New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office helped return about $76 million in rebates, credits or refunds to cable subscribers in the state for sports programming they did not receive because of the pandemic, which limited play for many professional sports leagues last year.

Last April, James sent letters to various MVPDs across the state asking for rebates or credits for consumers who did not receive the sports programming they paid for. Last year, the NBA, NHL, MLS and MLB all suspended or shortened their seasons because of the pandemic. Operators were negotiating with sports programmers concerning rebates for fees they paid for programming that wasn’t delivered. Those operators all had pledged to pass on those rebates to their customers either through rebates or credits. 

Also read: Altice USA Talking to Sports Nets About Rebates

Most operators have returned the money through credits. Altice USA said in its annual report that it expected to issue about $1.26 in credits to each customer relating to credits it received. Charter Communications said it recognized about $218 million in credits from sports leagues in Q3 that it intended to pass on to customers.

Attorney General James said that in New York state, 4 million customers of seven cable operators received a total of $76 million in rebates, refunds and credits. Those operators are: Altice USA, Charter, Comcast, AT&T, Dish Network, RCN and Verizon. 

“After a year where so many have suffered the devastating economic impacts of COVID-19, my office is proud to announce approximately $76 million that has been delivered directly to New Yorkers,” James said in a press release. “No one should be forced to pay for something they aren’t receiving, especially during a pandemic that has impacted the finances of millions across our state. I’m glad that these seven cable and satellite companies are doing the right thing by delivering substantial relief to consumers. New Yorkers can trust that I will always fight to protect their wallets.”

Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei is talking to sports networks about possible rebates on affiliate fees paid during times when no sports are played, adding that while it is still early days, he does expect to get at least some relief.

"We’ve had initial discussions with all of the major sports programmers, both on a regional and national basis,” Goei said on a conference call to discuss Q1 results. "We’re engaging with them currently on these discussions.”

Goei pointed to a letter he and other providers received Wednesday from NY State Attorney General Letitia James, asking operators to investigate offering rebates to customers for the lack of sports programming. 

“We’re in complete agreement with the New York AG,” Goei said. “So this becomes a contract-by-contract discussion with each one of the providers. I can't give you any particular insights because every contract is quite different from the other. But we would expect to get some relief, for sure.”

Sports networks have been without live games since mid-March, when the COVID-19 pandemic effectively shut down every professional sports league. As the drought continues, consumers have gotten increasingly frustrated in paying fees for games they can’t watch.

Comcast, which also owns sports networks, said earlier today that it is speaking with the various leagues about rate relief, and would pass any savings to distributors, who have in turn pledged to return that savings to customers. But the question of whether distributors and networks will get relief depends on the deals they have signed. Most U.S. sports rights deals hinge on a minimum number of games delivered, and so far that does't appear to have been breached.

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In her letter -- which was sent to Altice USA, Comcast, Charter Communications, AT&T, RCN, Dish Network and Verizon -- Attorney General James requested that operators “promptly and voluntarily provide relief to affected New York consumers from high cable television charges,” adding that it is "simply inappropriate for New Yorkers to be burdened by high costs for services that cable providers are not able to deliver, and programming that is a mere vestige of what has been expected. Reducing those burdens is not only legally and practically appropriate, it is clearly the right thing to do."

But James is kind of barking up the wrong tree. Cable operators are charging their customers sports fees because they are still paying rights fees to networks. Most distributors have said they would pass any savings on to customers, but that would mean that the sports networks, which pay rights fees to the respective professional sports leagues, would have to receive relief too.

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“Attorney General James is right to question why consumers are paying for expensive sports programming not being aired because of the COVID-19 emergency, but she has taken aim at the wrong target,” said ACA Connects CEO Matt Polka in a press release.“If Attorney General James truly wishes to address consumers’ concerns about sports programming, we recommend she focus on the root cause of the problem and investigate sports programmers, broadcast networks and sports leagues. The members of ACA Connects, their customers, and other MVPDs have been caught in the middle of these sports and media titans for far too long.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced practically every professional sports league to suspend their seasons, consumers are beginning to clamor for some form of rate relief for the sports channels that continue to charge them but are failing to deliver their most valuable product: live games.

But while other industries like auto insurance are giving rebates to consumers -- GEICO has said it will give about $2.5 billion in credits to customers because they are driving less -- don’t expect that kind of a windfall to cable bills. Instead, some industry pundits said, the lack of games may result in an explosion of streaming opportunities for games when play resumes.

Cable operators across the country are in constant talks with various sports channels, and all say they would return any savings they manage to squeeze out of the networks back to customers. With some channels like ESPN, FS1 and regional sports networks attracting monthly subscriber fees in the $5 to $10 range, that would appear to present a substantial break for customers.

“Any rebates will be determined once the NBA, NHL, and MLB announce the course of action for their seasons, including the number of games that will be played, and of course we will pass those rebates or other adjustments along to our customers,” Comcast said in a statement.

The second largest cable operator in the country, Charter Communications said that while the situation is still premature it is “monitoring the situation closely.”

