The NFL Network has been off the air on Comcast's Xfinity systems for five days now, and the silence is getting louder. At the heart of the standoff is a new carriage agreement with Disney, which recently took the reins as the network's owner. According to a report from Austin Karp in Sports Business Journal, two key issues are keeping both sides from the negotiating table.

First up, Comcast wants guarantees that the NFL Network will keep its seven exclusive games each season for the entire length of any new deal. These games are the network's crown jewels—the reason distributors like Comcast pay top dollar. Without them, the NFL Network risks becoming just another background channel, offering highlights and analysis but missing the live-action spark that fans crave. Under the league's ownership, the seven-game slate was a given, but with Disney in charge, there's a real chance those games could eventually migrate to ESPN or ABC. For now, next season is safe—Karp confirms the network will have its usual seven games—but Disney hasn't committed to that number for the long haul.

The second sticking point is all about where the channel lives on your TV. In recent years, Comcast has bumped the NFL Network to pricier, higher-tier packages, which means fewer subscribers get it—and the cable giant pays lower per-subscriber fees to Disney. But Disney wants the network back on a more basic tier, where more viewers can access it. This tug-of-war over tiering is a familiar play in sports carriage disputes, as providers try to keep costs down for their customers while networks push for wider reach.

For now, the ball is in both sides' courts, and fans are left waiting. Whether the NFL Network stays a must-have channel or shifts into a new role under Disney remains the big question.