After almost six years, the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche are back on Comcast.
Altitude Sports and Comcast have reached a new carriage agreement, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment announced Tuesday, ending a bitter contract dispute that caused local blackouts of Nuggets and Avalanche games dating back to September 2019.
Since then, both teams have won championships in their respective leagues, signifying a golden era of professional sports in Colorado, where Comcast is the largest cable provider.
Altitude, the Kroenke-owned regional sports network that broadcasts Denver’s NHL and NBA franchises, will begin airing on Comcast’s Xfinity cable service Tuesday evening, when the Avs play the Vancouver Canucks.
“We owe an apology to our staff, to our players, to our coaches, to our front office, and most importantly to our fans,” Kevin Demoff, KSE president of team and media operations, said during a Tuesday morning news conference at Ball Arena. “Every game we missed this year was a game too many.”
Demoff, who already worked closely with team owner Stan Kroenke as president of the Los Angeles Rams, took over Altitude oversight in March 2024, inheriting the Comcast stalemate after Matt Hutchings resigned from KSE the previous month.
“When I stood up here a year ago and promised that we would get these teams back on the air,” Demoff said, “I thought it would be quicker.”
In an attempt to navigate around the standoff, Demoff helped KSE launch a streaming platform called Altitude+ last October, selling subscriptions for $19.95 per month. In addition, 20 Nuggets games and 20 Avalanche games are being televised over the air this season on My20 (KTVD-20), with 10 of those games also appearing on KUSA-9, the Denver-area NBC affiliate.
Now with the renewed Comcast agreement, Altitude will also be available on Xfinity’s “More Sports and Entertainment” add-on package, which currently costs $9.99 but will increase to $15.95 on April 8. The package also includes CBS Sports, ESPNU, Big Ten Network, ESPNews, MLB Network, NFL Network and NHL Network. Altitude will be on channel 1250.
Neither KSE nor Comcast disclosed when the new contract ends. Demoff, asked when the two sides will have to enter into negotiations again, said, “I hope that (fans) never feel this pain again.”
Kevin Demoff, President of Team & Media Operations for Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, speaks during a press conference at Ball Arena in Denver on Feb. 4, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Demoff credited Denver Mayor Mike Johnston for his persistence in urging on negotiations. Johnston, who attended Tuesday’s news conference wearing a Nikola Jokic jersey, described the multiyear blackout as a “tragedy.”
“We’ve been working on just to bring everybody to the table,” Johnston said. “So I was doing a lot of shuttle diplomacy back and forth. Sometimes it was when I was at a game here, running down one hall to talk to the Comcast folks then back down to talk to Kroenke people. Keeping them at the table and just keeping them focused on how important this was for fans.”
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston talks with members of the media at Ball Arena in Denver on Feb. 4, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Colorado Governor Jared Polis also weighed in on the resolved dispute with a statement Tuesday, saying: “After far too long a wait, Comcast and Altitude are finally putting Coloradans first, allowing us to watch our world-class Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche. This means that more Colorado fans and kids can grow up watching the greatness of players like Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Nathan McKinnon, Cale Makar and many others without their families jumping through hoops.”
Jokic has won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award three times in the last four seasons while the contract dispute was ongoing. MacKinnon won the NHL’s Hart Trophy last year, marking the second time in NBA and NHL history that both MVP winners have played in the same city. Magic Johnson and Wayne Gretzky accomplished the feat in 1989 while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and Kings.
“This is an incredible day for Denver sports fans. … It is an absolute gift to be able to watch some of the greatest athletes in sports history playing in your hometown every night,” Johnston said. “Sometimes it is just 30 minutes when you’re washing dishes or 30 minutes when you’re doing homework with the kids. … You might have missed some of the last five seasons, but there’s plenty of great play coming.”
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Originally Published: February 4, 2025 at 10:51 AM MST