Tyler

By ADRIENNE GRAHAM
Staff Writer

Representatives from Suddenlink announced Tuesday evening that they were unable to negotiate the rights to air Thursday's Dallas Cowboys game against the Green Bay Packers.

Suddenlink spokesman Pete Abel said his company sent three proposals to the NFL Network Tuesday, in a final attempt to negotiate access to the game, but a mutual agreement was not reached.

The game will only be available to those who subscribe directly to the NFL Network through satellite.

"We have gone through great lengths over the last year, including this latest offer, which included the option of the NFL having their own, stand-alone channel, from which they would take 100 percent of the revenue and Suddenlink would make nothing," Abel said.

Suddenlink also proposed an arrangement to carry the NFL Network in their digital sports tier for a licensing fee and making the network available on a pay-per-view basis, in which all revenue would also go back to the NFL Network.

Abel said Suddenlink has been in negotiation attempts for almost a year with the NFL, after finding out that the Cowboys and Packers game would only be offered directly through the network -- and that it would cost Suddenlink $100 million to subscribe to the network for the season.

That is a price, he said, that would force the company to raise the cost of cable by $1 per month for every customer in the area.

"The NFL contacted us to decline this offer and all others, reiterating that they would accept nothing less than the same $100 million ransom they demanded more than a year ago," Abel said.

(Spotted photo by Mindy Cocolan)