Could a law ban Ohio State Buckeye games shown exclusively on streaming platforms?

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) -This past weekend the Ohio State Buckeyes (OSU) played Purdue, but unless you subscribed to the Peacock streaming service you couldn’t watch the game.

Most bars and restaurants can’t afford the subscription, which for them is not the $5.99 a month you would pay at home.

For a bar or restaurant to subscribe they pay a price based on a per-capacity.

Meaning a subscription could cost thousand and thousands of dollars.

Ohio State Senator William DeMora, who represents the district that contains OSU, is considering introducing legislation that would not allow any Ohio college or university to have its game exclusively shown on a streaming platform.

The greed of the Big Ten and multinational streaming corporations is placing an unreasonable burden on Ohio’s small businesses, which rely on their ability to air games,” DeMora said in a press release. “Paying thousands of dollars to air one game is a ridiculous requirement for small businesses. This problem is created wholly by public institutions seeking to make a profit.”

According to DeMora, Saturday was the first time since 1997 the OSU was not shown on traditional television.

Any legislation introduced may have an uphill battle, as the Big Ten network inked a $10 billion deal between the Big Ten Conference and CBS, FOX, NBC and Peacock.

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