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Much has been made of NBC adding Big Ten football games to streaming platform Peacock. Inevitably, fans of those teams, most notably Ohio State, have lashed out at the thought of being forced to pay for yet another streaming service to watch their team’s games. The breakup of the cable bundle has ultimately led to sports fans paying a premium and needing a theoretical physics degree to try to figure out where and when the games are that they want to see.
Thus far, Big Ten football has seen the odd game here and there moved to Peacock. While that may be somewhat frustrating for fans who aren’t fully in tune with streaming apps, it’s nothing compared to what’s going to happen during the conference’s basketball season.
On Tuesday, NBC announced that they will air over 30 men’s college basketball games and over 20 women’s college basketball games exclusively on Peacock. But instead of filling the platform with inventory from the $5 movie bin, it’s featuring the conference’s star players and teams.
Last year’s NCAA Tournament #1 seed Purdue leads the way with 6 appearances. Indiana, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Minnesota all have 5 appearances. Michigan has 4 appearances. Marquee games like Purdue-Indiana, Ohio State-Wisconsin, Michigan-Michigan State, and two Big Ten Tournament games are all exclusively on Peacock.
But that’s nothing compared to how Peacock will leverage the women’s game. Iowa and Caitlin Clark will make 8 Peacock appearances, which is nearly half of the streamer’s exclusive schedule.
It’s clear that NBC is relying on Big Ten basketball as a major tentpole for Peacock in a bid to boost subscribers. But is this initial surge as strong a push as will be made? Or is more coming?
Big Ten fans should look to how NBC has covered the English Premier League in recent years for what could be coming down the pipeline.
This week’s major game featuring the top two from last season – Arsenal vs Manchester City – is a Peacock exclusive. Last year’s key game that helped decide the title race in April between the same teams was also a Peacock exclusive. Games involving Liverpool, Manchester United, and others seem more and more likely to be gravitating towards streaming instead of gaining a wide linear audience on NBC or USA. The priority seemingly hasn’t been getting more eyeballs on the best games, it’s been driving Peacock subscriptions.
In other words, if Big Ten fans haven’t yet gotten used to the idea of Peacock being a major part of their sports fandom, they may be in for a big surprise.
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