Maryland and West Virginia will meet for the 51st time on Saturday, in a game with more regional significance than many of the teams’ conference matchups. But local fans with the DISH Network will need to make plans to see the game outside their homes.
“Big Ten Network is requiring that DISH pay a significant additional charge to carry University of Maryland and Rutgers University home games in their home states,” DISH said in a statement, the same statement it’s been issuing for weeks. “We are unwilling to pass these costs on to our customers.”
For its part, the Big Ten Network noted that DISH carries the Big Ten Network in every other Big Ten state, and that DISH “is the only major pay-TV provider to reject BTN’s offer to make these games available to its customers.”
“In fact, fans could miss BTN’s entire lineup, including the upcoming Michigan State at Maryland football game and as many as 70 Maryland events overall,” the network said in a statement. “All we’re asking is that DISH carry BTN in exactly the same way in Maryland and New Jersey as they do in other Big Ten states.”
The Terps Football game vs. WVU will not be on DISH in MD. Fans who want to see the #Terps this season should seek other providers.
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) September 12, 2014
DISH subscribers in Maryland who enter their zip code into the Big Ten Network’s game finder will get this message:
The Maryland-West Virginia game will not be seen on DISH today in the state of Maryland. Terrapins fans with DISH in Maryland could miss at least 70 Maryland events on BTN. If you want to see Terrapins games, go to BTN.com/Gamefinder and input your zip code to see the other providers that carry BTN.
The Big Ten Network also took out an ad in the Baltimore Sun this week, with a similar message.