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US Open, college football coverage pulled for millions of DirecTV customers over carriage dispute with Disney

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US Open, college football coverage pulled for millions of DirecTV customers over carriage dispute with Disney


Sports fans were left reeling on Sunday night after a major carrier dispute left millions of DirecTV subscribers unable to watch several major sporting events. 

Disney Entertainment channels, including ESPN, went dark on DirectTV during the U.S. Open after both sides failed to reach a new carriage agreement – an issue that left tennis fans unable to watch the heavily anticipated fourth round matchup between American Frances Tiafoe and Alexei Popyrin of Australia. 

Frances Tiafoe reacts

Frances Tiafoe reacts to a winner in the 4th set against Alexei Popyrin on day seven of the 2024 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. (Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports / IMAGN)

Coverage was pulled about a half-hour before the match. 

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“It is disappointing that fans and viewers around the country will not have the opportunity to watch the greatest athletes in our sport take part in the 2024 US Open due to an unresolved negotiation between DirecTV and Disney, resulting in the loss of access to ESPN,” the U.S. Open said in a statement.  

“We are hopeful that this dispute can be resolved as quickly as possible.” 

Fans could view the match on other streaming services, but as the U.S. Open pointed out, they were “not free on these platforms unless there is a free trial option.” 

College football fans were also hit with the blackout 10 minutes before the start of the LSU-USC season opener airing on ABC. 

Miller Moss in action

Southern California Trojans quarterback Miller Moss, #7, throws a pass against the LSU Tigers during the first quarter at Allegiant Stadium. (Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports / IMAGN)

FMR PRO-NFL STARS HELPING ATHLETES AVOID FUMBLING THEIR CAREERS SAYS LEAGUE WANTS TO AVOID ‘BAD PRESS’

Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, co-chairmen of Disney Entertainment, and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro released a joint statement calling out DirecTV for “deny[ing] millions of subscribers” coverage during two major sporting events. 

“DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the US Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season. While we’re open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we’ve extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs. We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that’s what our viewers expect and deserve. We urge DirecTV to do what’s in the best interest of their customers and finalize a deal that would immediately restore our programming.”

An ESPN microphone

A detailed view of a microphone is seen with an ESPN logo on it. (Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images / Getty Images)

DirecTV, which has over 11.3 million subscribers, said Disney offered an extension to keep the channels on the air in exchange for DirecTV having to waive all future legal claims that its behavior is anticompetitive.

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“The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system,” Rob Thun, DirecTV’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “Disney is in the business of creating alternate realities, but this is the real world where we believe you earn your way and must answer for your own actions. They want to continue to chase maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers — making it harder for them to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price.”

This marks the second year in a row that ESPN has gone off the air due to a major carrier dispute. For nearly two weeks last year, Disney and Spectrum were at an impasse before finally reaching an agreement hours before the first Monday night game of the NFL season. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.





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Flags of Valor employs military veterans to create patriotic products

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Flags of Valor employs military veterans to create patriotic products


For Flags of Valor – a veteran-owned and operated business that has shipped more than 96,000 flags to doorsteps nationwide – the phrase “made in America” lies at the foundation of everything it stands for.

“For over 10 years, we’ve been saying the same thing – we build American products, on American wood, with American tools, made by American hands,” Flags of Valor founder and military veteran Brian Steorts told FOX Business. “And we do it while giving back to the causes that matter – supporting veterans, educating youth, and honoring service and sacrifice at every step.”

VETERANS SHARE PATRIOTISM, PRIDE AND PRODUCTIVITY WHILE ALSO PROMOTING ‘MILITARY WORK ETHIC’

Founded in Virginia in 2015, Flags of Valor is known for its handcrafted, wooden U.S. flags, as well as military and first responder flags. The business currently has 10 employees, the majority of whom are veterans and military spouses.

Flags of Valor currently has 10 employees, the majority of whom are veterans and military spouses.

Flags of Valor currently has 10 employees, the majority of whom are veterans and military spouses. (Flags of Valor)

Each material used by the Flags of Valor team – from the woodworking tools to the tape for the shipping boxes – is sourced from American companies, according to Steorts.

FROM BOMB SQUAD TO BAKER AND COFFEE MAKER: FORMER DEPUTY CRUSHES A NEW BUSINESS

“We believe that’s the only way it should be done,” Steorts said.

Steorts, a combat veteran who was deployed nine times, served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper and later as an Air Force special operations pilot. 

In 2013, he got into woodworking after returning from one of his deployments injured and “mentally and physically” broken, he said. During that same time period, Steorts also lost four friends in combat and his sister to mental health struggles.

Founded in Winchester, Virginia in 2015, Flags of Valor is known for its handcrafted, wooden U.S. flags, as well as military and first responder flags.

