You might have been super-stoked when you heard about Verizon's plan to offer custom TV bundles, but not everyone was so thrilled about it. Namely, ESPN.
A spokesperson for the Disney-owned sports programmer told The Washington Post that Verizon's plan — which allows customers to choose a bundle of channels they actually want instead of paying for 300+ channels they rarely watch — violates its agreement with the company.
"Media reports about Verizon's new contemplated bundles describe packages that would not be authorized by our existing agreements," the spokesperson told the Post. "Among other issues, our contracts clearly provide that neither ESPN nor ESPN2 may be distributed in a separate sports package."
Neither ESPN nor Verizon immediately responded to a request for comment.
Announced last week, Verizon's new Custom TV service is not exactly an a la carte option, but it moves in that direction. Instead of letting users pick and choose their own lineup of channels, Verizon will offer pre-curated packages. Customers get 35-plus fixed basic channels, plus two genre-based bundles (like sports, kids, news, and lifestyle) that they pick.
ESPN is apparently miffed that its networks would be part of an optional sports bundle, instead of the base package that everyone gets. As Re/code noted, this whole drama suggests that Verizon never got the go-ahead from ESPN before announcing its new offering. And the issue appears to extend farther than just ESPN.
A Verizon spokesperson, however, told Re/code that the company received authorization from all the programmers included in its new plan.
ESPN and ESPN2 are available on Sling TV, which provides streaming access to a package of channels for $20 per month.