Cat, Griz playoff games not on TV Saturday
BILLINGS - No one in Montana will be able to watch the Montana Grizzlies' or Montana State Bobcats' upcoming playoff football games on television, and only a select few will have access to internet broadcasts, based on ESPN contracts with local and national cable providers.
All first-round FCS Playoff games will be shown on ESPN3, an internet-only broadcast platform also known as Watch ESPN. The games are not available through free or pay-per-view television.
Watch ESPN is only available to select providers that ESPN has contracts with. For example, it is not offered to DirecTv customers, but is available to DISH Network subscribers.
The service is available to Charter customers around the country, but national Charter representatives tell Q2 that Montana customers do not have access. Due to ongoing contract negotiations with the FCC and other entities, certain internet-only cable services, including Watch ESPN, are not offered, after Charter's recent purchase of Optimum.
National Charter staffers did admit, for reasons they said were unclear, that a few random customers in the Billings area have been able to log in and watch ESPN3.
Efforts to reach local Charter representatives were unsuccessful.
Other Montana cable providers such as Mid-Rivers Communications and Access Montana do appear to have access to the service.
To view Watch ESPN programs, customers are required to enter their TV Provider account information - usually a username and password, and often times an account number.
Montana hosts San Diego, while Montana State hosts South Dakota State. Kickoff in both games is scheduled for Saturday at 2:00 pm.
Local bar owners in the Billings area say they don't get ESPN3 and are hoping Saturday's games will eventually be available on pay-per-view, or ESPN GamePlan. On occasion in past years, ESPN has decided late in the week to make games available on pay-per-view.
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So Charter customers in MT might not be able to login to ESPN3 anymore.