Sorry, Padres Fans: Your Cable Company Just Screwed You

Heading into this season, one bright spot for San Diego Padres fans—and this is really a stretch—is the arrival of a spanking new regional cable network from Fox Sports. And a new network means a new round of exciting negotiations with each cable TV and satellite provider. Good news is, if you're a San Diegan with Cox Communications or DirecTV, you're golden.

But if you're with AT&T or Time Warner Cable, which alone has over 200,000 customers in the area, you probably won't be getting any sweet Petco Park action for the home opener next Thursday night, because negotiations broke down tonight between the two camps.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal has the full statement from FS San Diego:

"Despite our best efforts, we do not expect to have an agreement with Time Warner and AT&T by Opening Day.

"We have offered Time Warner and AT&T very fair rates that are consistent with the terms that Cox and DIRECTV have agreed to. Time Warner has not even responded to our most recent proposal.

"Unfortunately for Padres fans who subscribe to Time Warner and AT&T, they should explore alternatives for watching the Padres on Opening Day."

Here's a handy bar directory for those so inclined. I'm sure one of them will have the game on.

FSSD pessimistic about deal with Time Warner, AT&T [U-T San Diego]