Wisconsin at NIU, 9/17/2011: No TV Coverage
This isn’t supposed to happen. We have our own network. Yet somehow the Badger game this Saturday will be missing from the satellites, airwaves, and cable feeds. It will only be watchable via an online stream. For an IT geek like me that’s not an issue, really; it’s why I have a computer in my living room that’s hooked up to my HDTV. But for a lot of people this will be an issue. Sure, most people have Internet, but most people don’t know how to hook up their computer to their TV. (Someday we’ll get there, but not quite yet). It also poses a real challenge for our alumni chapter of which I’m a board member, or anyone who wants to watch the game at a bar/restaurant. If we want to watch the game at our sponsor bar I will have to haul in one of my computers that can output to component video because that’s what the AV feed in their bar connects to. (Most computers do not output to component video natively and unless a bar has a really recent AV installation they probably do not have HDMI driving their system). It’s all doable, but really kind of a pain in the neck. I’ve been told that the BTN doesn’t cover games outside of Big Ten venues. (If that’s true they won’t be anywhere near the Big Ten championship game later this year). I’ve also been told that since we’re visiting a MAC opponent they have control over the TV coverage and have declined any for this game. This doesn’t make sense to me. Why go to the effort to schedule a game at Soldier Field if you don’t want anyone to see it? To drive ticket sales? That’s all well and good except that there are an awful lot of people who’d like to see this game that don’t live close enough to buy tickets.
If you’d like to contact the powers that be regarding this, here you go:
http://btn.com/about/contact-us/
http://www.mac-sports.com/MAC/StaffDirectory.aspx
http://www.uwbadgers.com/athletic-dept/contact.html
*EDIT* – ESPN has the TV rights for this game. Let them know how you feel about it only being available online.