WITH CONCLUSION OF OPTIMUM-MSG BLACKOUT, CONGRESSMAN PAT RYAN AND ATTORNEY GENERAL LETITIA JAMES WRITE TO OPTIMUM WITH A SIMPLE DEMAND: GIVE FOLKS THEIR MONEY BACK

With Conclusion of Optimum-MSG Blackout, Congressman Pat Ryan and Attorney General Letitia James Write to Optimum with a Simple Demand: Give Folks Their Money Back

For eight weeks, Optimum and content providers failed to reach a deal, leaving over one million customers in the Tri-State area to stare at black screens, unable to watch the channels they ALREADY pay for

Tens of millions of Americans per year are victim to blackouts

Ryan’s recently introduced “Stop Sports Blackouts Act” would make cable companies refund customers who aren’t able to watch the channels they already pay for during television blackouts 

WASHINGTON, DC  –  Today, Congressman Pat Ryan and New York State Attorney General Letitia James continued their fight on behalf of New York sports fans. In a letter to Optimum CEO Dennis Mathew, Ryan and James noted that it is “unacceptable that Optimum customers in New York paid for content they were unable to view,” and called on the company to take immediate action to make New Yorkers whole, either in the form of a refund or a credit on their next bill. Ryan’s recently introduced “Stop Sports Blackouts Act” would make these refunds required by federal law. 

“I’m joining my fellow New York sports fans in celebrating the end of this blackout, but our fight is not over yet. For weeks, we’ve been paying for a service we haven’t received – I’m calling on Optimum to issue refunds immediately,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “New Yorkers are generous people, but we can’t be expected to shell out millions to pad Optimum’s profits and get nothing in return. Optimum needs to pay customers back what they’re owed, and Congress needs to pass my ‘Stop Sports Blackouts Act’ to fix this problem once and for all.” 

“New York sports fans should face no further penalties for the disruption caused by Optimum and MSG Networks. I urge Optimum to refund customers who were unable to cheer on their home sports teams while Optimum and MSG Networks struggled to negotiate a distribution agreement,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “As I noted previously, these blackouts were unfair to paying customers and New Yorkers must be compensated for this inconvenience.”

This type of TV blackout occurs when distributors, including cable and satellite TV companies, are unable to reach an agreement with broadcasters over the rights to distribute their content. Until an agreement is reached, subscribers are unable to view the content they had paid for as part of their cable or satellite package. From 2010-2024, New Yorkers experienced a total of 100 blackouts for a total of 3,350 days when consumers were blocked from viewing content they had paid for.

On January 1, 2025, Optimum and MSG Network announced that they were unable to renew their distribution agreement, leaving subscribers unable to watch NBA and NHL games in the middle of the season. On February 22, 2025, Optimum and MSG reached a deal, restoring service for sports fans. However, Optimum still has not provided refunds to customers for the content they missed during the blackout, allowing the company to pocket millions of dollars that fans paid for MSG programming they were unable to view. 

Congressman Ryan and Senator Murphy’s Stop Sports Blackouts Act would direct the Federal Communications Commission to require television distributors to provide rebates to subscribers for television blackouts that occur as a result of carriage disputes. A copy of the legislation is available here.

A copy of Ryan and James’s letter to Optimum CEO Dennis Mathew appears below:

Dear Mr. Mathew,

We write regarding the recent television blackout that took MSG Networks off the air for Optimum cable customers for eight weeks. While we appreciate that the blackout has come to an end, we request that you refund customers who missed out on MSG programming while paying for that service. It’s unacceptable that Optimum customers in New York paid for content they were unable to view – you must take immediate action to make them whole.

From January 1 - February 22, 2025, Optimum and MSG Networks were unable to reach a distribution agreement, requiring Optimum to remove MSG from its channel lineup. Over one million Optimum households in the tristate area were unable to watch live Knicks, Rangers, Devils, and Islanders games in the middle of the NBA and NHL seasons. Yet Optimum subscribers continued to pay the same high cable bills for packages including MSG despite the fact that Optimum had no legal right to offer those channels.

With over one million subscribers each reportedly paying more than $10 a month for MSG Networks to be included in their cable package, this failure to provide contractual services to subscribers may have allowed Optimum to pocket close to $20 million without providing the product customers were promised. 1 New Yorkers are generous people, but they can’t be expected to shell out millions to pad Optimum’s profits and get nothing in return. Altice, Optimum’s parent company, brought in $9 billion in revenue last year – these refunds would be a drop in the bucket. It’s time that this money be returned to customers in the form of a refund or credit on their next bill.

Thank you for your attention to this request. We look forward to working with you on this matter.

Sincerely,

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