An Ohio Politician Is Trying To Fix College Football's Streaming Problem
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, UNITED STATES - 2023/09/02: The Ohio State Buckeyes football team runs onto the field before an NCAA football game against Indiana University in Bloomington. The Buckeyes beat the Hoosiers 23-3. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
As part of its television agreement with NBC, the Big Ten has been airing and will continue to broadcast some football games exclusively on Peacock, a paid streaming platform.
Last weekend, Ohio State faced Purdue, with the matchup only available on Peacock. Many Buckeye fans were upset, and at least one Ohio state senator is trying to do something about it.
Senator Bill DeMora of Columbus told the Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he intends to introduce a bill to prevent Ohio public colleges and universities from airing sporting events exclusively on streaming services.
"I've heard from a lot of folks that are pissed off that the local bar doesn't have the game or they have to spend X amount of money to buy one football game on this Peacock network so they can watch Ohio State," said DeMora, who wants publicly-funded schools to provide local viewing alternatives for any games to be broadcast on streaming.
Ohio State's game at Purdue was the Buckeyes' first-ever football contest to be aired exclusively on a streaming service. It was also the program's first game since 1997 to not be shown live on linear television, per Eleven Warriors.
It seems unlikely that DeMora's legislation would gain much traction when introduced, especially considering how lucrative NBC's deal with the Big Ten is.
Ohio State beat Purdue last Saturday in its Peacock debut, setting up a battle of the unbeatens against Penn State this week.