Cox Communications noted the unprecedented times and said it was “in discussions with sports content providers on how they will handle this situation based on their agreements with the sports leagues. Right now, networks are still charging us full price for this programming. Once we know what the leagues and networks have decided, we’ll put a plan into place that is most beneficial to our customers.”

ESPN also was keeping a close eye on what it called an “unprecedented situation.”

“We have great relationships with our league partners and are confident we can address all issues constructively going forward,” ESPN said in a statement. “Our immediate focus is on everyone’s safety and well-being.”

But for those familiar with sports rights deals, it appears unlikely that any money will be returned. Most sports rights deals hinge on a certain number of games being delivered, and for the most part, the leagues that have played at least a portion of their regular seasons have likely satisfied that. And even if a league fails to meet those obligations, most observers believe that networks and the distributors will pay full freight in a showing of goodwill.

“There are contractual specifics that you have to meet and there are relationships that you want to maintain,” said LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media president and CEO Lee Berke. “Surrounding all of that is that this is just an absolutely horrendous situation and everybody is eager at this stage of the game to try to be supportive of one another.”

At researcher Kagan, a unit of S&P Global Market Intelligence, sports business analyst Adam Gajo agreed.

“It all starts with the contracts and the terms that they have agreed upon,” Gajo said. “At the same time, the networks need to try and work amicably in these tough times with the distributors. The media landscape was getting pretty volatile before COVID-19. Being harsh in this time could only hurt them in the long run.”

Berke added that most rights deals include Force Majeure clauses, which the coronavirus pandemic surely satisfies, and networks and distributors are attempting to find different ways to address the paucity of games. ESPN, for example, will air a H.O.R.S.E. tournament with NBA and WNBA players beginning on April 12. And while financial adjustments also will be on the table, he doesn’t see networks or distributors taking advantage of the situation for a short-term break on rates.

“There is the mathematical formula that says ‘I’m supposed to provide you with X and I actually provided you with Y, so I am going to take the difference and apply it to the financials,’” Berke said. “You’re not going to do that in such a doctrinaire way if your overall goal is to maintain the long-term relationship you really need.”

And sports isn’t the only entertainment sector that has seen a loss of content from COVID-19. Production on practically every TV show and movie has been shut down, leading some pundits to predict that there won’t be a fall premiere season for scripted shows. Sports is an easy way to fill those spots.

“It’s quite possible that in the fall of this year leading into the spring of next year, most broadcast networks may become de facto sports networks,” Berke said. “There’s a lot of goodwill and intention on all sides to address the financial issues and the shortfall [while] at the same time build and grow the relationship and offer a range of services and opportunities to make everybody whole, because the programming is going to be in substantial demand when everything restarts.”

Others said that less watched sports channels could become more important as play resumes and the places to air them becomes scarce.

“You might find that ESPN 2 becomes the meatiest network out there,” said one distribution executive that asked no to be named.

Berke added that expanded streaming may become a necessity, depending on when play resumes. Potentially three major sports leagues -- the NBA, NHL and MLB -- will be trying to squeeze in as many games and playoffs as possible in competition with the NFL (preseason starts in August), various college sports, the Kentucky Derby rescheduled to Sept. 5, the French Open beginning on Sept. 20 and the PGA’s Masters Tournament possibly beginning on Nov. 9. There may not be enough channel space to show them all.

“You’re going to have scheduling train wrecks coming up down the road as all of these sports bump into one another,” Berke said. “There’s only so much linear capacity. It’s not just the Masters and the NFL. There are all sorts of midrange events that are on as well. You’re going to find things popping up on the streaming services that are going to be remarkable. As part of the deals that are struck to meet whatever shortfalls are finalized, some of that’s going to be increased digital opportunities for these sports.”

Berke added that he sees the expanded digital offerings as going beyond just this year.

“Part is going to be addressing the short term issue of where does this game go on, but the other part is the longer term issue of accelerating something that is already taking place, which is the move to digital,” he said.

While sports junkies may be climbing the walls without games, it’s been less than a month since the NBA, NHL and MLB said on March 12 they would suspend their seasons because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At that point, the NBA and NHL were practically done with their regular seasons. The NBA regular season was to officially end on April 15, so it had about 19 game-days remaining, while the NHL, which would have ended its regular season on April 5, had about 14 game-days left to play. According to several people familiar with sports rights contracts, it is fair to assume that both leagues have fulfilled those contractual obligations, and if shelter-in-place orders are lifted in May or June, those leagues could finish out their seasons and begin the playoffs, or just move right into the playoff schedule after a brief period of exhibition games to get players back in the swing of things.

Baseball, at least for the moment, is the outlier. MLB was scheduled to begin its regular season on March 26, but that has been suspended indefinitely. In the meantime, the league has investigated several alternatives -- including holding all games minus spectators in Arizona, which has about 10 ballparks within a 50-mile radius which would help contain any possible viral exposure -- but hasn’t yet come up with a plan. While some players have objected to a virtual quarantine in the desert for four or five months -- and some pundits have called for a compressed 32-game season -- for networks and the league, the key is getting to play as many games as possible.

