An Ohio Senator Is Attempting To Ban Ohio State Football Games From Exclusive Streaming
One Ohio State football game in each of the last two college football seasons has exclusively streamed on Peacock, and one Ohio lawmaker is doing everything in his power to not let it happen a third time.
State Senator Bill DeMora, a Democrat from Columbus, is seeking to ban Ohio State football games from exclusively airing on a streaming platform moving forward. Not only is he looking out for Buckeye fans, but the fans of other programs around the state as well.
DeMora, an Ohio State graduate, has introduced Senate Bill 94, which would prevent state universities from signing media deals that would entail exclusively streaming games on their platform.
"To the extent permitted by federal law, no state university shall enter into or renew a contract under which the media rights to broadcast a university athletic event are granted exclusively to a streaming service. This division applies only to contracts entered into or renewed on or after the effective date of this section," the proposed bill reads in part, according to NBC 4i.
DeMora didn't hide behind the fact that this bill was created out of frustration for having to sign up for a streaming service to watch the Buckeyes in previous seasons.
"It was the first time in over 20 years that I couldn’t watch an Ohio State football game on a regular channel," DeMora said. "I refuse to pay all these streaming networks to watch Ohio State and other sports. … Streaming television is not good for sports."
An Ohio state Senator is looking to ban Ohio State football games from exclusively streaming on various platforms. Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Senator does deserve credit for looking out for enrolled students, as the bill also stated that state universities would have to "work out a deal" for students to watch university sporting events for free.
We can all agree that life was simpler before cord-cutting and the Amazons, Peacocks, and Paramount+'s of the world weren't around, but we're not living in 2002.
The networks and various leagues jumped into the streaming-dominant world years ago, and we either jump along for the ride or miss it entirely.
It's almost impossible to function in society nowadays unless you have at least five monthly entertainment subscriptions. Senator DeMora is fighting the good fight for the older generation, which is admirable, but the ship has sailed, get the credit card out to sign up for streaming services galore.