Optimum’s Blackout Betrayal: How Consumers are Paying the Price for Altice USA’s MSG Blackout
On January 1, 2025, the carriage agreement between MSG Networks and Altice expired, leaving more than 1 million households across the tri-state area without access to the important local sports they pay for as part of their Optimum cable subscription. That sports programming includes exclusive live coverage of major league sports teams like the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils.
Despite failing to provide programming that they have been charging all customers more than $10/month to access, Altice has yet to provide all subscribers with their money back for January. Altice has not offered any automatic rebate, refund or other remuneration to its impacted fans. Only if those fans endured the painful process of contacting Altice’s “customer service” and sitting on hold for an indeterminate amount of time can they get some redress. This all comes within a few weeks of Altice raising its prices across the board, increasing the cost of some of its packages by nearly 50%.
As the two sides have reached an impasse, MSG Networks has made efforts to support its viewers, offering to enter into binding arbitration to reach a deal and provide for the immediate availability of sports programming while the process unfolds so that Optimum subscribers would not miss another game. Thus far, Altice has not accepted the offer, betraying the fan's trust and blacking them out for a month. Instead, they chose to keep the networks from its local lineups and line their pockets with the fan’s hard-earned money.
Fan Harms
There have been extensive costs to local households and businesses as a result of this dispute, including millions of dollars in programming costs paid by fans for games they are not receiving and the inability to support their local sports teams in the middle of the exciting NBA and NHL seasons.
Huge Household Impact
Altice has more than 1 million subscribers across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut that had MSG Networks as part of its Optimum cable package. If you factor in the average household size across the region, nearly 3 million fans are missing content they already paid for.
Significant Consumer loss
Altice reportedly charges customers more than $10 per month for MSG Networks and despite having pulled the programming a month ago, has made no indication it plans on proactively refunding this money for all customers.
Across the more than 1 million subscribers (and nearly 3 million fans), that’s more than $10 million that Altice has pocketed just this month, with no end in sight. Over the year, that would be more than $120 million Altice stands to pocket if no one stands up for fans left with few options for local cable.
For a company with approximately $25 billion in debt reportedly trying to work out an agreement with its creditors, it appears that Altice plans to raise prices, slash programming costs, and take advantage of its subscribers to make up the difference.
Impact on Local Business
It is not just households that are feeling the impacts of this bait and switch – local sports bars and other establishments that are Optimum subscribers and rely on showing sports programming to attract fans no longer have the games to show, meaning fewer customers and lost revenue on game days.
Take Action Now!
Altice has demonstrated a flagrant disregard for their customers and New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut’s sports fans. It’s incumbent on you the fan to take the fight to them by signing the email to the right and demanding that your policymakers stand up for you and bring back your sports!