An Ohio legislator this week proposed a bill that would ban exclusive streaming contracts for college sports, eliminating the need for fans to pay for multiple services to watch their favorite teams.
When Ohio State beat Michigan State this year in the CFP, fans were only able to catch the game on NBC's streaming service, Peacock.
Depending on which team a fan would like to follow, they may have to purchase multiple subscriptions.
Ohio Senator Bill DeMora, the Democrat who introduced the bill, isn't happy about the current state of affairs, and he really wasn't happy about not being able to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game.
"I don't have streaming services because, again, I can't afford to spend all that on the streaming service," DeMora told News 5. "The fact that I wasn’t able to watch an Ohio State game about killed me."
DeMora said the price to add multiple additional streaming services adds up for fans, noting that many who can't afford high-speed internet can't watch the games anyway. He also bemoaned the quality of streaming content.
"The streams were lagging, pixelated, out of sync and plagued by poor audio quality," DeMora said during testimony Tuesday. "People were paying for something that was horrible quality to start."
The bill has little chance of passing the senate, as media streaming contracts are negotiated by the conferences and the revenue is then distributed to school members.
Ohio state Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania) called the bill "stupid."
"Imagine the Buckeyes not being part of the Big 10 anymore because a simple piece of legislation said you can't sign up to a streaming deal," Williams said. "I think it's ill-advised, ill-conceived and it won't get any support."
Williams noted that the bill could actually hurt schools.
"You're going to stop universities from a revenue stream that they can generate off of their athletic programs that they use to reinvest into their athletic facilities," the Republicans said.
According to News 5, the legislation would also allow students to watch broadcasts for free. The legislation would require state universities to provide enrolled students access, but it is up to the school's discretion how that is implemented.
