DirecTV won't charge 'Sunday Ticket' owners for missed games

DirecTV issued a statement to its "NFL Sunday Ticket" subscribers Thursday, saying no one will be charged for the service unless games are played.

"If the NFL negotiations result in a shortened or canceled season, rest assured that DIRECTV has you covered," the satellite television provider said. "Your subscription to NFL SUNDAY TICKET is risk-free: You will not pay for any game that the NFL does not play."

The NFL lockout is in its third month, although the league and players held three consecutive days of mediated talks this week.

DirecTV added that a subscriber who already has paid for the 2011 package will receive a credit for every missed week. A subscriber whose package is up for renewal will not be charged until a start date for the 2011 season is confirmed.

"NFL Sunday Ticket," which started in 1994, makes out-of-market games available to viewers. DirecTV has exclusive rights to the package through the 2014 season.

Players have contested the league's TV deals, saying the NFL illegally secured $4.078 billion to build a "lockout fund." The players cited $400 million in revenue from DirecTV, as well as $40 million from ESPN and $17 million from Verizon, as money that the league didn't need to repay if there isn't a 2011 season.

U.S. District Judge David Doty, who has ruled against the league, heard the players' argument for damages May 12, but he hasn't issued a decision.

Lawyer Tom Heiden said the players want $707 million stemming from the TV contracts, plus additional undetermined compensation arising from other rights and compensatory and punitive damages that would punish and deter future behavior. A special master previously awarded the players just $6.9 million in damages, a ruling that the league asked Doty to uphold.

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Home games for Lions, Chargers will be blacked out Sunday

Two NFL teams announced local television blackouts for Sunday's games.

Neither the Detroit Lions' game against the Washington Redskins, nor the San Diego Chargers' meeting with the Tennessee Titans will be shown in their respective home markets.

A Lions spokesman said 8,500 tickets remained available as of Thursday afternoon. The Lions had sold out their first two home games this season.

The Chargers announced that more 8,000 general tickets and club seats were available. This will be San Diego's third blackout in four games this season.

The NFL's long-standing policy requires all games not sold out 72 hours before kickoff to be blacked out in the local market. This includes all signals within a 75-mile radius of the stadium and those areas whose television signal reaches within that 75-mile zone. The league's policy affects all telecasts, including cable and satellite.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Television ratings for NFL games up through first four weeks

NEW YORK -- More than 150 million people have watched at least part of an NFL game this season, the highest number for the first four weeks of any season.

According to Nielsen, viewership is up for all four of the networks that televise NFL games. CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN are each averaging their most viewers ever to this point for their current packages.

Games are averaging 18.9 million viewers, up 9 percent from this time last year. That's more than double the average prime-time viewership of 9.2 million for the big four broadcast networks in the new TV season. The gap has grown from last year, when the NFL averaged 17.4 million to 9.3 million for prime-time programming.

A record nine game telecasts have topped the 20-million viewer mark.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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