DENVER (AP) — Reigning MVPs Nikola Jokic and Nathan MacKinnon can be seen on television again by a majority of Colorado fans after Altitude Sports ended a long-running dispute with Comcast, the region’s largest cable provider.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE), the owner of Altitude Sports, and Comcast announced Tuesday that Altitude has returned to Xfinity TV customers. Comcast hasn’t carried Altitude — local broadcasts of Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche games — since its previous contract expired in 2019.
“The first thing we have to do at KSE is just look at our fans and say, ‘I’m sorry,’ and ‘We’re sorry,’" said Kevin Demoff, the president of team and media operations for KSE. ”Every day that went by for the past year was a game too many — too many shots, too many goals that were missed for our fans. We took that responsibility very personally.
“This was priority No. 1 for the Kroenke family, to make sure these teams got back on the air. And so from that perspective, it’s a great day. But it’s also a day that should’ve happened long ago.”
The live game broadcasts start Tuesday night with the Avalanche playing at Vancouver.
"We are thrilled to once again make Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche games available on Comcast and Xfinity platforms in Colorado and the surrounding region,” KSE vice chairman Josh Kroenke said in a statement. “This is the best possible outcome for Nuggets Nation and Avs Faithful, who now have a straightforward way to see every game on one service.”
For years, a portion of young fans have been unable to watch the development of Jokic or MacKinnon on a nightly basis through Comcast. Instead, they’ve had to turn to alternate broadcasting avenues and streaming services as MacKinnon led the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup title in 2022 and Jokic guided the Nuggets to their first NBA championship a year later.
Comcast stopped carrying Altitude due to a disagreement over fees the cable giant was charging to carry the network. The ensuing legal battle has kept the Nuggets and Avalanche out of many homes in the region for the last 5 1/2 seasons.
“It is an absolute gift to be able to watch some of the greatest athletes in sports history playing in your hometown every night,” said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who was wearing a Jokic jersey at the news conference. "Sometimes it's just 30 minutes when you’re washing dishes or 30 minutes when you’re doing homework with the kids. ... You might have missed some of the last five seasons, but there’s plenty of great play coming.
“Every one of those games you can catch is a new chance to train a new generation of young fans to realize what they have in their hometown.”
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
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