Nexstar-DirecTV Dispute Jeopardizes Panthers Fans Ability To Watch Season Opener

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bar owners are scrambling to figure out how to show the Carolina Panthers season opener on Sunday.

A contract dispute between DirecTV and the massive media company Nexstar Media Group has spilled over to the Queen City. It’s leaving employees and fans wondering if they’ll be able to watch the game.

“If we would lose it, it would be like 80% of our business because people want to come in and see the game,” said April Turner of potentially not having the Panthers game on at her bar.

Turner is the GM at Ten58 Sports Bar & Lounge. It’s a fairly new sports bar in Uptown owned by Panthers legend, Thomas Davis.

Ten58 and pretty much every bar in our viewing area are in the same boat. Figuring how to show the week one Panthers game.

“Some of the other bars, the owners I’m friends with, and they tell us that they can’t get the game at all,” explained Turner.

It’s a result of a stalled contract negotiation between Nexstar Media Group and DirecTV. The contract ended with no agreement so DirecTV no longer carries the channels that Nexstar owns. In this case, Nexstar owns the local FOX station scheduled to carry the Panthers-Falcons game this week.

“They call every day. They call every day and ask are we gonna be able to show the game,” Turner said of her customers.

A DirecTV spokesperson tells WCCB:

“We’d actually hoped to avoid any of this by offering to extend our current contract with Nexstar – the owner of WJZY-FOX in Charlotte – through the end of the football season so none of the fans would be bothered. That’s been rejected, but we’re in active talks with Nexstar toward a resolution.”

Several bars tell us they have figured out a plan to show the game on some of the TVs by using their streaming devices. Same goes for Ten58.

“I will at least have it on three TVs, including our big TV right here,” said Turner.

Nexstar Media Group did not return our request for comment.