UPDATE: Most customers who purchased The Match for $19.99 will now be refunded. That includes all customers who purchases the B/R Live stream on Bleacher Report’s website, as well as anyone who purchased the event through the following cable providers: Carriers Comcast, Charter Spectrum, Cox Communications, Dish/Sling TV and AT&T.
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After a technical glitch during the Tiger vs. Phil match forced Turner’s Bleacher Report to allow users to watch for free, cable carrier Comcast is now offering a credit to its customers who paid for the event, and they’re asking Turner to do the same.
The company released a statement on Friday night following the glitch that affected many users trying to watch The Match.
“Comcast will proactively issue a $19.99 credit to any Xfinity TV customer who purchased ‘The Match’ pay-per-view event. We hope Turner and Bleacher Report will do the same given that the event was made available by them for free on The Bleacher Report website.”
The success of the made-for-TV grudge match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson nearly went off the rails from the start thanks to the malfunction in question. Some users purchased the pay-per-view event on Bleacher Report’s website for $19.99, only to find that they were barred from viewing it. When the issue arose, Turner and Bleacher Report acted quickly. They decided to offer the website stream for free and forgo the $19.99 charge.
While these concessions solved the problem and allowed online viewers to follow the event, the move also raised some new questions, such as what would happen to the cable customers who actually paid to watch?
Now we know that at least Xfinity customers will receive a form a payback in credits. It’s important to note that if Turner were to go along with Comcast’s wishes and refund all viewers the $19.99, that means they would also be forgoing all pay-per-view revenue from the very expensive event.
It’s been reported that they had to fork over millions to secure the rights to The Match, not to mention the $9 million in prize money won by Mickelson.
UPDATE: According to a tweet by Darren Rovell of ESPN, cable carrier Spectrum will also offer refund credits for any customer who purchased The Match for $19.99.
JUST IN: Spectrum says they will credit their customers who paid $19.99 for Tiger vs Phil after Bleacher Report Live stream decided to give “The Match” to consumers for free. No word from parent company Turner as to whether they will issue refunds to those who paid for streaming.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 24, 2018
