Here We Go Again: No Comcast TV On Saturday

If DU wins on Friday afternoon, Comcast subscribers in Denver will not be able to watch the Saturday night game against UMD or Princeton. Comcast and ESPN have been battling over this "ESPNU" dispute for over three years.

The game may be available on the internet at espn360.com

Calling Comcast probably won't do any good in this case, but as usual we'll give you the phone number to file a complaint. Try dropping the "I'll be switching to DirecTV Bomb."

COMCAST: 1-800-COMCAST (1-800-266-2278)

FSN-Rocky Mountain can't pick up the games dues to ESPN contractual issues. In the past Altitude has picked up DU games in the NCAA playoffs as long as they don't conflict with the Nuggets or Avs.
Minneapolis, MN
Friday, March 27
DU vs. Miami (3:30 PM MT)* TV: ESPN2HD
Minnesota-Duluth vs. Princeton (7 PM MT)* TV: ESPNUHD
*Winners play Saturday (7 PM MT) TV: ESPNUHD

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Which Bars around DU have which
I think the Stadium has DTV
don't remember the others.

dggoddard said...

If DU beats Miami, and that's by no means certain, fans could post bars and restaurants around Denver that have DirecTV.

Anonymous said...

Yeah I believe the Stadium has DTV and I think Smuggs has it also. Might be worth calling.

Anonymous said...

A good one is Choppers in Cherry Hills. They have about 20 large screens and can get anything. Also they are very cooperative in opening up a screen for you. Let's all meet there. It's where I go to watch away D.U. games.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I meant Cherry Creek
not cherry hills.
It is a couple of blocks between the main shopping mall and colorado Blvd.

Anonymous said...

Choppers is on the corner of Bayaud and Madison

msbdu said...

It would be nice if we could decide on one place, and then pack it with DU supporters.

Anonymous said...

Good luck getting a tv for the hockey game at Choppers. Great food, great place to watch anything, but the KU crowd will drive u up the wall and all TV's will be on the tourney. Just speaking from past experience.

Anonymous said...

I meant to say the other tourney, best suggestion would be Woody's near evans and quebec.

Anonymous said...

I would recomend the Stadium as you will have students there as well.
plus $3 beam how can you go wrong unless you are employed... than shame on you

du78 said...

ESPNU has been in dispute with most of the major cable providers ever since its inception. The cable companies want to carry it on their sports tier/packages while ESPN wants it part of the basic package like ESPN and ESPN2.

Anonymous said...

Pessimistic Fan will also be at the stadium

Twister said...

Another good place to watch hockey is Sobo 151. 151 S. Broadway. It's Czech-owned, and they always have hockey on and I'm almost positive have DirecTV. I'm sure they will be showing NCAA hockey this weekend along with their NHL package. Plus they have excellent Pilsner and good Czech chow.

Anonymous said...

ESPN owns the television contract rights to the NCAA Hockey Championships. FSN Rocky Mountain, unfortunately, does not have the rights to the games and therefore cannot air them.

I find it very ironic there was a post under the "NCAA Announces Tournament Field" that praises ESPN as a "real network", yet that network completely ignores college hockey until the NCAA Tournament, and a network that carries Pioneer hockey all season long is vilified.

If anyone believes that ESPN is serious about college hockey they are completely blind; ESPN is all about the NBA. If ESPN was serious about college hockey it would air these games on ESPN or ESPN2 (besides the semi's and championship game) at the very least instead of on it's lesser brother, ESPNU which isn't available on the Comcast in Denver.

DU fans, along with college hockey fans in general, deserve better. Let's not be so quick to applaud ESPN while DU fans are searching to find their favorite team.

Anonymous said...

ESPN isn't to blame here. It's political contracting/market lawsuits via the FCC that have kept college hockey at bay. It's a lot more complicated than you think. The entire bid process and regulation system as to what certain media rights each media network can hold has come under a lot of scrutiny over the past few years. It's not a simple flick of the switch and voila you get any sport you want. There are rules, monopoly regulations, and regional viewership problems that still need to be worked out.

1) ESPNU is not on Comcast because Comcast will not carry it. End of discussion. Call and complain and then ask for the guy that will get the heat when Dish, DTV, Turner, etc. come bitching through the door and file an FCC violation for unfair content favoring.

b) FSN has been given a certain amount of content rights. As much as I hate Fox, they have been given (by law) a piece of the market share. If college hockey doesn't bring in market share, who wouldn't trade up an NCAA sport for something more revenue heavy (i.e. the NBA). It's a business guys. Don't be naive.

c) As much as we love hockey here, believe it or not (here's the shocker) there are parts of the country where they don't give a flying fuck about it. When you have a HUGE fan base behind March Madness and NCAA football, it would be absolutely ridiculous to trade up nationally-popular system for a smaller niche-market unless you had a piece of the national tournament (i.e. Frozen Four). Considering how much advertising has suffered over the last year, college hockey does not have what it takes to bring in a) as many viewers as other sports and b) attract as much ad revenue.

Just think about it. If you really want to blame someone, blame USCHO or the WCHA itself for shitty marketing and athletic departments nationwide for favoring other sports over hockey. Perhaps you should just buy more crap you see on you TV and thus boost the economy. With increased ad sales during college hockey games, I am sure media networks will come crawling back in.

USAFA Bulldog said...

Not sure what Comcast would mean to me, so for now this Bulldog fan is glad to have it on ESPNU. I quick call to my dish company to upgrade my service got me ESPNU.

Despite me being only an roughly a hour's drive from the region I'm staying home and watching it. At this point in time $80 it too much on my pocketbook.

Anonymous said...

DG - Altitude has been known to pick up these games as long as they don't go against the Nuggets or Avalanche schedule

dggoddard said...

Thanks for the heads up on Altitude. We'll look into it.

University of Denver alums that own or run businesses need to advertise on DU hockey broadcasts. Emirates Airlines, Chipotle, Hard Rock Cafe are just three companies that are run or founded by DU alums. There are hundreds of others, just Wiki DU and check out "famous alums."

Fans are justifiably frustrated that 95% of the country will have access to this game and yet in Denver they are going to be shutout due to a pissing match between Comcast & ESPNU over money.

Anonymous said...

Before throwing COmcast completely under the bus here, think about it. It does all come down to money. Those of you dish folks do indeed have to shell out more $$$ to get ESPNU. Comcast and all cable companies keep getting hammered for raising rates. Well guess what? Everybody wants to make a buck in the game, so there is no free lunch here. In their defense, in the past, Comcast has shown a lot of DU games including other sports like basketball, lacrosse and gymnastics on their CET channel. And, BTW, that big Zamboni running around the ice at Magness has a Comcast sticker wrapped around it. Which tells me that Comcast does a LOT more to support our Pioneers than Charlie Ergen and his cheap suits in Douglas County would be willing to shell out for support. Me? I'll put up with a minor inconvenience because Comcast supports the WHOLE program and we are all better for it.

Anonymous said...

I'll raise my glass to Charlie Ergen as I watch the game on my couch this Saturday. Gotta love the Dish!

Anonymous said...

msbdu--- re your comment for us to watch the game together--give Jeff ( bar manager) at Choppers a call. 303 399 4448. he has always opened up a screen for me.

Anonymous said...

Buffalo Wild Wings near Park Meadows is always willing to switch a screen or two over to the DU Hockey games. Just ask the manager on duty.