Minnesota Gophers vs Iowa Hawkeyes on NBC Primetime

The date, according to Brett McMurphy (Action Network), is set for the night of September 21. Not only will it be the first primetime game of the season on NBC, but it will be Minnesota’s first Big Ten game of the year, as well.

NBC’s preferred primetime lineup sources told @ActionNetworkHQ

Sept 21 Iowa at Minnesota
Sept 28 Illinois at Penn St
Oct 5 Michigan at Washington
Oct 12 Ohio St at Oregon
Oct 19 Iowa at Michigan St
Oct 26 Penn St at Wisconsin
Nov 2 USC at Washington
Nov 9 FSU at Notre Dame
Nov…

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) June 3, 2024

Despite a losing 5-7 record regular season record, the Golden Gophers landed a bowl game at the end of 2023, thanks to their academic excellence, defeating Bowling Green in the Quick Lane Bowl.

Now, with a new quarterback under center, in New Hampshire transfer Max Brosmer, PJ Fleck will get an immediate opportunity to show how good his 2024 squad is.

For the Minnesota diehards!

Here's some more throws from today's #Gophers pro day ft new QB Max Brosmer
(cause I know y'all want them) 😉. pic.twitter.com/MTMtEWpDPv

— Kane Rob (@GophersKaneRob) March 14, 2024

The Big Ten has a substantially different look entering this fall, as four teams from the Pac-12 join the new 16-team super conference. You can bet that long-running rivalries, like the one between Minnesota and Iowa will continue to reign supreme though.

Related: Minnesota Gophers QB Max Brosmer Makes Senior Bowl Watch List

The Big Ten opener vs Iowa won’t be the Gophers’ first quality opponent of 2024, but a Drake Maye-less North Carolina in week one, followed by matchups vs Rhode Island and Nevada in weeks two and three should give the Gophers a solid chance at 3-0 entering this primetime conference opener.

Minnesota vs Iowa – Who ya got?

Iowa struggled mightily to score points last season, and they relied on a stingy defense to elevate them. Tim Lester has been installed as the new offensive coordinator for the Hawkeyes and Michigan transfer Cade McNamara will attempt to show something other than ineptitude at the quarterback position.

Related: Iowa Fan Holds Sign at World Series Reading “It Wasn’t a Fair Catch”

Expecting better than a 12-10 result would be nice to see for the Gophers, and NBC certainly is hoping to produce a more exciting game. There is a level of hype surrounding Minnesota this season, but they’ll need to come out strong if they want to live up to expectations.

TV providers are fighting again and it’s heavily impacting Minnesota sports fans. Actually, some of the disputes we are about to dive into date back more than a year.

So to make sure you can find a provider that has the channels and games you’re looking for, we’ve created a guide. Here are the current disputes between TV channels and providers, that are affecting channel lineups for sports fans around the state.

DirecTV battles with TEGNA (NBC – KARE)

NBC (KARE) has been blacked out for DirecTV users in Minnesota for nearly two weeks now. With NFL playoffs and holiday programming on the horizon, most experts didn’t see this dispute lasting a week… but now we’re going on two.

AT&T is looking to sell DirecTV and doesn’t need to be losing subscribers while the find suitors. We’ll see how long they hold out. TEGNA owns local stations of different network varieties across the country so everyone is pissed off about this one and calling for the two sides to reach an agreement… but nobody is budging yet.

There's a war going on between local Minneapolis/STP NBC (KARE) owner TEGNA and DirecTV (ATT). The Ravens vs Steelers game has been blacked out because of it.

Shit's real when you go to https://t.co/MDgp72qX6B pic.twitter.com/rfikUsDVAu

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) December 2, 2020

Sinclair (FOX) fighting with Dish Network and Cord Cutters

If you’re a Minnesota sports fan then this DirecTV/TEGNA disagreement seems like the difference between eternal damnation and a 5-minute timeout during recess.

Sinclair, who owns the local FOX affiliates like FOX Sports North, has been battling with about half of the major television providers available to Minnesotans for over a year.

You CANNOT watch FOX Sports North if you are a subscriber of Dish Network or any streaming services. That’s right… cable cutters are shit out of luck if they want to watch the Timberwolves, Twins or Wild.

It’s brutal out there right now in the cord cutting universe, especially if you are a Minnesota sports fan. Dish Network is the longest enemy of Sinclair and hasn’t had FSN since last summer.

