A new report reveals that some New York Knicks fans could start the new year without being able to watch their favorite basketball team on their current cable provider.
After finishing with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference last season, the Knicks front office made a pair of massive trades in the summer to bolster their championship potential in the 2024-25 season. And after some expected struggles to start their campaign, the Knickerbockers have caught fire.
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Heading into the new year, New York is on an eight-game win streak and has one of the best records in the NBA. It has created a huge amount of excitement among their fanbase that they are on a journey to seeing the franchise end their over 50-year championship drought.
However, a frustrating new report claims a dispute between cable provider Optimum and MSG Networks could lead to Knicks game blackouts for many fans in Gotham.
New York Knicks fans caught in the middle of MSG Network and Optimum dispute
On Tuesday, the Hollywood Reporter revealed that the broadcast contract between MSG Network and Optimum is set to expire very soon but the two sides are nowhere close on a new deal. Mean Knicks fans that use Optimum could soon be blocked from seeing their games.
“MSG Networks is demanding exorbitant programming fees – which could raise our customers’ cable bills – and, to add insult to injury, MSG Networks is requiring us to make their channels available to the vast majority of Optimum video subscribers, which would force customers to pay for content they may not want to watch,” an Optimum spokesperson told the Hollywood Reporter.
- New York Knicks record: 23-10
“We refuse to allow any entity to force our customers to pay more than they can afford. And with direct-to-consumer options like MSG+ available on the Gotham Sports app, customers who want to watch it have alternatives so that non-viewers don’t have to pay for content they don’t want.”
An MSG Networks source told the outlet that the company offered Optimum’s parent company the same deal that it made with a larger pay-TV company just a few months ago. Some broadcast disputes can take weeks to be settled. And fans in New York have unfortunately become used to them as wealthy corporations haggle over making the most money off valuable NY sports brands.
At least it is happening now and should be resolved before the team plays even more important games later in the season.
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