AT&T's CEO confirmed today (May 21) that DirecTV will negotiate a deal with the NFL independently, just days after the mobile carrier announced a bid for the company depends on a renewal of the NFL Sunday Ticket Football package.
"DirecTV will be responsible for negotiating the deal. We will have to operate our companies separately," AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told investors at the J.P. Morgan media and technology conference this week.
The companies agreed that if DirecTV's renewal for the football package isn't renewed on the terms previously discussed, AT&T may decide not to go through with the merger, according to Reuters.
At the conference Stephenson brushed off analyst suggestions that AT&T would be better off with DirecTV rival Dish Network.
Dish owns licenses for wireless spectrum that would likely assist AT&T handle heavier data traffic.
"In the unlikely event that the Company's agreement for the 'NFL Sunday Ticket' service is not renewed on substantially the terms discussed between the parties, AT&T may elect not to consummate the Merger," said DirecTV in a regulatory filing outlining the merger's term.
Stephenson said that a bid for Dish would have "raised regulatory scrutiny" due to AT&T's spectrum holdings and broadband ambitions, according to Reuters.
DirecTV has 20 million U.S. subscribers and AT&T's video service, U-verse, has about 6 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Combined, the company would become the second-largest TV provider in the U.S., behind the Comcast-Time Warner merger, which still isn't completed.
The merger would serve 30 million U.S. consumers, according to Reuters.
Not everyone feels that the mergers are a good idea, like Minnesota Senator Al Franken.
"We're moving toward an industry with fewer competitors. This hurts innovation, and it's bad for consumers," said Franken, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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