MSG Networks is warning that Comcast Xfinity cable subscribers could miss the beginning of the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League seasons when their distribution agreement expires Thursday at midnight.

Comcast carries MSG Networks in New Jersey and Connecticut. The sports network carries New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils games. It also has games of the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer.

Comcast owns NBCUniversal and its own regional sports networks, including SNY in the New York region.

Also Read: NBCU Warns YouTube TV Subscribers Could Be Blacked Out

Regional sports networks are among the most expensive channels in terms of the fees they command from distributors. Dish Network has largely stopped carrying RSNs and some of the virtual MVPDs have not reached deals to carry Sinclair Broadcast Group's collection of Bally Sports networks.

“We’ve been working to reach an agreement that is fair, reasonable and consistent with other major providers, while Comcast is demanding terms they’d never accept for their own regional sports networks, including SNY in New York,” MSG Networks said in a statement.

“Xfinity customers do not deserve to lose MSG Networks’ coverage of their local sports teams, which includes hundreds of live games for the upcoming NBA and NHL seasons. MSG Networks is ready to continue working in good faith, however, we encourage Comcast Xfinity subscribers who want to watch the Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils and Red Bulls to visit www.keepmsg.com for more information, including alternative providers in their area,” MSG said. 

Comcast said it has a record of reaching deals with programmers (though its New York area customers were without YES Network for more than a year in a dispute that began in 2015).

“Comcast’s agreements with programmers expire from time to time. We have successfully negotiated thousands of agreements with programmers and reached agreements in almost every instance," Comcast said. "We would like to reach a fair deal with MSG that makes sense for our customers before the current one expires, allowing us to continue offering their networks on our channel lineup.”

Altice USA has told the FCC to disregard Starz's petition for injunctive relief. The operator says the petition was procedurally defective, has no basis in law or fact or policy, and was simply an effort to manipulate the regulatory process for its business ends.

Those ends would be to get its programming back on the MSO's Optimum and Suddenlink cable systems. Starz asked the FCC earlier this month to intervene to get its networks back on Altice USA's Optimum systems in New York. The company had first filed a petition for declaratory ruling with the FCC, following that up last week with the emergency petition for injunctive relief.

Altice USA said it was an untimely petition because it was an emergency petition filed three weeks after the channels came off Jan. 1. Had it been an emergency, Altice argued, Starz would have filed the emergency petition before that.

The MSO also said Starz is engaging in a campaign to mislead customers and "disrupt" Altice USA call centers.

The cable operator also disputes Starz's assertion that it did not give its customers adequate notice of the blackout. "The FCC requires that cable operators provide customers notice of programming changes at least thirty days in advance of the change when the change is within the control of the cable operator," Altice said. "In this case, Altice did not know that an agreement for carriage would not be reached, despite its numerous offers, until December 31, 2017."

Related: 50 Cent Takes Starz-Optimum Feud Personally

Altice USA said its negotiations with Starz broke down not from any violation of FCC rules but because Starz wanted more than the MSO was willing to pay and pass along to its customers.

Starz wants Altice USA to "restore carriage of Starz, StarzEncore and Movieplex for the FCC-required 30-day notice period; correct Altice’s misleading and false disclosures regarding its deletions of Starz’s channels; and respond to consumer inquiries and complaints in compliance with FCC rules."

Related: New York Reps Push Altice, Starz to Reach Carriage Deal

Altice said Starz has not come close to meeting the threshold for an emergency stay, which is a showing of irreparable harm absent a stay (Altice said several million subs losing access to Starz is not such harm), the likelihood of success on the case's merits, that Altice would not be harmed by the stay, or that the public interest favors the requested stay.

Saying it was responding to Charter Communications "dropping" Univision, Public Knowledge weighed in Wednesday on the current carriage fight between the MSO and the programmer, one the group said impacts millions of subscriptions.

Unvision went dark to Charter customers at midnight Wednesday (Feb. 1).

Related: Computer Companies Side With Univision in Charter Carriage Fight

“The blackout of Univision on Charter Spectrum cable — which includes millions of former Time Warner Cable customers — is an unfortunate development that shows how disparities in bargaining power between programmers and distributors can leave customers in the lurch," said John Bergmayer, senior counsel at Public Knowledge.

“As we argued in recent comments to the FCC [on independent access to programming] these imbalances can distort competition and harm consumers," Bergmayer added. "We hope that Charter and Univision resolve their dispute in a way that ensures the continued vibrancy of independent programming, particularly programming that serves diverse audiences, while keeping costs low for consumers.”

Charter has said of the blackout that it still has a carriage contract with Univision and expects the programmer to honor it.