Wcha 24 25

[BadgerPete]

A note of 'warning' for WCHA fans:

On the bracket for the tournament at NCAA.com, there's a note at the bottom that says "all games will be on ESPN+". It has certainly been the case the last couple years that first round and quarterfinal games - those game this coming weekend - have been streamed by the service of the home team. That is, one would expect that games this weekend at Wisconsin and Minnesota and Ohio State would be streamed on BTN-Plus. But that may not be the case.

Stay tuned...

ESPN as part of their contract to put on NCAA tournaments has right of first refusal to put the games on their platforms, but if they decide not to show any the broadcast reverts to the hosting team and whatever decision making they would use,

 

[robertearle]

ESPN as part of their contract to put on NCAA tournaments has right of first refusal to put the games on their platforms, but if they decide not to show any the broadcast reverts to the hosting team and whatever decision making they would use,

Is that new?

Because I am quite certain - and one can look in the BTN-Plus archive and see - that first rounds and quarterfinals over the past few years played at WCHA sites have been on BTN-Plus

 

[BadgerPete]

Is that new?

Because I am quite certain - and one can look in the BTN-Plus archive and see - that first rounds and quarterfinals over the past few years played at WCHA sites have been on BTN-Plus

It is not new, but ESPN+ used to be much less voracious when it came to scooping up all the content it possibly could. Heck, the 2019 Championship game was on BTN firstly because ESPN couldn't be bothered to televise it.

 

[robertearle]

It is not new, but ESPN+ used to be much less voracious when it came to scooping up all the content it possibly could. Heck, the 2019 Championship game was on BTN firstly because ESPN couldn't be bothered to televise it.

Not the case for 2019. Starting in 2017, BTN had contracted for the rights for four years (though, of course 2020 didn't happen)

(The all Big Ten 2019 final made up some for the 2018 final, which had BTN televising Colgate vs Clarkson. LOL)

Women's Frozen Four to air on Big Ten Network

The NCAA and Big Ten Network announced today they have reached a four-year agreement to broadcast the Women’s Frozen Four on BTN.

www.ncaa.com

 

[BadgerPete]

Found the appropriate passage:

NCAA Conference/Institution (Campus) Television Networks / Regional Sports Networks (RSN) / Local Television Stations Rights. For championship rounds that do not have predetermined national television (i.e., Turner/CBS, ESPN, and Golf Channel) coverage or, if Turner/CBS, ESPN, or the Golf Channel decides to NOT activate their rights, the NCAA has the right to grant/sell those commercial / noncommercial television broadcast rights to any network, if it so chooses.

We also might be in the "silent blackout"
NCAA SILENT BLACKOUT POLICY. The NCAA does not implement local blackouts for NCAA championships; however, a "silent" blackout may be implemented until 24 hours prior to the start of the televised championship event for regions within a 50-mile radius of the event. A "silent" blackout restricts the television station from announcing that it has obtained the rights or promoting the broadcast on any medium (e.g., newspapers, television, radio, and Internet). If the "silent" blackout is broken, the NCAA maintains the right to cancel the broadcast. The blackout policy does not apply to Turner, CBS, ESPN, or the Golf Channel telecasts.

 

[robertearle]

Found the appropriate passage:

NCAA Conference/Institution (Campus) Television Networks / Regional Sports Networks (RSN) / Local Television Stations Rights. For championship rounds that do not have predetermined national television (i.e., Turner/CBS, ESPN, and Golf Channel) coverage or, if Turner/CBS, ESPN, or the Golf Channel decides to NOT activate their rights, the NCAA has the right to grant/sell those commercial / noncommercial television broadcast rights to any network, if it so chooses.

We also might be in the "silent blackout"
NCAA SILENT BLACKOUT POLICY. The NCAA does not implement local blackouts for NCAA championships; however, a "silent" blackout may be implemented until 24 hours prior to the start of the televised championship event for regions within a 50-mile radius of the event. A "silent" blackout restricts the television station from announcing that it has obtained the rights or promoting the broadcast on any medium (e.g., newspapers, television, radio, and Internet). If the "silent" blackout is broken, the NCAA maintains the right to cancel the broadcast. The blackout policy does not apply to Turner, CBS, ESPN, or the Golf Channel telecasts.

The new question here is "does that apply to women's hockey? Because it seems much more general."

The old question is "is this new? Because, again, I am 100% certain that since 2021, first round and quarterfinal games have been streamed by the streaming service of the team hosting the game."

Just to triple check myself, I went into the BTN-Plus archive today, and pulled up the video of the March 10th, 2022 game between Quinnipiac and Syracuse. Why was that game being streamed on BTN-Plus? Because it was being played at Ohio State.

Contrast that with 2023, when Wisconsin had to travel to Colgate for the quarterfinals. That game WAS streamed on ESPN-Plus, because that was the ECAC streaming service. (I have the video of the game here on my PC, and just triple-checked that.)

