UPDATE (Wednesday, 6:06 p.m.): The NFL and NFL Network issued a press release Wednesday afternoon explaining its position in the dispute with AT&T.

While the NFL remains committed to negotiating renewed agreements on fair and equitable terms, AT&T has not been willing to actively engage.

We have a long history of working with our distribution partners to come to fair agreements. That said, in order to come to an agreement there must be a willingness to communicate, to exchange proposals, to sit down and negotiate. Unfortunately, as it pertains to AT&T, we never heard a word from them until NFL Network and NFL RedZone were pulled from the AT&T U-Verse and DTV Now services. We’re disappointed for all our fans who will miss out on upcoming events such as tonight’s schedule release show and next week’s NFL Draft where NFL Network will have exclusive behind-the-scenes access with a record 23 war room cameras at team facilities – including the No. 1 Selection, Arizona Cardinals.

The first round of the 2019 NFL Draft is in eight days. When the Arizona Cardinals go on the clock with the No. 1 pick, viewers watching on AT&T’s U-Verse and DirecTV Now could be left in the dark. That’s because those providers no longer have access to NFL Network.

AT&T’s web site has a statement to explain its side of the dispute:

To our U-verse TV and DIRECTV NOW customers:

Our rights to provide the NFL Network in your TV lineup have expired. We’re sorry for any inconvenience.

The NFL Network and RED ZONE CHANNEL® remain available to all fans on DIRECTV.* However, as we continue to manage content costs, we could not reach an agreement with the NFL to continue to carry their channels on U-verse TV and DIRECTV NOW.

Part of the problem could be the NFL’s deal with AT&T for the Sunday Ticket package on DirecTV. Per Bloomberg:

The National Football League’s Sunday Ticket package of out-of-town games may have finally outgrown its quarter-century exclusive with AT&T Inc.’s DirecTV, at least that’s what Commissioner Roger Goodell says as he looks to expand into the digital frontier. Though the league still has a good relationship with DirecTV, it’s considering splitting up the rights to make games more widely available now that people don’t only watch at home, Goodell said Friday in an interview. “We’re having great discussions with DirecTV and AT&T,” Goodell said. “We’ve had a 25-year partnership and we want to continue that partnership, but we also are looking to see how we can change the delivery.”

According to Awful Announcing, the NFL is “committed to having Sunday Ticket appear exclusively on DirecTV for the 2019-20 NFL season.” However, after the upcoming season, the NFL can opt out of the Sunday Ticket deal.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.