PORTLAND, Ore. — Just days ahead of the Oregon Ducks' and Washington Huskies' season opener in the Big Ten, a carriage dispute could mean that Comcast/Xfinity TV customers may miss out.
As of Tuesday morning, Big Ten Network broadcasts of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington games have been blacked out and were not available on Comcast systems in local markets.
So far, only Comcast system customers have reported blackouts of live events airing on the Big Ten Network. If the dispute is not resolved by the weekend, fans can stream Big Ten college football with Fubo, or with DirecTV Stream both for free with a free trial. The games are also available on other major cable and satellite distributors.
A spokesperson for the Big Ten Network issued the following statement:
“The Big Ten Network is proud to present an expanded slate of live sporting events featuring the newest members of the B1G conference, however most Comcast subscribers will not see these games.
"As the one distribution partner that declined to expand along with us, Comcast Xfinity viewers in many areas will not have access to live broadcasts of the highly anticipated inaugural B1G season games for Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.
"If you are an Xfinity subscriber and cannot find the Ducks, Huskies, Bruins or Trojans on the Big Ten Network in your area, please contact 1-800-Comcast or go to ALLBTNGAMES.com.”
KGW reached out to Comcast/Xfinity for comment. A spokesperson responded Tuesday evening with the following statement:
“We’re sensitive to the impact these costs have on our customers and have been in discussions with FOX and The Big Ten Network to find a solution to make certain former Pac-12 games available to the people who want them while not forcing others to pay for content they don’t want to watch. We hope to be able to reach a fair agreement with FOX and the Big Ten Network to be able to offer these games to our customers.”
Subscribers on the West Coast that have paid for the Big Ten Network on a sports tier still have access to events involving the other 14 schools. However, it appears that UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington events are blacked out indefinitely.
