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Earlier this year, several companies battled with and settled with the NFL Network in regards to what a potential customer should be charged for carrying the network. But apparently, the battle is unresolved in the great state of Texas. The Associated Press and ESPN are reporting that cable companies within the state, namely Time-Warner Cable, the largest in Texas, have not come to terms with NFL Network as of yet and are taking their fight to the Texas Legislature. As one would expect, in light of the upcoming game between the Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys game on November 29 (the game will only be shown on NFL Network), this battle is picking up steam.

Here’s the gist of the battle: NFL Network wants to be placed on digital basic cable with all customers paying between 60-70 cents a month for the channel. Time Warner, on the other hand, wants to offer the network on a surcharged sports tier available to subscribers who pay extra for it. The network in return has rejected Time Warner’s offer to let the network charge a fee for the games that would be passed on to the customers.

2 Texas legislators, Corbin Van Arsdale and Senator Kim Brimer, said last week that if the two sides do not reach an agreement as soon as possible, they may introduce consumer-oriented legislation in the 2009 session, with Brimer telling AP, “Cable companies need to focus on giving their customers what they want, which is football.” As with any business, both sides have lobbyists deployed to Austin, TX to plead their cases. Specifically, the network has sent out informational packets to lawmakers last month and the cable companies have bombarded legislators with their side of the story.

It gets better – 5 members of the Texas House have sent letters to the Federal Communication Commission asking them to intercede in this argument. Yet another legislator, Phil King, who carried telecommunications deregulation into law in 2005, has stated that he would consider some proposals to address this specific issue if the 2 sides do not resolve this by the time the Texas Legislature meets again in 2009. He further added, “This could be a very, very big issue, not so much because it’s the NFL Network (but) because it deals with what role the government plays in the content of telecommunications.”

While personally it does not affect me (I subscribe to DIRECTV and have the option of purchasing the Sunday Ticket package), and because Time-Warner Cable isn’t offered in my area of residence, I cannot offer an educated opinion on the NFL Network package that is offered through that cable company. But at first glance, it appears that Time-Warner is offering the network for customers who order the “sports-tier” programming and are charged a fee for individual games from now until the end of the regular season. The NFL Network, it appears, want to charge 60-70 cents per month to have the network on basic digital cable.

I also do not know of specific agreements between the cable companies and NFL Network on an area-to-area basis, but Time-Warner and the network would be well-served if they look at those agreements as soon as possible, because the FCC, being more consumer-oriented these days, do not take too kindly to any “price-gouging”. And a battle such as this – I highly doubt if it goes to arbitration. So a quick resolution would benefit both sides, otherwise this could get very ugly.