The people here in Connecticut are still steaming over the fact that they couldn’t watch the last 2 UConn football games on TV. The reason…… Comcast controls the state (and many others) and the cable company won’t put ESPNU on its lineup. As a college sports fan, I think this battle will get uglier as the hoops season rolls along. UConn’s AD Jeff Hathaway has issued a much reported rebuke to ESPN for putting UConn football on the U. He said that Comcast, with 21.6 million customers nationwide is not allowing recruits around the nation to see (and possibly choose) UConn. I recently spent 10 days in Indiana and Illinois and heard the same complaining there as well. Comcast controls Connecticut, Chicago, Philadelphia and the D.C. area. DePaul fans are screaming about the number of games the Demons have been relegated to on the U channel. I know this is a basketball board but lets look at what ESPN has done to force fans in these areas to pressure Comcast to make an agreement with the sports giant.

In football, Louisville - Murray State, Syracuse-Illinois, UConn-Pitt, Louisville-NC State, Pitt-Virginia, USF-FAU, USF-UCF, UConn-Virginia, Louisville-Cincinnati, Syracuse-Buffalo, UConn-Rutgers, UConn-Cincinnati, Louisville-USF, and Syracuse-Cincinnati have been shown on ESPNU. Granted, some of these games are minor contests but Louisville, USF, Cincinnati and UConn have been targeted.

The basketball schedule is even more interesting. UConn’s first two games were on the U. Later in the season, the UConn-ND game and UConn-DePaul game are both being shown only on ESPNU. Syracuse- Siena, Providence’s games in Puerto Rico including their opener vs. Temple are on the U. Other early season clashes Pitt-Duquesne and Villanova-Temple, both in city rivalries have been scheduled for ESPNU. Seton Hall- NC State, Villanova- LaSalle, and Pitt- Lafayette are U games. Once the BE schedule begins there are some marquee games on the U. Among these are DePaul-Georgetown, Villanova-Cincinnati, WVA-Syracuse, ND-Cincinnati, DePaul-Villanova, DePaul- Rutgers, Villanova-Rutgers, DePaul-Marquette, Villanova-Pitt, DePaul-USF, Villanova-Seton Hall, DePaul-Louisville, UConn-Notre Dame, DePaul-UConn. Cincinnati-USF, Georgetown-St. John’s, and Cincinnati-Providence. It’s obvious that ESPN is targeting Villanova, DePaul and UConn to put pressure an Comcast to settle. I know that Comcast has the South Bend market also. Rutgers and Seton Hall are in Comcast territory as well.

The comments from the two camps are interesting. ESPN says that they are in negotiations and hope to be put on Comcast soon. Comcast says they have NO PLANS to put ESPNU on and that fans should be happy with what they’ve got now. In my conversations with an employee high up at ESPN, he said that Comcast is hardballing ESPN. ESPN is using the argument that they want the station on. Comcast is insisting that the U not be put on a sports tier. But Directv has ESPNU on their pay-extra sports tier. Don’t know about other cable companies but I doubt that they put the U channel on basic.

There is another twist here. The BE women’s tournament has the quarter finals and semis on ESPNU. Here in CT, the ladies are as popular as the men’s team. Especially with the senior citizens and women. Wait until they find out that they have to go to a sports bar to watch their “girls”. I guess it’s time to get out a saw and climb that tree that is blocking my Directv signal.

Categories: Commentary, Universities, Coach O