I find it VERY hard to believe - given the extraordinary amount of stuff ESPN-Plus streams on a daily basis - that ESPN had the rights to first-round and quarterfinal games hosted at WCHA sites, but didn't want to bother, and so let BTN-Plus have them.

(And broadcast 'blackouts' have nothing to do with this. We're not talking about televised games; just streamed games.)

 

[BadgerPete]

The new question here is "does that apply to women's hockey? Because it seems much more general."

The old question is "is this new? Because, again, I am 100% certain that since 2021, first round and quarterfinal games have been streamed by the streaming service of the team hosting the game."

Just to triple check myself, I went into the BTN-Plus archive today, and pulled up the video of the March 10th, 2022 game between Quinnipiac and Syracuse. Why was that game being streamed on BTN-Plus? Because it was being played at Ohio State.

I find it VERY hard to believe - given the extraordinary amount of stuff ESPN-Plus streams on a daily basis - that ESPN had the rights to first-round and quarterfinal games hosted at WCHA sites, but didn't want to bother, and so let BTN-Plus have them.

(And broadcast 'blackouts' have nothing to do with this. We're not talking about televised games; just streamed games.)

Men's championships included in the agreement include soccer, football (non-Football Bowl Subdivision), cross country, water polo, indoor and outdoor track and field, swimming and diving, wrestling, ice hockey, gymnastics, fencing, volleyball, lacrosse, tennis, baseball and Division II and III basketball (other than the Division II title game).

Women's championships included are soccer, field hockey, all divisions of volleyball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, swimming and diving, all divisions of basketball, ice hockey, bowling, gymnastics, fencing, beach volleyball, lacrosse, tennis, softball and water polo.

Feel free to try and correct me more on your own time but this is like the fifth time you've gotten in a pointless back and forth with me so I'm going for a bike ride instead.

 

[robertearle]

Men's championships included in the agreement include soccer, football (non-Football Bowl Subdivision), cross country, water polo, indoor and outdoor track and field, swimming and diving, wrestling, ice hockey, gymnastics, fencing, volleyball, lacrosse, tennis, baseball and Division II and III basketball (other than the Division II title game).

Women's championships included are soccer, field hockey, all divisions of volleyball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, swimming and diving, all divisions of basketball, ice hockey, bowling, gymnastics, fencing, beach volleyball, lacrosse, tennis, softball and water polo.

Feel free to try and correct me more on your own time but this is like the fifth time you've gotten in a pointless back and forth with me so I'm going for a bike ride instead.

Is it new? Is there a date on "the agreement"? Can you post a link to "the agreement"?

Because what you are describing is simply not the way it has been for the last four years.

The four-year deal to put the NCAA WH final four on BTN ran from 2017 through 2020. We are now four years on from that, so maybe the most recent four years were under a contact that has expired, and a new set of 'rules' kicks in for 2025; that is to say, maybe this is "new".

But once more, the idea that over the last four years, ESPN has had the rights but just didn't want to bother to pick up the streams is plainly ridiculous.

-------------------

Here is the 2022 version of what I assume you mean by "the agreement", for the 2022-23 year. Page 5 clearly states that it applies ONLY to the semifinals and finals of WH.

https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/files/Television%20Rights%20Overview_0.pdf

And here is a NEW agreement that takes effect for 2025 winter sports; where the rules for WH have indeed changed.

This is indeed "new". As I was guessing.

https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/images/2025/02/20/Updated_2025_NCAA%20Winter%20Championships%20Broadcast%20Rights%20Bid%20Memo.pdf

 

[robertearle]

I was watching Wisconsin playing in the Big Ten men's basketball tournament just now, and they pitched a discount of half off for annual subscriptions for BTN-Plus.

So I went to my BTN-Plus account, went to the subscriptions page, which showed my renewal payment isn't due until August, at $90 for the all-access plan. I typed in the discount code, "ANNUAL25", and it accepted it and apparently applied it to my next renewal; the price on the page dropped from $90 to $45.

If you're a subscriber, go give it a look. Half-off your next renewal.

(I checked my credit card account, and it didn't charge the renewal, so that must come at the August renewal date.)

 

[Windchill22]

I was watching Wisconsin playing in the Big Ten men's basketball tournament just now, and they pitched a discount of half off for annual subscriptions for BTN-Plus.

So I went to my BTN-Plus account, went to the subscriptions page, which showed my renewal payment isn't due until August, at $90 for the all-access plan. I typed in the discount code, "ANNUAL25", and it accepted it and apparently applied it to my next renewal; the price on the page dropped from $90 to $45.

If you're a subscriber, go give it a look. Half-off your next renewal.

(I checked my credit card account, and it didn't charge the renewal, so that must come at the August renewal date.)

Just did this for my account too - I have a December Renewal, but it dropped it down to 50% off! Thanks for the tip!