DirecTV's NFL offer draws Comcast suit

Comcast has sued DirecTV for false advertising, claiming that its satellite rival is "baiting" customers with the claim that its NFL Sunday Ticket service is available "free" and at "no extra charge." Comcast's suit, filed in an Illinois federal court Wednesday, underscores the bitterness between two multichannel competitors and perhaps lingering resentments from the cabler's combination with NBCUniversal. DirecTV publicly opposed that transaction. Comcast claims the DirecTV offer -- made in TV, Internet and radio spots -- is an "outright lie." For example, Comcast points to an ad on the DirecTV homepage that says, "for the first time ever, NFL Sunday Ticket is included at no extra charge." "Only in a maze of dense disclaimers and sub-disclaimers, DirecTV discloses that the offer (i) applies only to new customers, (ii) requires a two-year commitment, (iii) requires enrollment in a premium level of service, (iv) applies only to 2011, and (v) entails automatic renewal in 2012 at 'special' renewal rates," Comcast said. Comcast is also irked by an ad running in the Philadelphia market that "makes the claim that Philadelphia Eagles fans that are cable customers are unable to watch Philadelphia Eagles' games on Sunday." In that market, where Comcast is based, the cabler distributes the games and also is an "exclusive sponsor" of the team. The ad features Deion Sanders and an actor wearing an Eagle jersey who complains, "I can't watch my Eagles here. I've got cable." In a statement, a spokesman for DirecTV said the company thinks "it's deplorable that Comcast is trying to compete in the courtroom rather than in the marketplace." "New customers who sign up for DirecTV can indeed get Sunday Ticket at no extra charge for one year, and there is no requirement to subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket the following year. The last thing we want to do is mislead new customers; that's not exactly a smart way to begin a relationship. Comcast knows that. They just have no other way to compete with our best offer of the year." Comcast is being challenged by two other critics of its merger with NBCU. Bloomberg filed a complaint with the FCC claiming the cabler has not fulfilled a "neighborhooding" provision by declining to put Bloomberg's business news channel in the same region of the lineup with CNBC and other news nets. An FCC decision is pending in the Tennis Channel's complaint that Comcast unfairly refused to place it in the same broadly distributed tier as similar sports channels in which Comcast has a stake. The cabler denies both claims. Contact Ted Johnson at ted.johnson@variety.com