The Charter Communications/Big Ten Network agreement is bittersweet for many sports fans.
We’ll be the first to admit that it’s good news that Charter’s cable subscribers in southern Wisconsin will finally be able to see Badger football and basketball games that are exclusively carried on the Big Ten Conference-controlled network.
….There is a downside, however. Once again, big-time college sports and the television-connected outfits that enter into deals with them wind up putting the squeeze on the little guy.
Some of the kingpins in today’s athletic culture find it hard to believe that there may actually be people out there who can’t afford expanded basic service, much less the digital package that is increasingly being pushed. But, of course, there are and they’re big fans — as big as the high rollers who have taken hold of supposedly amateur sports today.