Good news for Huskies fans: Comcast to add Big Ten Network to Xfinity TV package

Comcast and the Big Ten Network have reached an agreement that will allow fans of the University of Washington (UW) Huskies to watch their games on Xfinity TV as soon as this weekend.

Jon Wilner of the Bay Area News Group published a short statement from Comcast Thursday morning on X indicating the Big 10 network will be available to Xfinity TV customers living in the three West Coast states “in time for the action this weekend.”

A Comcast spokesman confirmed to MyNorthwest in an email Thursday afternoon the statement Wilner published is correct and that a deal has been reached.

“We’re pleased the Big Ten Network will be available to Xfinity TV customers who subscribe to the Popular TV package in Oregon, Washington, and California in time for the action this weekend,” John Demming said in a statement.

XFinity’s Popular TV package contains more than 125 channels and the price starts at $50 per month. How high the monthly cost of the package goes will depend on how many additional channels customers add to their lineup.

This development means fans of the UW Huskies, Oregon Ducks, USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins who are also Xfinity TV customers will be able to see their favorite teams play their games on the Big Ten Network. The UW Huskies’ game Saturday against the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City, Iowa, is already set to air on Fox at 9 a.m. But four of the Huskies’ last five games, including key matchups against Penn State and rival Oregon have not been given network assignments yet.

How we got here

A dispute between Comcast and Fox, which owns the Big Ten Network, has been ongoing since the summer and it carried over to the beginning of the college football season. Fox and Comcast attempted to come to an agreement so West Coast consumers could watch UW, Oregon, UCLA and USC games since they joined the Big Ten conference. Since the dispute lingered into the fall, UW Huskies fans missed the team’s first two games, victories over Weber State and Eastern Washington.

Previous coverage: Comcast customers miss Huskies’ televised season opener

Before the Huskies’ opener, the Big Ten Network released a statement about what was an ongoing negotiation between the two parties:

The Big Ten Network is proud to present an expanded slate of live sporting events featuring the newest members of the B1G conference, however most Comcast subscribers will not see these games. As the one distribution partner that declined to expand along with us, Comcast Xfinity viewers in many areas will not have access to live broadcasts of the highly anticipated inaugural B1G season games for Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.

If you are an Xfinity subscriber and cannot find the Ducks, Huskies, Bruins or Trojans on the Big Ten Network in your area, please contact 1-800-Comcast or go to ALLBTNGAMES.com.”

While this deal ensures Xfinity customers will get more UW Huskies games, it’s worth noting this deal is independent of another streaming product owned by Comcast, Peacock. The service exclusively aired the 2024 edition of the Apple Cup, won by the Washington State Cougars, in September. Interested fans will still need to sign up for a subscription to gain access to games aired there.

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, or email him here.