Football fans across Massachusetts gathered around to watch the Patriots-Jets game at home Sunday afternoon – except for Verizon Fios customers, who were left scrambling due to the ongoing contract dispute still blacking out local Fox channels.

On Dec. 15, Verizon Fios officially cut Boston 25 and local Fox channels from their lineup as the current contract expired, due to a dispute over negotiations to extend a new carriage agreement for the local channels with the owner Cox Media.

Customers of Verizon Fios in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, have lost access to the Fox channels for over a week, missing their first Patriots game Sunday. On the Boston 25 channel, the viewers are greeted by the message, “We appreciate your patience as we continue to negotiate reasonable pricing on your behalf and hope Cox will restore its channels to our lineup soon.”

“VERIZON/FiOS Network pulled Boston 25/WFXT from its lineup, depriving you of your favorite programming,” a message on the Boston 25 site states, encouraging customers to call their provider. “That means no sports, local news, weather, traffic, or the shows you love on Boston 25/WFXT.”

“Boston 25 is proud of our commitment to investing in high-quality local news and investigative journalism,” said Todd Brown, Boston 25 vice president and general manager. “The latest actions of Verizon/Fios threaten those investments and hurt consumers who rely on us for local news, weather, and a robust slate of sports and other popular entertainment programming.”

Boston 25 said in a statement after Dec.15 that they continue to “work in good faith to try to negotiate a new retransmission consent agreement with Verizon/Fios.”

Verizon Fios said in a statement Sunday they also “were engaged in weeks of intensive negotiations with Cox Media Group prior to our agreement expiring and continue to negotiate in good faith.”

“While we are committed to reaching a new agreement that is fair and prevents our customers’ bills from increasing unreasonably, Cox is more focused on their own financial gain at the expense of the viewing public,” a Verizon Fios spokesperson said. “Despite our exhaustive efforts, they continue to demand rate increases and other terms that are neither reasonable nor fair to the families we serve.”

The carrier said Cox’s position contrasts with other partners with which they’ve reached recent agreements, and noted they “appreciate our customers’ patience.”

The coverage gap comes as the channel is set to air a lineup of NFL games, college matchups as the playoffs approach, NBA games and more, Boston 25 stated.

Brown said the telecom company is “set to get even bigger through acquisition,” accusing Verizon of “holding its own customers hostage.”

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Boston 25 did not respond to inquiries about current negotiations as of Sunday afternoon.

The local company encourage customers to call Verizon Fios at 1-800-837-4966 to request to keep the channel in the lineup or switch carriers to DirectTV, Comcast/Xfinity or Dish Network to avoid disruption.

Verizon Fios directed customers to the site verizon.com/cox for more information and options like Fox One and Peacock during the disruption.