Baseball has by far the longest season of the major professional sports leagues -- 162 games. And the league has dealt with work stoppages before. The 1994-95 players strike resulted in the season being canceled in August after 144 games, with no playoffs or World Series that year. According to reports at the time, the strike resulted in ABC and NBC losing about $595 million in advertising revenue, and led to the collapse of their partnership with MLB, The Baseball Network. 

In 1981, players walked out on May 29, but returned to play on Aug. 9 after a settlement was reached on July 31. The two-month work stoppage resulted in a split season format that had mixed reviews. It was estimated at the time that about $146 million was lost in player salaries, ticket sales, broadcast revenues, and concession revenues. 

But those were vastly different times. There were pretty much no regional sports networks in 1981 and broadcast networks still dominated sports rights.

One sports executive who asked not to be named said the volatility of the virus poses a big risk for the league, adding that if play were to resume too soon and then a few weeks down the road a player was diagnosed with COVID-19, they would be back to square one.

“It would be even worse than that -- you’d be back to negative square one,” the executive said, because the league would have to shut down for two or three weeks, deep clean every stadium and then start a mini-spring training again.

Japan is a perfect example of that fear. Japanese baseball officials set an aggressive schedule to return to regular play by April 24, in the meantime holding exhibition games without spectators. But on March 26, three players from the Hanshin Tigers tested positive for COVID-19. Now the league is saying it won’t start the regular season until mid-May at the earliest.

That same executive added that a 100 or 120-game season might serve the purpose of fulfilling contractual obligations and maintaining the integrity of the game. But like everything else in the COVID-19 era, that is left up to change and interpretation. In the meantime, distributors, programmers and players will search for the best ways to keep their businesses humming and their people safe. 

After an unprecedented shutdown of live sports events due to the coronavirus outbreak, national sports networks are looking to get back on the field with replacement content until the games resume.

Fox Sports and ESPN are both turning to library programming and talk shows in an effort to satiate fans looking to get their sports fix. “The challenge is that now we need to replicate that dynamic 24 hours a day, seven days a week across multiple platforms,” ESPN executive VP Burke Magnus said in a March 17 Q&A posted on ESPN.com. “That’s what is in front of us in terms of long-range programming.”

Sports analyst Lee Berke said the unprecedented moves by Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League and other major sports entities to suspend their seasons due to the coronavirus outbreak will cost national networks millions in lost ad revenue. Ultimately, those costs could be made up once the games begin.

“From a business standpoint, all of the contracts have force majeure clauses, and this is about as force majeure as it gets,” Berke said. “Financially they could shift payments, extend years of the term, prorate any lost revenues — there are a variety of ways to approach it.”

In the meantime, networks are looking to fill lost scheduling time with library fare and chat. After a short hiatus, FS1 on March 18 returned two daily talk shows, Skip and Shannon Undisputed and The Herd With Colin Cowherd, to the schedule “in a modified format.” Further, FS1 will lean on evergreen programming, including classic baseball, NASCAR, boxing and college football contests, to keep viewers tuning in until the major sports leagues come back to the field of play.

Fox Sports continues to distribute live sports content — albeit with no live audiences — from such franchises as the Professional Bowlers Association tour and WWE.

“Fox Sports has been working tirelessly, to return our FS1 daily lineup, while at the same time maintaining the health and safety of our employees during these challenging times,” the programmer said in a statement.

ESPN’s Magnus said that the network’s goals going forward are to be “relevant” through news and live studio programming such as SportsCenter and to entertain fans through archival and stunt event programming.

Magnus also explained that the network doesn’t have rights to full-game presentations across the leagues, adding it will require individual conversations with specific leagues or properties to determine what’s possible to air.

“We are working with the leagues themselves to free up the possibility of showing encore presentations and discussing how we can present them,” he said. “Event programming will continue to be supplemented by ESPN live studio and news programming, plus original shows and films.”

Berke said once the games do return, so will the viewers. “When sports comes back, sports viewership will come back with a vengeance,” he said.

Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) is launching two ESPN channels in India.

In a first for Sony, Sony ESPN and Sony ESPN HD will launch Jan. 17. Sony already delivers the SPN Six and SPN Six sports networks in the country and and on the subcontinent.

The launches are described as the first steps in a collaboration with ESPN that will include a multisport website and an app in association with the new Sony ESPN channel.

Sony ESPN's first even will be the Australian Open, first leg of tennis's Grand Slam.

Sony and ESPN are also looking to develop programming around major cricket events, India's most popular sport.

Sony ESPN channels programming will include soccer, tennis, and football.

"SPN is focused on becoming the first choice in television and digital entertainment," SPN India CEO NP Singh said in a statement. "Our collaboration with ESPN is a targeted step in that direction as it helps us ink another milestone in our growth trajectory.

“Not only that, the launch of the Sony ESPN cluster of channels validates our intent to provide stylized, high-quality and insightful sporting content to viewers in India and across the Indian subcontinent,” Singh added.