Comcast Drops beIN Sports Channels on Xfinity TV

Carriage disagreements have once again come between TV subscribers and the channels they want to watch. The latest is Comcast’s dropping of beIN Sports on Xfinity TV.

As usual, each party blames the other for the removal of the channel.

“We are shocked that Comcast would mislead its customers concerning the negotiation of its carriage of beIN SPORTS programming,” said beIN SPORTS’ Managing Director U.S and Canada, Antonio Briceño.

The network says they asked for an extension of the existing contract under the same terms, but that Comcast choses to include beIN Sports in only their highest-priced service tiers.

On the other side, Comcast claims beIN Sports is asking for a “major increase in fees” for the channels subscribers already have.

Comcast’s agreement with beIN Sports, which also includes beIN SPORTS en Español, ended on July 31st. Quoting the company’s webpage, “we are not able to air beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS en Español unless a new agreement is reached.”

Comcast tells customers they can still watch beIN SPORTS events on Xfinity X1 using the beIN SPORTS YouTube channel. They also direct customers to soccer programming on NBC, FOX, ESPN, Telemundo, Univision and other networks.

beIN Sports offers live coverage of soccer matches from LaLiga, Serie A, El Clásico, Copa del Rey and other leagues and tournaments, as well as tennis, rugby, motor sports, MMA and other sports.

The network also recently added Conference USA sports such as college football, men’s and women’s basketball, and volleyball among other collegiate sports.

Verizon has also noted their contract with beIN SPORTS is ending soon, and that terms of a new contract still hadn’t been agreed upon. That could mean FiOS TV customers, at least on the East Coast, could soon be losing the channels.