WASHINGTON (WTRF) – A lot of Mountaineer fans were unable to watch WVU’s basketball game against Kansas on Wednesday night due to it being broadcast on ESPN+.
ESPN+, which is ESPN’s streaming service, requires a monthly fee and must be streamed through the internet, which is an issue in a state with low broadband connectivity.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) asked the Big 12 Commissioner to keep the people of West Virginia in mind when deciding where to broadcast Mountaineer games.
“I get a lot of constituents that are really irritated that the only way that they can watch the WVU basketball game with Kansas or Baylor is to buy another service and it’s ESPN streaming,” said. Sen. Capito. “Well, that in and of itself maybe doesn’t sound like a challenge but when you live in a state with low connectivity, I’ve been working hard and have had some success growing our connectivity, but we’re cutting out a lot of fans, we’re cutting out a lot of people who have such great enjoyment watching a sporting event for their home state.”
Senator Capito says she wanted to make sure the commissioner knew how frustrated many West Virginians are that these games are not on their televisions like they have been for years, plus the fact that they would have to pay extra for this service assuming they have internet.
