Deal Unlikely This Year Between The NFL And Time Warner

Twice during the month of September, reports surfaced that much progress was being made between the NFL and Time Warner to put NFL Network and Time Warner Cable's digital tier, rather than the more cost specific sports tier. This led some to speculate that Time Warner would have the NFL Network before the season's first Thursday night broadcast between the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers on November 10.

The growing optimism for a deal between the NFL and Time Warner was fun for a little while. Now it's over.

According to John Ourand of Sports Business Daily (via PFT) writes that a deal between the two sides are unlikely to happen this year.

The NFL and Time Warner Cable ended their negotiations last week without an NFL Network or NFL RedZone deal, and several sources familiar with the negotiations say it is unlikely the two will reach an agreement this year. The companies' execs held a contentious meeting in TWC’s N.Y. offices last Friday, where senior execs from both sides were unable to bridge several differences. The two sides left the meeting with no plans to meet again. Several sources said TWC and NFL Network had made considerable progress this year to resolve differences that started soon after the channel launched in '03.

Ironically, the two found agreement on most of the big issues that had been separating them, according to sources close to the negotiations. The two sides essentially were close on price.

I guess it was too much to ask.