Courtesy Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

(May 20, 2009) Now that NFL Network and Comcast have reached an agreement after months of wrestling, one assumes the league can move on to working out agreements with cable carriers, including Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications, that serve much of Wisconsin.

National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters Tuesday during a conference call that he is optimistic deals with other carriers can be struck.

However, Goodell said there were no active negotiations taking place between the NFL Network and Time Warner.

"Right now we are on four of the top five largest distributors," Goodell said. "I think that is a pretty good indication of the strength of the content. I think we've demonstrated our commitment to putting on a high-quality product. We are seeking broad distribution. I'm hopeful we are going to get this resolved."

Goodell said the deal with Comcast would put the NFL Network in about 8.8 million more households, in addition to the 2 million Comcast subscribers who get it now as part of Comcast's sports entertainment package. The NFL Network will begin to migrate from the sports tier to the system's digital classic level, which reaches about two-thirds of the company's total digital customer base. The full launch is to take place by Aug. 1.

Comcast's basic digital subscribers will get the NFL Network for no additional fee. The basic digital tier is where Comcast placed the MLB Network.

Before the NFL Network and Comcast reached agreement, the NFL Network was in more than 41.7 million U.S. households on cable television, according to Nielsen Media. That means on cable it was in 36.5% of U.S. households.

The NFL Network has been available to many satellite television subscribers, including DirecTV and Dish Network.

The chairman and CEO of Comcast, Brian Roberts, told reporters the deal with the NFL could not have been completed without the personal involvement of Goodell in the negotiations.

The NFL was looking for a license fee of about 70 cents per subscriber per month, but according to reports settled on a rate in the 40- to 45-cent range.

Referring to future negotiations with cable carriers, Goodell said: "I will engage just as I did with Brian in trying to make sure that we can resolve whatever differences for the good of the fans."

Goodell said he wanted to open up negotiations with Time Warner as quickly as possible.