DirecTV subscribers in Twin Cities may be blocked from watching Sunday's Vikings game

Vikings fans who rely on DirecTV may have to scramble to watch the Sunday night game against the Packers.

The satellite dish company and TEGNA, which owns KARE 11, have been in a contract dispute since Nov. 30, triggering a blackout of NBC programming.

Since the Vikings games usually air on CBS or FOX, the battle hasn't had much of an effect on Twin Cities football fans — until now.

Susan Setina, who uses DirecTV in Apple Valley, said she may have to go to a sports bar to watch her team.

"I'm hoping they figure out this contract thing, because it's really become annoying," said the 63-year-old who also misses seeing Belinda Jensen do the weather on "KARE 11 News."

It's unclear just how many Minnesotans will be blocked from watching the New Year's Eve edition of "Sunday Night Football." According to the Leichtman Research Group, DirecTV had 12,350,000 subscribers nationally at the end of June, a 400,000 drop in the second quarter of 2023.

Frustrated fans looking for answers at the KARE 11 website are directed to another page that encourages them to switch to another provider.

"We can share that, unfortunately, DirecTV is refusing to reach a fair deal with us, despite us offering competitive terms that we have used to reach deals with many other providers that reflect the current market," said Anne Bentley, chief communications officer for TEGNA. "This month alone, we've reached deals with other providers without disruption. We continue to hold out hope that eventually DirecTV will prioritize its paying subscribers."

DirecTV says that TEGNA is asking for double-digit rate increases that would make it the most expensive broadcaster in the nation.

"It's disappointing, but certainly not surprising, that TEGNA is just the latest to perpetuate what's become the status quo for American broadcasters by using its territorial exclusivities and blackouts to extort ever-increasing rates for programming that remains free over-the-air," Rob Thun, chief content officer of DirecTV said in a news release. "We just can't do this anymore — these price increases are unsustainable for the average consumer. It's a badly broken model that erodes trust, eliminates choice, and keeps delving deeper into the wallets of our already overtaxed customers."

A similar outage occurred in 2020. That dispute was resolved in three weeks.