In June, football fans who also happened to be Dish Network subscribers were left worrying about the upcoming football season when talks between the NFL and Dish broke down, leading to a blackout of the NFL Network and NFL RedZone. Fortunately, that came to an end as of Tuesday August 2, when Dish announced the two parties had finally agreed on a deal, returning both NFL Network and RedZone to the satellite TV provider.
Today, Dish’s deal to secure NFL network and RedZone for its internet TV service, Sling TV also kicks in. The service’s newest package, Sling Blue, will host NFL Network, while NFL RedZone will join the Sling TV’s “Sports Extra” package, available as an add-on for $5 per month.
The news comes after a similar announcement from Sony that both channels were coming to its PlayStation Vue service in time for football season. That means a wide variety of cord-cutters should have a much easier time getting their NFL fix when the season kicks off in September, as well as preseason action which began August 7.
While Dish has managed to resolve one blackout, it hasn’t resolved all of them. The company still has yet to reach terms with Tribune Media, leaving 42 network affiliates blacked out for nearly a month. Dish also has yet to settle on a deal with Sunbeam, which could see NBC and CW affiliates in Boston and a Miami Fox affiliate blocked out as well, according to FierceCable.
One thing Dish subscribers can count on watching is the 2016 Rio Olympics, with many events even being broadcast in 4K to subscribers with compatible TVs and either the Dish Hopper 3 and 4K Joey. The only minor issue? The 4K coverage won’t be live.
Updated on 08-10-2016 by Ryan Waniata: Added confirmation from Dish that NFL Network and RedZone landed on Sling TV today.
