The building excitement over the start of college football season will be decidedly muted this weekend for Big Ten fans in some West Coast markets. The San Jose Mercury News was first to report that Comcast cable customers in select markets were no longer able to access the Big Ten Network, as a carriage dispute has knocked it off the air. The two sides have just days left before fans miss their favorite team’s first game of the season, but Comcast has a track record of refusing to budge in these situations.

Key Details:

• The Idaho vs. Oregon and Weber State vs. Washington games on Big Ten Network are threatened by this channel blackout.
• Customers in parts of California are also affected by the dispute.
• Big Ten Network is available on streamers like Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and DIRECTV STREAM.

The carriage dispute between Comcast and Big Ten Network will sound familiar to those who have followed the cabler’s history in negotiations with sports channels. Comcast wants to house Big Ten Network on a higher-priced service tier instead of its base package going forward, so it does not have to force customers who don’t watch the channel to pay for it anyway.

BTN is, of course, not too keen on this idea, as a higher-priced tier means fewer viewers and less revenue coming in. The blackout is affecting customers in the viewing markets of the Oregon Ducks, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans, and Washington Huskies.

That means that this weekend’s home openers for the Ducks and Huskies could be threatened by the blackout. The Ducks play the Idaho Vandals on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET, while the Huskies face the Weber State Wildcats at 11 p.m. ET. Unless the dispute is solved before then, Comcast customers in the home markets of these schools might be out of luck.

Comcast is known for holding firm in disputes like this. The cabler recently endured a similar blackout of Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks, until the channels’ owner, Diamond Sports Group, agreed to allow the channels to be moved to the Xfinity TV Ultimate plan instead of remaining in its base package. That carriage dispute took three months to resolve.

Where Else Can You Stream Big Ten Network?

If this carriage dispute has you willing to call it quits with Comcast, or if you’re simply desperate for an alternative to stream the first weekend of the 2024 college football season on the Big Ten Network, there are a few good options for watching the channel that allow you to start streaming right away.

There are a number of options to stream BTN, but figuring out which one is best for you might depend on how long you think the dispute will last. If you feel confident that Comcast and Fox, BTN’s primary owner, can come to a resolution that only impacts one week’s worth of games, then there are a handful of options that come with free trials.

However, if the blackout has a timetable similar to the one with Diamond Sports Group, then the cheapest way to stream Big Ten Network for multiple weeks is Sling TV. You’ll have to grab the Sports Extra add-on pack in addition to a base plan to watch BTN with Sling, but with its 50% off your first month offer the total of that bundle will be just $31. Of course, you can go all-in on Sling for the entirety of the college football season with the Sling Season Pass, which will get you both the Sling Orange and Blue plans plus the Sports Extra package for four months. All of that college football content will cost just $199, a $92 savings over Sling's already low prices.

Other streamers are offering their own fantastic, limited-time deals for new customers. DIRECTV STREAM plans are starting at as little as $49.99 per month currently after a five-day free trial, though you’ll need the $15-monthly Sports add-on channel pack to watch BTN with your subscription.

Fubo is offering $30 per month off for your first month of service, and though each plan comes with a regional sports network fee for most customers, Big Ten Network comes with the base Pro plan on this streamer, meaning no add-ons are required to watch.

Hulu + Live TV does not come with a big discount at the moment, though it does offer a three-day free trial. BTN is included in the base package of this streamer as well, and subscribers will get access to more college football on ESPN+ since Hulu + Live TV includes the Disney Bundle for subscribers at the $76.99 per month level and up.

YouTube TV is offering all new customers $20 off their first four months of service, lowering the price to just $52.99. Like Hulu + Live TV and Fubo, YouTube TV offers BTN in its base channel package.