Dodgers Team News

Dodgers News: DirecTV Rejects Latest Negotiation Attempt by TWC SportsNet LA

In a television deal, which might go down as one of the worst in television history just got more complicated. As the Los Angeles Dodgers (12-12) season continues the chances of fans being able to see games on TV aren’t looking good.

The Dodgers’ blackout will continue on for a third straight year after DirecTV rejected the latest attempt to restart negotiation talks with Time Warner Cable SportsNet LA. News came in last week that Charter Communications is expected to take over Time Warner Cable in the coming month, but buzz has been fairly quiet since then.



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From Bill Shaikin, staff writer for L.A. times:

TWC spokesman Andrew Fegyveresi declined to say whether AT&T had conveyed any concerns about TWC’s privacy and confidentiality practices, but he did criticize AT&T for declining to meet under Rep. Janice Hahn’s (D-San Pedro) auspices.

“This is yet another example of AT&T/DirecTV’s unwillingness to negotiate in good faith,” he said. “So far, AT&T/DirecTV has rejected every offer, every compromise, and every neutral negotiating forum like arbitration or a meeting with the congresswoman.”

Dodgers President Stan Kasten, also without any authority to compel AT&T to meet, has expressed concern that DirecTV might never carry SportsNet LA.

“It’s a shame that Time Warner continues to try to make deals with every distributor, and DirecTV refuses to even meet to discuss making a deal,” Kasten said.

For the Dodgers President to say DirecTV may “never” carry SportsNet LA is troubling. Especially when it’s one of the largest carriers in Southern California. Fans have vented their frustration, pleaded their case to management, but for now it seems the Dodgers and our beloved Vin Scully will not be shown on TV just yet.

Question: Who’s to blame? DirecTV? Dodgers? TWC? All? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Elisa Hernandez

Sports enthusiast serving as DodgersNation.com host/reporter. Proud USC graduate in a CA state of Mind. Dodgers, Lakers, Broncos, Trojans and Kings fan! I have a million jobs, but you guys are my first priority <3 Tweet me @EHernandezTV. SUBSCRIBE: www.youtube.com/DodgersNationTV

18 Comments

  1. I don’t see this as the Dodgers fault or their “greed”. I’m sure they negotiated with TWC for the best price they could get. It’s not a character flaw to make the best deal possible to fund the team OR to make profits. What is surprising about that? Should they have said, “No TWC, your offer is too high, we can’t accept it”
    But DirecTV’s total incalcitrance to negotiate strikes me as unreasonable. You will ONLY agree to what you have presented as your position so far and nothing else? You have basically stuck your metaphorical fingers in your ears and will not hear ANY approach to resolving this? Not even one mediated by an independent third party?
    I think all Dodgers fans ought to leave DirecTV. It seems the only way to convince them there is a downside to their position.

  2. DanEstrada Totally agree. I’m out of the TWC network or I would drop Directv in a heartbeat. They’ve really turned out to be total a-holes. They don’t care Pac 10 and won’t even come to the table to discuss carrying the Dodgers? All along I thought Directv was all about sports. I’m in the Cox area and if they ever get it, I’m done with Directv once and for all. Unfortunately, since TWC only has about 30% of the marketshare, Directv has no real incentive to do anything. They’re too big. 

    This is a an absolute discrace.

  3. EVERYONE is at fault except we fans……..We’re the victims by being shut out of Vinny’s last year……How in good conscience can the Dodgers, TWC, and the providers who are still negotiating allow this to happen?………Adversarial nations can come to the bargaining table but two television outlets cannot???

  4. janesnanee DanEstrada
    Absolutely agree.  This should be a user pay deal and not a ransom on everyone else.  The ‘Dodgers have one of the most loyal fan bases in pro sports but I guess the TW money is more important.  If this continues, LA will 
    become Angel town and they won’t be able to get it back.  In the long run, they will not only lose their fan base, they will lose that almighty dollar they covet.

  5. I tend to agree this should be a user paid thing but my understanding is that if they do it this way it will be the FIRST time DirecTV has done it this way with sports teams billing. They’ve opted to change their billing philosophy, which is their option to do so. But how could TWC have known this in advance of making their deal with the Dodgers? How does the public fault the Dodgers for this change they have no power over?

  6. It’s 100% twc trying to strongarm the competition. They are trying and failing to come off as innocent in this but the fact is they are trying to get their competition to raise their rates while twc does not. They don’t care about the Dodgers or the fans. If they did they would come up with a way for people to see games instead of blame other companies for why we all can’t watch the games. They paid a stupid amount of money for this deal and are whining that their competitors, and ultimately the fans, are not paying for it.

  7. That’s not the right way to look at this at all. Dtv has negotiated and twc has o ly lowered their already high price a little. The entire situation exists because twc wants to pressure their competition by getting them to pay for something which forces them to raise their rates. So if you are a dodger fan on dtv time Warner is essentially saying they are expecting you to help them cover the cost of the Dodgers deal they made. It’s all bs from twc, one of the most dishonest companies in the world.

  8. Twc is blaming dtv for the problem because they don’t want to raise their rates for all their subscribers to get something not all of them want and didn’t have to pay for previously. So twc is essentially blaming Dodgers fans on dtv and other competitors for not helping them cover the cost of the deal they made. So yes they are blaming us in a way. The one thing this did that is positive is make it way easier to pirate games. I’ll probably never pay for a Dodgers channel, I’d rather spoof mlbtv so it thinks I’m out of maket if I have to pay something.

  9. I really don’t get how people this this is not entirely the fault of Twc. From the Dodgers perspective the deal was a no-brainer. Tons of money to cover losses, fix up the park, and create spending power to rebuild. They made it in GOOD FAITH with twc which is probably their biggest mistake, because TWC has about as much credibility as North Korea.
    They are now saying that they are negotiating in good faith, but all we know is they have dropped their already high price slightly and continue to blame their competitors for not helping them cover the cost of their deal. Its all an attempt to grab marketshare at the expense of Dodgers fans and the team. Now we are in year 3 of millions of potential fans not being able to watch any games during a very exciting time for our young players and new coaching staff. Twc will destroy the Dodgers fan base entirely if it means gaining some kind of competitive advantage over dtv but some people seem to think they are innocent in all of this?

  10. “So far, AT&T/DirecTV has rejected every offer, every compromise, and every neutral negotiating forum like arbitration or a meeting with the congresswoman.”
    They turn down the arbitration. That says enough for me and theybdont have the pac 12 network and took awhile to get the laker channel. Direct tv sucks.

  11. RobertRodriguez3 Remember the days when the amount a TV show earned was based on how many viewers it had, leading to how much advertiser revenue?  Why are we even talking about arbitration?  What was wrong with the way original model of advertiser revenue?  I’m not sure why anyone would think “directv sucks”.  Arbitration to force someone to pay for something they don’t want?  weird.

  12. With Vinny retiring, I think Joe, Omar and Orel suck. I like the guys on the radio better. But I’m afraid the kids without TWC will start following the teams they can see on the tv and leave LAD behind

  13. Most fans don’t understand why they can’t watch their Dodgers and feel betrayed. After Vinny leaves I’ll just listen to the radio (I like those guys better) FTWC

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