--- title: "American Cable Association Battles Over Sports TV Contracts" id: "13760" type: "post" slug: "american-cable-association-battles-over-sports-tv-contracts" published_at: "2012-10-10T15:55:35+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-17T17:39:47+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/10/10/american-cable-association-battles-over-sports-tv-contracts/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2012/10/10/american-cable-association-battles-over-sports-tv-contracts.md" excerpt: "The American Cable Association spoke out against the rising cost of sports television rights, as Major League Baseball inked a $12.4 billion deal with ESPN, Fox, and TBS." taxonomy_category: - "Advocacy" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "cable TV" - "consultants" - "Contracts" - "costs" - "industry partners" - "Media" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Industry Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » American Cable Association Battles Over Sports TV Contracts No one would dispute that athletes make an absurd amount of money these days. Just look at the [average salary per sport (opens in a new tab)](http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ycn-10423863) : - **National Basketball Association:** $5.15 million - **Major League Baseball:** $3.31 million - **National Hockey League:** $2.4 million - **National Football League:** $1.9 million Just as the cost of signing these players has skyrocketed, so too has the cost of showing the games on television. > You can’t have these increases year after year without consumers revolting. Last week, following MLB’s $12.4 billion TV rights deal, the American Cable Association (ACA) [decried “insane” sports TV contracts (opens in a new tab)](http://www.americancable.org/node/3779) , saying they are “destroying a business model that once balanced the interests of consumers, pay-TV operators, programmers, and advertisers.” “It’s an unsustainable model,” said Matthew M. Polka, president and CEO of ACA. “The leagues know that the networks will pay for it, and the networks know, if they do pay for it, that they can just turn around like they’ve been doing for a long time and shove it down to cable and satellite companies, and to consumers to pay. … You can’t have these increases year after year without consumers revolting.” In a tight economy, where every dollar matters for many families, a basic cable television package can be a steep expense, and sports programming is playing a large part. [Sports channels account for about 40 percent of cable fees (opens in a new tab)](http://allthingsd.com/20100308/hate-paying-for-cable-heres-the-reason-why/) , and consumers are stuck with the bill whether they watch the programming or not. ESPN, the leading all-sports network, charges roughly $5 per subscriber, per month—the highest single-channel subscriber fee. “You have a significant amount of money over the course of the year that consumers are paying for sports programming that by and large they don’t watch,” said Polka. ACA’s members are small cable companies that provide service in rural areas, and they feeling the pinch from rising sports-package costs. “We have to make those services available to everybody without any choice,” he said. “The networks come to us saying, ‘If you want to receive my popular channel, which we know that you must have in order to compete with other providers in your market, then you’ll take all of these other channels too.’” The cable group has been advocating for an a la carte approach, where cable companies could offer an optional sports tier to customers who are willing to pay for sports programming. ACA has been active in Washington, educating policymakers on the effects of the high costs of sports TV contracts on its members, and in the media, seeing an increase in coverage by the analyst community. Everyone agrees “that there is no way in the long term that the consumer is going to continue to be able to pay for these rising rates on a monthly and annual basis, particularly as leagues ask for more and more, and the sports networks continue to agree to pay more and more,” said Polka. “It’s leading towards the demand for much greater choice for consumers, and we want to help to provide that to them.” (TMG archive photo) [Rob Stott](https://associationsnow.com/author/rob-stott/) Rob Stott is a contributing editor to Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/rob-stott/) Tags: [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/) [#cable TV](https://associationsnow.com/tag/cable-tv/) [#consultants](https://associationsnow.com/tag/consultants/) [#Contracts](https://associationsnow.com/tag/contracts/) [#costs](https://associationsnow.com/tag/costs/) [#industry partners](https://associationsnow.com/tag/industry-partners/) [#Media](https://associationsnow.com/tag/media/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoMessage from Gordon Taylor III, Chief Sales Officer for Destination ClevelandMay 17, 2024](https://associationsnow.com/2024/05/17/message-from-gordon-taylor-iii-chief-sales-officer-for-destination-cleveland/) - [PodcastAssociations NOW Presents: All for the Love of Chicago: Rethinking the Destination ExperienceSeptember 10, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/10/associations-now-presents-all-for-the-love-of-chicago-rethinking-the-destination-experience/) - [VideoExploring New Frontiers: Leadership, Resilience and the Future of SpaceflightAugust 27, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/08/27/exploring-new-frontiers-leadership-resilience-and-the-future-of-spaceflight/) - [PodcastAssociations NOW Presents: Industry Partner Edition-Sponsorships That Deliver Real ValueJuly 9, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/07/09/associations-now-presents-industry-partner-edition-sponsorships-that-deliver-real-value/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2012%2F10%2F10%2Famerican-cable-association-battles-over-sports-tv-contracts%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !