Oregon , UCLA , USC and Washington officially jumped from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten this summer.
Some wrinkles still need smoothing out, though. Ironically, the four institutions left the Pac-12 for more lucrative TV rights. And now an ongoing carriage dispute between Xfinity and the Big Ten Network will leave fans from the new West Coast schools without access to Week 1 games, as of Saturday morning.
“(Friday) is a big day in this negotiation,” retired Fox Sports president Bob Thompson wrote on X. “Yes, there are a couple of games on Saturday but more importantly it is a holiday weekend. I can guarantee you that neither party wants to be on one endless Zoom call!”
The Big Ten Network, owned by Fox, is pushing for Xfinity to add the channel to its basic tier across the West Coast. But the telecommunications company has not given in. Instead, Xfinity subscribers in markets for Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington cannot watch college football games at the moment on Big Ten Network, even if they paid for an elevated Xfinity sports tier.