Founded in Winchester, Virginia, in 2015, Flags of Valor is known for its handcrafted, wooden U.S. flags, as well as military and first responder flags. (Flags of Valor)

“I wanted something patriotic on the wall of my house – something that meant something,” Steorts said. “I found therapy in [woodworking], and I found philanthropy in it by donating my first couple of flags to the widows of my buddies that passed, and I just knew I wanted to do more.”

While Flags of Valor’s best-selling products today are its wooden U.S. flags, the business also sells patriotic home and office decor, awards, memorial displays, corporate gifts, employee recognition pieces, Christmas ornaments, clothing and accessories, and more, Steorts said. 

VETERAN-OWNED BREWING COMPANY PAYS TRIBUTE TO FALLEN HEROES: ‘GREAT AMERICAN BEER’ TO HONOR SACRIFICE

“One of the most important things we’re doing right now is building memorial flag cases – because our heroes deserve a final resting place for their flag that’s made by a veteran-owned American company, not mass-produced overseas,” he said.

Flags of Valor Founder Brian Steorts is pictured with Donald Trump

Flags of Valor Founder Brian Steorts is pictured with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in 2017. (Flags of Valor)

In addition to employing veterans, Flags of Valor has also given back by donating $1.7 million to veteran-operated nonprofits. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company also launched a Kids Flag Building Kit, a hands-on activity to help educate children about the history and values the American flag represents. Each year, during the weeks of Veterans Day and Memorial Day, thousands of students across the nation use the kits to create their own American flags.  

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“We believe in educating our youth and passing freedom on to the next generation,” Steorts said. “It’s more than a project – it’s about patriotism, education and preserving what matters most.”



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Consumers may face higher beef prices from businesses

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Consumers may face higher beef prices from businesses


High beef prices have been weighing on U.S. businesses and consumers.

They have forced some businesses to make tough decisions about how to handle the increased costs, and some are passing the costs on to customers. 

Rob Passio, the owner of Lombardi’s Prime Meats in Philadelphia, told FOX Business correspondent Jeff Flock on “Varney & Co” that “there’s only so much you can absorb as far as the hit to your bottom line before you say to yourself you have to raise these prices.” 

The butcher shop, Passio said, hasn’t seen its customers balk at higher prices “because they see it.” 

EGGS ARE NOT THE ONLY EXPENSIVE FOOD: BEEF PRICES ARE ALSO ON THE RISE

ground beef

Organic ground beef Oct. 30, 2020, in Bavaria, Nuremberg (Daniel Karmann/picture alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“They see the inflation. They see the pricing. You know, everything is up,” he told Flock.

Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation data measured by the consumer price index (CPI) showed prices for beef and veal were up 2.4% month-over-month and 7.6% year-over-year in February. 

The overall CPI posted a 0.2% increase month-over-month and a 2.8% jump year-over-year.

Courtney Schmidt, sector manager at Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, told FOX Business last month that high beef prices were driven by tighter U.S. beef production with consistent consumer demand.

The U.S. cattle herd is experiencing a down cycle, with cattle inventories at historically low levels in 2025, according to Schmidt.

Beef is more expensive

Demand for beef has remained strong since the pandemic, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. (Kennedy Hayes/Fox News  / Fox News)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported in late January that U.S. farms had 86.7 million head of cattle and calves. The count for beef cows specifically was 27.9 million, a decline of 1% compared to the same time last year, according to the USDA.

“I know they’re killing smaller cattle, so they’re trying, I guess, to kill them faster to create the supply that demand is needing,” Passio said. 

Some big companies source beef from Canada and Mexico, Flock reported on “Varney & Co.”

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President Donald Trump imposed 25% import tariffs on goods entering the U.S. from those two countries March 4 and, more recently, introduced exemptions for Mexico and Canada on goods under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement until early April.

Such a levy on imported beef would “increase the price,” according to Passio, adding that consumers “are going to pay for it.”

“My philosophy is to sell it as low as you can to show a savings, a value to the customer. And hopefully you have more customers to generate your revenue,” the Lombardi Prime Meats owner told Flock.  

beef in supermarket

Packages of beef are displayed for sale at a supermarket Jan. 12, 2023, in Foster City, Calif. (Liu Guanguan/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images / Getty Images)

In the U.S., ground beef averaged $5.63 per pound in February, while the per-pound price of boneless sirloin steak came in at $11.90, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Those average prices were 9.6% and 1.6% higher, respectively, than the same month in 2024.

EGG PRICE SPIKE: WE ARE ‘PAST THE TOUGH PART,’ AGRICULTURE SECRETARY ROLLINS SAYS

The USDA projected in a report released this month that U.S. beef production is poised to amount to 26.685 billion pounds this year. 

Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.



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