund if you choose to cancel part way through. Don't know if they provide the same bogus reasoning. Perhaps they just say no to prevent mass cacellations be the fans of lousy teams?

 

[DolfanCole]

That's pure BS. I've never heard of such an awkward contract. think about it. If you order HBO, does the money go to HBO or to your service provider? the latter of course. Your service provider PAYS to carry the network, as DTV pays the NFL for the rights to offer Sunday Ticket. If you were paying directly to the NFL, what's the point? Why wouldn't they simply display ST on dish net or other providers as well and make more money based on the amount of subscriptions they get.
However, when I signed up with my cable provider, (I have a package that includes Centre Ice, college football, NASCAR, baseball -- although I only watch NFl and college football) I agreed to a 4th month contract -- meaning I could not cancel until then. serves me just fine, for reasons described above. You may be in a similar situation, just that the pimply-faced CS rep on the other end didn't know how to explian it to you

Yep. The deal sounded like pure BS to me as well. It just didn't make any sense why it would be set up that way. The rep. also said that the same set up exists for the MLB and NBA for their season packages.