NY appeals court reverses Comcast-NFL ruling

Cable company wants network as part of sports programming package

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updated 3:10 p.m. ET Feb. 26, 2008

NEW YORK - An appeals court has ruled that cable TV giant Comcast Corp. and the NFL Network must return to court to determine what kind of viewing package fans need to catch their favorite football teams.

The state Appellate Division decision Tuesday reversed a lower court ruling that allowed Comcast to distribute NFL Network games in a sports package rather than in a larger digital package with more viewers.

The appeals court said the contract language between Comcast and the network were too "ambiguous" to rule in favor of either side.

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The NFL sued Comcast in October 2006 after the cable company told the NFL that it had decided to move the network from a regular digital tier that is seen by 7 million viewers to a sports tier with about 750,000 viewers.