Broadcasting Michigan State-Washington Exclusively On Peacock Is Blasphemous

Not a fan of this new Big Ten TV deal, so far. Thanks, Kevin Warren...

Author:
Matthew Lounsberry
Publish date:
May 31, 2023 4:54 PM EDT

In this story:

The Big Ten Conference's new television deal, thrown hastily together by departed commissioner Kevin Warren, is screwing over its intended audience — the fans.

On Wednesday, we learned that Michigan State Football's Week 3 home game against Washington, a team expected to rank in the Top 15 at worst in the preseason, will be broadcast exclusively on NBC's streaming service, Peacock.

That means MSU fans who don't want to pay a $4.99 per month, or $49.99 per year, subscription cost won't be able to watch the game at home. It also means fans won't be able to watch the game from their favorite game day local bar or restaurant, unless that establishment has a Peacock subscription.

In what universe does it make sense to make games harder for your intended viewing audience to find? NBC is doing this for one reason — to drive up subscriptions for its streaming service.

Look, I'm about as pro-capitalism as they come. NBC is trying to make an extra buck. What else should we expect? But, I'm also a staunch traditionalist and purist when it comes to college football, and putting a game like Michigan State-Washington — in a Week 3 that doesn't feature many marquee matchups — exclusively on a streaming service with a 5 p.m. EST kickoff is blasphemous.

I'd argue that Michigan State-Washington is the most intriguing Big Ten game of Week 3. You can make a strong argument for Penn State-Illinois, which will kickoff at noon on FOX, but how does MSU-UW end up on exclusively on a streaming service?

It's been established that the primetime night game window is going to be NBC's niche in this new television deal for the Big Ten. FOX has "Big Noon Kickoff" as its premier game, and will broadcast other notable Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 games in other time slots. CBS will likely get first choice for their 3:30 time slot, which has traditionally been an SEC game but will now feature the Big Ten.

NBC will broadcast Syracuse at Purdue at 7:30 p.m. in Week 3. Why? Was Michigan State-Washington not eligible for that time slot?

Maybe it's because Michigan State is already slotted to play night games at Ohio State (Week 11) and against Penn State on Black Friday at Ford Field (Week 13) on NBC. Maybe MSU's athletic department bucked at the idea of having to play another night game? I don't know the reason. But it's a disservice to the fans that this game wouldn't at least be viewable on Big Ten Network. I know that has to do with the fact that BTN is owned by FOX, and they're a competitor of NBC's. But there has to be a better solution than the one we ended up with.

I won't pretend to know exactly how television schedules are negotiated on a week to week basis, in terms of who gets to broadcast which game, and why/when a broadcast company chooses a start time. I have a basic understanding of how it works,

My best guess is that FOX got first choice chose Penn State-Illinois. That's understandable given the viewing audience that the Nittany Lions routinely draw. CBS has the rights to broadcast SEC games for one more season, and they'll broadcast BYU at Arkansas at 3:30 p.m. that week. That brings us to NBC, who likely chose Michigan State-Washington but couldn't broadcast it at 7:30...apparently? Instead, it'll be Syracuse-Purdue that evening.

Whatever reason, Michigan State, Washington and fans who enjoy all of college football ended up on the short end of stick.

In addition to learning the kickoff and broadcast details for the Washington game, we also now know the broadcaster for two more Michigan State football games. The Spartans' season-opener against Central Michigan will kickoff at 7 p.m. and be broadcast on FS1, and Week 2's Richmond game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. and will be carried by Big Ten Network.

We've also learned that Week 4's home game against Maryland will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and Week 7's road game at Rutgers kicks off at noon, but no television broadcaster has been announced yet for either game.