False Alarm: Despite Initial Reports, No Deal Between Versus And DirecTV

After an initial report indicated a deal might finally have been struck between DirecTV, it seems that nothing has been resolved, after all. According to Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski and John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, there’s been no deal, and the two sides are exactly where we left them: “Talking,” with “Nothing imminent.”

First from Wyshynski:

PD post on Versus/DTV deal up; sadly, “not true” and “nothing is imminent," via Versus.

And then Ourand:

VS and DirecTV are talking. But Versus says a deal is not imminent. There is no deal. Versus won’t accept being put on a sports tier.

In other words, as great as it’d be to have Versus on DirecTV—for fans of all sports, but specifically mixed martial arts and hockey—we’re still a ways off before that dream becomes reality.

Thousands of MMA fans will turn on their television Saturday night, looking for some manly action like WEC 47 or Road House and come up empty. That’s probably because they foolishly purchased DirecTV, not knowing that the provider would soon cut Versus, home to ice hockey, second-rate racing leagues, rodeo, and cage fighting.

Luckily, that’s about to change. Sources close to the situation tell CagePotato that the dispute will come quietly to an end next week, with DirecTV subscribers once again able to purchase Versus as part of a special sports tier. While it won’t come in time for this weekend’s WEC card, MMA fans with DirecTV should have the opportunity to purchase the channel by the time the UFC runs its first event on the network later this month.

- Jonathan Snowden shares the news via Cage Potato

This has been a long time coming and clearly MMA fans with DirecTV have been missing out on great action from the WEC. Given that the UFC will be hosting events on Versus this is a huge, huge move for the network.

The news that it will be a part of a “sports package” which will cost extra is disappointing given that beyond their MMA and NHL programming the network features some of the worst sports broadcasting available. I’m sure MMA fans can justify the purchase by thinking of it as a cheap pay-per-view cost every month that there is a WEC or UFC event broadcast.

Versus president Jamie Davis is saying that many of the things that Directv is saying about the situation is just not true.

Davis said network talks with the nation's No. 1 DBS operator broke down over DirecTV wanting to remove it from some 6 million subscribers. Before the plug was pulled on Sept. 1, Versus, which had resided on the Total Choice Xtra package, counted 14 million DirecTV subs among its 75.5 million base.

For its part, DirecTV has said the parties had disagreed about price, claiming the Comcast-owned Versus was seeking a 20% hike in license fees.
"Those increases aren't true," said Davis. "We're simply asking them to pay what the other providers are paying."

This situation between Versus and Directv is only going to get uglier before it gets resolved. Versus is going to need Directv's customers more than Directv needs Versus.

Versus is the primary TV partner of the NHL and the network is scheduled to show 54 games this season. So yeah, bad news for hockey fans who likely have enough problems finding games on television already.