The start of college football season is a key time for cable carriage disputes, with the latest coming in the form of the Big Ten Network’s standoff with Comcast.
Taking to X on Friday, the Big Ten Network provided an update on its ongoing dispute, noting that as the situation currently stand, some customers will be unable to view Oregon and Washington’s respective season openers on Saturday. That update/thinly veiled negotiating tactic, however, solicited an unlikely response from the Pac-12 Network — which is apparently still a thing — which quote-tweeted the post with a gif of Jerry Seinfeld saying, “Yikes. Well good luck with that.”
https://t.co/EGGR8e2MHy pic.twitter.com/1ZcPDQ13OG
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) August 30, 2024
Again, it’s unclear why the Pac-12 Network still has an active social media account considering that the league-owned network went off the air at the end of June. Why doesn’t the Pac-12 Network exist anymore, you ask? That would be because the conference itself currently only consists of two teams — Oregon State and Washington State — with the rest of the league’s former members having dispersed to the Big 12, ACC and, yes, the Big Ten.
Despite the Pac-12 Network’s snark — which presumably came as a result of the two teams mentioned in the post being two of its former members — it’s worth noting that a significant portion of the conference’s demise has been tied to its failure to secure an adequate television deal. In addition to the Big Ten, the Pac-12 (or what’s left of it) also has its own complicated history with Comcast stemming from last year’s overpayment scandal.
As such, the irony of the Pac-12 shading the Big Ten — or any of the Power F̶i̶v̶e̶ Four conferences — over their own television situations isn’t lost on anyone. The Pac-12 Network’s response does, however, raise the questions of who’s responsible for running the account — which hadn’t posted since June 28 prior to Friday’s post — and why it even still exists.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.