30 Reasons for 30 Days - Day 24: BTN and TV Deals

From now through September 3rd, I am posting a daily reason why it is great to be a fan of Rutgers football. There are a lot more than thirty, but I picked my thirty reasons, and hope you like them. If not, be sure to let me know.

The Big Ten Network is the first of the conference networks, and provides what all other of the networks aspire. It is omnipresent in the conference footprint, and available all over the country. It provides conference content on a 24/7 basis, and ensures that any alum from any B1G school can watch events, get the latest news, and find out about academic, cultural, and even hobbies. I even watch Big Ten Treasure Hunter, though I am hardly alone. Fellow staff writer Bob Cancro (@scarknight) has written several articles about the show. It is kind of like The History Channel’s American Pickers, but with a focus on Big Ten memorabilia.

Full disclosure, I live far beyond the regular Big Ten footprint, a hour or so from ACC newbie and former Big East rival Syracuse. I’d like you to think that I see lots of Syracuse fans that look like this:

Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images

Actually, they look more like this, and they are everywhere:

Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

However, I am now able to see every Rutgers game thanks to the deals the conference has with Fox, ESPN, and BTN (I know, that’s also a deal with Fox, but it’s different, OK?) Prior to the move to our new conference home, I spent many Saturdays in the fall listening to games over the internet utilizing the WCTC website. If it wasn’t for that, I’d only be live at one or maybe two games a year, and those were on ESPN News or the local cable provider’s channel when they played Syracuse.

Boy, is it a lot better now! I never wonder IF I can watch a game now, it is only WHERE I can watch a game. They are ALL on TV, as are many of our basketball games, baseball, softball, soccer. I don’t know that my wife is that thrilled with BTN/BTN2go/BTN Plus, but I sure am. She is thrilled that we have more than one television in the house, to be honest. With those networks, I can look at the schedule and see what is on. For example, this coming Saturday I can watch this:

Also, I get to see analysis of our team, interviews with coaches, etc. That was simply nowhere to be found in either the Big East OR the AAC.

So, our Day 24 reason why it is great to be a Rutgers fan is BTN and the Big Ten TV deals. How about that, I got through the entire article on television and TV rights without ONCE talking about TV money! Oh damn, I just did...