Altitude-Comcast lawsuit settled with no resolution for Avalanche, Nuggets TV blackout

Kyle Fredrickson, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Updated ·2 min read
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Mar. 17—The legal effort to bring Altitude TV broadcast Avalanche and Nuggets games back to Comcast has failed.

The embattled regional sports network (RSN) released a Friday evening statement on Twitter. It read that Altitude has "reached a settlement" with the cable giant to end its antitrust lawsuit with confidential terms that "do not involve the carriage of Altitude of Comcast's cable systems." The RSN has not been carried by Comcast since their contract expired in 2019.

"Comcast and Altitude remain willing to discuss potential future business and distribution arrangement," Altitude said.

Comcast spokeswoman Leslie Oliver, in a statement provided to The Denver Gazette, said: "This much is clear — Kroenke Sports controls the teams, the arena, and the Altitude network. The ball is in their court to do the right thing and make it available to their fans, regardless of their service provider. Comcast has been clear all along that we want to make the games available to the fans who want to watch them without making everyone else pay."

Altitude, in its initial antitrust claim in federal court, argued that Comcast negotiated in bad faith to renew its carriage agreement with terms that would allegedly put the RSN out of business. Altitude has since continued broadcasting Avalanche and Nuggets games on DirecTV and FuboTV. However, 2019 court filings indicated that 92% of all cable subscribers in the state have Comcast.

Altitude's settlement with Comcast is a dismissal with prejudice; meaning it cannot retry the case at a later time. That signals Altitude will take a new approach in maximizing the distribution of Avalanche and Nuggets games. Both teams are nearing the end of a fourth consecutive regular season — featuring a Stanley Cup champion and a two-time NBA MVP — without Altitude games broadcast on Comcast.

Kroenke Sports and Entertainment did not respond to a request for further comment when contacted late Friday by The Denver Gazette.