Still, Sinclair has now lost all of its streaming providers so they have to be looking to make a deal soon. You can’t let all providers kick you out or there won’t be anyone left to watch and pay you…. right?

No shortage of fingerpointing and half-truths being flung around by corpfolk on twitter about the Fox Sports / Sinclair / Provider rift.

Don't blame the teams, folks. For now, they're bystanders… like the fans.

But this *should* be kept in mind when future deals are made pic.twitter.com/ZbQ24RLmip

— Chris Long (@ChrisLongKSTP) December 13, 2020

Those who wanted to watch Sunday Night football this week on DirecTV are either streaming it or watching the Spanish version, neither of which are blacked out.

If you’re wanting to watch the Wild and Timberwolves this winter but you have a streaming service or Dish Network… I recommend making a switch to DirecTV or your local cable provider. I’m not convinced Sinclair cares at this point.

If anything changes, we’ll be here to let you know!

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

NOTE: This topic has been updated.

I flipped NBC (KARE – 11) on my DirecTV service this afternoon so I could watch the postponed Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens game. But all I found was a message about frustration, regret and inconvenience.

About what you ask? Another licensing agreement…

We’re working to return the TEGNA stations to our lineups as soon as possible, but by law, TEGNA has exclusive control over which homes are allowed to receive either ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, or CW in certain cities, regardless of what provider they choose.

As many station owners like TEGNA keep losing viewers and sponsors, they’ve resorted to blacking out popular local teams or any remaining hit shows at the worst possible time in order to extract unwarranted increases over their already high fees despite their fading popularity, leaving consumers to foot the bill.

We regret any inconvenience and appreciate our customers’ patience while we work this matter out with TEGNA.

att.com/tvpromise

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Falls Victim

TV companies fighting and the consumer suffering. That’s pretty standard in that business. That’s why everyone continues to cut their cord. But, that’s what the free market is for. Improve your product or it will eventually die.

This time, it’s between TEGNA and DirecTV and it’s gotten ugly. According to Outkick.com, TEGNA blacked out Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on CBS Tuesday night, before doing the same thing for the football game on NBC today. AT&T + DirecTV aren’t worthy of financial compassion or moral high ground. AT&T is getting savage in their memo’s though.

When you go to att.com/tvpromise, they will give you your options (zip code specific) on how to work around these blackouts, if you really need to watch the Steelers vs Ravens. Here’s what my message was. I posted it on Twitter.

DirecTV made sure to remind me that none of our local teams will be affected since none of the Vikings or Gophers play on NBC (KARE) in the near future.

There’s a war going on between local Minneapolis/STP NBC (KARE) owner TEGNA and DirecTV (ATT). The Ravens vs Steelers game has been blacked out because of it.

Shit’s real when you go to https://t.co/MDgp72qX6B pic.twitter.com/rfikUsDVAu

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) December 2, 2020

Clip from AT&T Memo

U.S. law grants TEGNA, Inc. exclusive control over which homes in Minneapolis and St. Paul can receive NBC, regardless of what provider they choose. As stations like KARE-NBC lose viewers and sponsors, many will resort to blacking out popular local sports teams or key NBC shows at the worst possible time to try to get more money regardless of their popularity or commitment to the local community. It’s shameless profiteering at the public expense and worse during a global pandemic when medical news is at a premium and regular folks are struggling to make ends meet.

Can I still watch shows on KARE-NBC while you work this out?

Yes. You can watch KARE-NBC through the Locast interactive TV app on your DIRECTV Genie and/or U-verse internet-connected receivers or mobile app. If you’re a DIRECTV customer and your receiver is connected to the internet, select the right arrow on your remote and choose Locast from your interactive TV menu. Just follow the onscreen prompts to start streaming KARE-NBC. You can also watch for free over the air on channel 11 using a digital TV or external antenna. You can typically stream KVUE-NBC shows and events at the station’s website or NBC.com or using the NBC mobile app. NBC Sports often streams live events at nbcsports.com and to fans using the NBC Sports mobile app. Please check online for availability in Minneapolis and St. Paul. These are good, short-term alternatives, but rest assured that we’re working to get KARE-NBC back soon. Thank you for your patience.

att.com/tvpromise

Very interesting business model. If you think you’re upset, you should’ve seen John Clayton (ESPN Insider) on Twitter.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan